Stroke of genius in all its glory

The “shot that changed cricket”, a picture taken at Kennington Oval in 1905 by self- taught photographer and keen cricketer George Beldam, is one that youngsters the world over have sought to recreate.

The “Jumping Out” image is a study in concentration with the great Austral ian batsman Victor Trumper, his baggy green cap pulled forward, poised to hoist the ball a country mile.

It was originally featured in Great Batsmen, written by Beldam more than a century ago, although it became so famous that a photogravure hangs in Australia’s National Portrait Gallery.

However, Stroke of Genius, written by Gideon Haigh, is more than a history of a single photograph.

Ea r ly on Ha i g h t el l s readers that while it contains biographical elements “it is not a biography”.

Instead he refers to it as “an iconography”, a study of Trumper’s place in cricketing history, his role as a catalyst in the game’s development and of course the unforgettable photograph featured on the f ront cover.

Haigh manages to explore c r ick et ’ s evolution, opera , Australian pol i t i c s , Impression i sm andd theth Edwardian obsession with class without lecturing readers, returning to Trumper and his tragically early death from Bright’s disease in 1915.

An extract written by Neville Cardus in Cricket: The Great Ones, which was published in 1967, summed up the attitude of many towards Trumper.

Desperate for England to overhaul Australia in the Ashes but still see Trumper play well, a youthful Cardus prayed before the game: “Please God, let Victor Trumper score a century against England tomorrow… out of an Australian all-out score of 124.”

Trumper’s frequent strokes of genius could be said to have defined an era.

The bat sman’s dea th marked the beginning of another, significantly more oppressive one.

We’ve teamed up with www. sportsbookofthemonth. com to give away a copy of Stroke of Genius.

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