A History of Australian Batting, 1850–1986
A History of Australian Bowling and Wicket-Keeping, 1850–1986
Brian Crowley
Macmillan Company of Australia, Melbourne — 1986
First Editions | Two-volume hardback set | With original dustjackets
 
Overview
This landmark two-volume series by Australian cricket historian Brian Crowley is among the most authoritative technical and historical studies ever produced on Australian cricket. Published simultaneously in 1986, the works divide the game into its core disciplines—batting and bowling/wicket-keeping—and trace their development from the earliest colonial matches through to the modern era of the mid-1980s.
 
Both volumes are complete with their original publisher’s dustjackets:
Batting: green dustjacket featuring a classic batting illustration
Bowling & Wicket-Keeping: yellow dustjacket with stylised bowling artwork
 
The dustjackets are an important bibliographic and collectability feature, particularly for matched sets.
 
Volume I – Batting (1850–1986)
Crowley analyses the evolution of Australian batting technique, temperament, and philosophy across more than a century, placing individual players and eras within broader social and tactical contexts.
 
Key sections include:
The Golden Age of Cricket
The era of Victor Trumper
Between the Wars
Bradman and Bodyline
Post-war batting
The Benaud influence
The Chappell era
A forward-looking assessment of Australian batting
 
The volume concludes with an extensive bibliography and batting statistics from 1850–1985.
 
Volume II – Bowling and Wicket-Keeping (1850–1986)
The companion volume examines Australia’s bowling traditions and wicket-keeping excellence, from early pioneers to the age of Lillee and Marsh.
 
Featured themes include:
Fred Spofforth (“The Demon”)
The development of the bosie (googly)
Fast bowling in pairs
Short-pitched bowling and intimidation
Illegal actions and the “chuckers”
Life with Lillee
The rise of specialist Australian wicket-keepers
 
Like the batting volume, it includes a comprehensive bibliography and statistical appendix (1850–1985).
 
Highly regarded reference works in Australian cricket literature. Increasingly scarce as a matched first-edition set with dustjackets.