200 brilliant and bizarre curiosities highlighting the First, Last and Onlys that have occurred during the illustrious history of this sport - from the determined cricketers fined for playing on the Sabbath to the only virtuoso to score a century and take all ten wickets in a single innings. This absorbing collection of stories is guaranteed to enthral and includes some of the greatest gentleman to have graced the field of play, such as: The first player to bat on all 5 days of a test match. The last incidence of under-armed bowling in an international match. The only father and son to score centuries in the same First Class innings.Delight in a myriad of facts that you never knew about this glorious game.

Mister Donnelley's compendium of tantalising tales brings you a multitude of intriguing and amusing stories - from the midfielder murdered by a secret police force to a crazed chairman trying to raze to the ground his club's main stand. Marvel at this fascinating exhibition of Firsts, Lasts and Onlys from the illustrious history of this extraordinary game, and encounter remarkable characters, such as: The first footballer to score for both sides in an FA Cup Final. The only Cabinet Minister to play football for his country. The hapless physio knocked out by his own 'magic sponge'.Delve into the pages of this captivating tome and discover the most amazing football miscellany since records began!

From Rabbit Wars waged on St. Andrew's famous Old Course to the rebellion that interrupted a Royal round, this tome is packed with facts that will tantalised and enthral. Delve into this extraordinary showcase of Firsts, Lasts and Onlys from the world of golf, and discover a myriad of incredible stories, including: The first golfer to win both the US Open and US Amateur Championship in the same year. The last ill-fated player to have been struck by lightening on Tour. The only instance of a tournament being halted by locusts.With 200 witty anecdotes portraying the undisputed and unexpected legends of the sport, you are sure to lose yourself in the most enthralling golf miscellany since records began!

This history of America's pastime describes the evolution of baseball from early bat and ball games to its growth and acceptance in different regions of the country. Such New York clubs as the Atlantics, Excelsiors and Mutuals are a primary focus, serving as examples of how the sport became more sophisticated and popular. The author compares theories about many of baseball's "inventors," exploring the often fascinating stories of several of baseball's oldest founding myths. The impact of the Civil War on the sport is discussed and baseball's unsteady path to becoming America's national game is analyzed at length.

In Double Headers Keith Walmsley throws light into one of cricket’s more intriguing, if inconsequential, obscure corners by investigating the background of the two occasions in England when one county has been engaged in two first-class matches at the same time. Were they the result of mistakes in drawing up the fixture lists, or was there a more rational explanation? Double Headers also explores issues of team selection for these games, and looks into why there has been no recurrence since 1919 of a county playing two first-class matches at once. As well as examining these two instances in detail, it also identifies and explains the background to numerous other occasions, from all around the cricketing world, when teams ‘double-headed’, and even ‘triple-headed’. These include over two dozen other instances in Britain, and even some instances in Test cricket.

In C. L. R. James's classic Beyond a Boundary, the sport is cricket and the scene is the colonial West Indies. Always eloquent and provocative, James--the "black Plato," (as coined by the London Times)--shows us how, in the rituals of performance and conflict on the field, we are watching not just prowess but politics and psychology at play. Part memoir of a boyhood in a black colony (by one of the founding fathers of African nationalism), part passionate celebration of an unusual and unexpected game, Beyond a Boundary raises, in a warm and witty voice, serious questions about race, class, politics, and the facts of colonial oppression. Originally published in England in 1963 and in the United States twenty years later (Pantheon, 1983), this second American edition brings back into print this prophetic statement on race and sport in society.