At the turn of the last century women in the western world were finding a voice, both collectively and individually. As the Victorian era lapsed in to memory and the Edwardian Era commenced many women chose to pursue sports. Some women chose to flaunt convention and compete in sports that, even today, are not thought of as traditional womens’ sports. Some of these vintage pictures from the Edwardian Era (and just beyond) may surprise you. Yet these few representatives are surely testament to (under represented photograhically) a greater percentage of the women of the past who were unafraid to pursue their sporting ambitions in a still male dominated world.
You may well have seen the movie starring Madonna and Geena Davis, A League of Their Own about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) which was founded in 1943. Back in 1913, however, there were the New York Female Giants. There was a red team and a blue team. The idea did not take off permanantly, unfortunately, yet the first girls of summer, women who were made their living playing baseball had competed in their first game as far back as 1875.
Notice the male catcher definitely one of the NY (male) Giants catchers.This could possibly have been some sort of exhibition game as there were two female teams. You can only wonder how badly the men were beaten by the women.
The Bennett Sisters - we are not talking Jane and Elizabeth, plus there is no sign of Mr Darcy anywhere. This picture was taken between 1910 and 1915 and the sisters were not professional boxers but a Vaudeville Act. Yet that was perhaps one of the few places at the time that you could see something like this. Yes, they wrestled too.
Althoug it seem surprising (perhaps) the US had, since late the nineteenth century, held women’s wrestling championships and championesses were proclaimed. One of the above is possibly Laura Bennett who dominated the sport in the early 1900s.
If you think that the Bennett Sisiters were alone, you would be wrong. Above, Mrs. Edwards and Faurlein Kussin who met in the boxing ring at a bout on March 7 1912 - just a month before the Titanic sank.
It was everything to do with the burgeoning science of flight and although not considered a sport, this woman was something else - and very much connected with sport and just about everything else. This is Hélène Dutrieu and the picture was taken in September 1911 when she was 34. Before this, however she had been a famous professional track cyclist and had created a new world record for the distance cycled by a woman in an hour in 1895. In later years she was a stunt cyclist (with motorbikes too), automobile racer, and variety show performer. But there is more...
This picture was taken when she visited the US to compete for the women's altitude record. Later, during the First World War she became an abulance driver and a director for a military hospital. As you have gathered, she wasn't one to let her gender set her back.
Dutrieu may have shocked people with her independant spirit but our next woman shocked people with her ankles. Although she was born in the UK her family moved to California when she was six. She and her three sisters, Violet, Florence (pictured below) and Ethel were the queens of the California tennis circuit and she took the US Championship when she was 18, in 1904. The four of them must have been the Venus and Serena and Venus and Serena of their day.
What did she do that was so shocking? Prepare to gasp. In 1905 she competed at Wimbledon (winning the Women's title). Unable to compete in her normal tennis attire she rolled up her sleeves - and showed her bare elbows to the world. Not only that, she wore a skirt that was so high it revealed her ankles, shocking the British audience and giving them something to talk about over their tea and cucumber sandwiches.
In fact, during the Edwardian era women were doing a remarkable amount of sport, some of which was caught on camera. They batted.
It wouldn't be cricket, really, without mentioning that noblest of games. The Edwardian Era, itself not as gleeful as many like to think, gave way to the darkness of the First World War. In a state of total war, many women joined up. Yet there was still time to be found to have some fun with a bat and ball.
This was a long post so thanks for hanging around till the end. It has hardly hit the surface either and we hope - with your help - to explore the role of women in sport further. For now, we will take our leave with a final shot, taken around 1900 of Miss Elaine Golding. The daughter of Ethel Golding, the champion lady swimmer of the world. Elaine had been immersed in swimming since infancy and was dubbed a seven-year-old wonder, taking part in exhibitions of diving and swimming. Take it away, Elaine.
England Team Director Andy Flower has said that England Captain Andrew Strauss was instrumental in leading the team that retained the Ashes in Australia and rounded off nicely with a series win, beating Australia in the Fifth test by an innings and 83 runs.
The England camp celebrated after succeeding in a first series win in Australian for some 24 final Test at the SCG on Friday.
"I'd rather talk about the cricket, but the celebrations were good, and well deserved by the players," Flower said.
"We had a good time and I think the guys are reflecting on a job well done and a job that they are very proud of.
"All sorts of things go into what makes successful sides and Strauss' leadership is very influential factor in that success.
"He is very strong in the dressing room and in the middle with bat or marshalling the troops.
"He's grown in stature in this series, and considering the high position he started, that's saying a lot about him."
Speaking on Alastair Cook, Flower said; "He's overcome most challenges that have been put in front of him, which is testament to that strength of character and, considering that people were calling for his head not so long ago, it is an outstanding riposte.
"Although that's not why he did it, it was because of the pride he has in his own performance and because he is very proud to play for England.
"I am very happy for him personally, and we're all thankful that he made those contributions to the team for us."
England go into the third Test match tomorrow at Perth in hope of wrapping of the series this side of Christmas, an England win will see them retain the Ashes in Australia for the first time since 1985.
While confidence is high following their triumphant victory in the last match at Adelaide, the tourists know Australia will be looking for a better performance.
Australia will make some changes for the third Test and it is thought that both Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson will return to the side.
Both fast bowlers missed the last test and this wicket will suit their style.
Australia insist that they haven’t decided on the final XI yet.
"We haven't got a team yet," said Ponting on the eve of the match.
"We've had a good look at the wicket this afternoon. It's changed a little bit since we've been here today so we want to just want to have a look at it again tomorrow before we finalise what our XI will be."
"(It's) still particularly grassy and I've had a good chat to Cameron (curator Cameron Sutherland) today about the wicket.
"It's different grass than there's been on the wicket before, so we've got a lot of things that we've got to think about yet before we finalise it.
"Looking at the wicket you'd think there's going to be a result in this game, so obviously that has to be a positive one for us or it's game, set and match."
England will need to make just one change to side after Stuart Broad was ruled out for the rest of the tour following a stomach injury he received during in the last Test.
Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad are all vying for Broad’s position, but it is thought that England will go with Chris Tremlett.
"All three bring different skills to the party, and we have to work out which one is going to be best for Perth and onwards," Strauss admitted. "The way we've got to look at it is which bowler will help us take 20 wickets.
"When you're only playing four bowlers, they've got to be able to do their primary job.
"We're going to have to try to read the wicket - which is always a bit of a mysterious art."
Nathan Hauritz has signalled his frustration at being frozen out by Australia by giving away his Test kit.
The off-spinner was sat outside his Sydney flat, giving out his training kit to anyone who was interested,
Hauritz, 29, who has played 17 Tests and taken 63 wickets, was shocked when novice left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty was brought in ahead of Hauritz for the first two Ashes Tests and uncapped Michael Beer for the third.
Nathan Hauritz responded by giving away jumpers and selling training kit. Hauritz said: ‘I don’t play for them (Australia) any more.’
Even Xavier Doherty, who was dumped after taking just 1-158 in the innings defeat at Adelaide, has admitted that there seems to be some confusion over what selectors want from spin bowlers.
''You have seen how many spinners they have used over the last couple of years, so I'm sure the selectors aren't quite sure who the next person is," the 27-year-old said upon learning of his axing on Friday.
On 2 May 1969 a newborn child’s cries rang out in Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago. Not an unusual event in itself but if the parents of the child, christened Brian Charles Lara, could see what was in the future for their son their pride at his birth would have been doubled.
He grew up to be one of the most celebrated cricketers of all time, topping the Test batting rankings a number of times and seizing and holding several records, including the highest individual score in first-class cricket. On that occasion in 1994 he scored an amazing 501 not out for Warwickshire. His dumbfounded opponents, Durham had to simply look on as he scored the first and only quintuple hundred in the history of first-class cricketing.
It was little surprise that as that famous day wore on fans rushed to the ground at Edgbaston to witness history being made.
He also is the holder of the record for the highest individual score in a test innings. This time he was playing against England at Antigua. The celebrated day saw him score 400 not out. Over the course of his career he scored many hundreds, but is the only batsman to do that and score a double century, a triple, a quadruple and a quintuple over the course of his career.
To add to all this, in a single over in South Africa in 2003 he scored 28 runs off Robin Peterson of South Africa. Put simply, the man was unstoppable.
Lara has his family, perhaps, to thanks for his cricketing success. As the tenth of eleven children it would not surprise many if the parents didn’t watch their second to last offspring too often, with so many in the family. Yet it was his sharp eyed father, Bunty and Agnes his older sister who spotted his potential at the age of six and enrolled him in the Harvard Coaching Clinic.
As such, Lara’s early exposure to correct batting techniques would stay with him and be developed over his lifetime. When he was a teenager he was in teams in the Trinidad schoolboy’s league. He caught the eye of the national under 16 team when his average in the league was an amazing 126 per innings, not to mention his tally of 745 runs in the league.
At the age of fifteen he played his first West Indian under 19 tournaments and the same year saw him represent his country for the first time. His heroes, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards and Roy Fredericks were soon to have company in that special league of their own.
1987 was a memorable year as Lara scored 498 runs in the West Indies Youth Championships – the first record of many that he was to break. The following year he made his debut for Trinidad and Tobago and scored 98 in his second first-class match. The same year saw him captain the West Indies in the Bicentennial Youth World Cup. Lara was on his way.
The following year his great opportunity presented itself – he was selected for the West Indies team (rather than the youth team) but this coincided with tragedy. His father, Bunty, died and Lara withdrew, coming back the year after to captain the B Team in Zimbabwe.
He was not to be held back again. In 1990 at the age of twenty he became the youngest ever man to captain Trinidad and Tobago. He also made his debut for the West Indies.
In 1993 his International career truly got underway when he scored 277 against Australia – his maiden test century. His efforts proved to be the turning point for the West Indies as they then went on to win the final two tests – and the series 2-1.
To commemorate this, Lara would name his first daughter after the city in which he had achieved this – Sydney.
In 1995 Lara was made Man of the Series in the test match against England. He captained the West Indies from 98 to 99 won Man of the Match against Australia as well as Man of the Series in the famous Four Test Series of 1999.
Lara was reappointed as captain against the touring Australians in 2003, and struck 110 in his first Test match back in charge, showing a return to stellar performance. Later that season, under his captaincy, West Indies won the two match Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 with Lara making a double century in the First Test. In September 2004, West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy in England under his captaincy.
He returned again to the captaincy of the West Indies in 2006 and led the team to victories against Zimbabwe and India. In the same year he became the first player in the team to ever pass the 10,000 run mark. He retired from international cricket in the following year.
Unable to resist it, he played again for Trinidad against Guyana – which they won. Lara’s cricket career is still happening today but what it holds for him is unsure. Whatever happens he will certainly go down in history as one of the best cricketers of all time.
Ricky Ponting has insisted he still has fight left in him and has not contemplated quitting as captain of his nation's team. Nevertheless, he may be just one test defeat away from becoming the first Australian captain in 120 years to lose three Ashes
Ponting turns 36 on December 19. He is the first to admit that he has not been at the top of his game with the bat lately and his team are struggling, trailing England 1-0 in the five-match series with three tests remaining. An England victory in the next test could see England retain the Ashes in Australia.
"My absolute focus is on all the things within my control, preparing the team and myself to perform at our very best in Perth, Melbourne and then Sydney over the next three tests," Ponting wrote in the Australian newspaper Saturday.
"I have not stopped for one moment to consider retirement. The question of my future as captain is ultimately a decision for Cricket Australia and categorically the future of Australian cricket must come first.
"I have every confidence in my ability to score runs and be the experienced batsman and leader that my teammates can rely on."
"As captain, I am accountable for the performance of my team and I accept that our most recent results mean that I am being assessed more critically than at other times in my career as captain.
"The team is my priority, not my own ego or the status that comes with being the captain of the Australian cricket team."
Ponting on his preparation and batting, added, "We've been ordinary, we've played poorly. I haven't played the way I would like to have played, especially in Adelaide, but I don't think I'm that far away.
"I've got to keep trusting the way I prepare and play and keep working hard. If anything I might have worked a bit too hard on my batting over the last couple of weeks."
England spinner Graeme Swann has played down speculation that Legendary Australian bowler Shane Warne will come back out of retirement for the remainder or the Ashes tour.
"I very much doubt that Shane Warne would come out of retirement to play just in these three games," said Swann.
Much of the media has suggested that Australia's all-time leading wicket taker could return to Test cricket after England's dominant innings-and-71-run win in Adelaide and Australia going 1-0 down in the series after the second test.
"It's very good for us that the Aussies are doing this and the Aussie public are looking for Shane to get back in.
"He's not played any cricket for so long. We'll just carry on as we are and let the Aussies worry about that."
England Captain Andrew Strauss and opening partner Alastair Cook helped steer England towards a draw. Both players hit centuries with Strauss notching up (110) and Cook (132 not out). A half-century from Jonathan Trott once Strauss was dismissed by Marcus North helped put England on course to escape the Gabba with an unexpected draw against Australia.
The tourists had reached 309-1, giving them a lead of 88, in their second innings when bad light ended play. Both Strauss and Cook almost cleared the deficit after Australia totalled an impressive 481 in the 1st innings.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Andrew Strauss said: "It was obviously important the two of us stood up and batted for the majority of the day. That gives us the psychological advantage going into tomorrow.
"Last night was pretty tricky so coming out this morning the ball was a bit older. It's always important you don't go too much into your shell."
Strauss was determined to bounce back after getting out to just the third ball on the opening day of the series on Thursday.
He said: "It was probably one of the worst feelings I have had in cricket following all the build-up to the game."
Cook has been clocking up the runs; he hit 132 to a half-century in the first innings, He Said: "It was very satisfying. I said at the start of the tour I had a point to prove. In my last two series against Australia I hadn't done that well.
"Over the last 12 months I've had a bit of a tinker with my technique and tried to improve it. The results today, I'm very happy with."
England were bowled out for 260 on the first innings of the first Ashes test at Gabba, Ian Bell admitted England's performance was below par. Andrew Strauss opted to bat first after winning the toss and England loss their captain on the third ball. Things went from bad to worst as Peter Siddle claimed a hat-trick on his way to a six-wicket haul as England were skittled for 260.
Ian Bell reached 76 and Alaistar Cook notching up 67 was the only highlight of the innings for England.
"It was certainly under par," he told Sky Sports News. "But we have to give credit to Siddle. He bowled a brilliant spell.
On winning the toss:
"It was the right decision to bat but it did a bit today."
Bell came into the Test on the back of some impressive performances in the warm-up matches - including his 192 against Australia A in Hobart - and he paid tribute to England batting coach Graham Gooch for helping him improve his batting.
"It was nice to get runs on day one of an Ashes series and hopefully we come back tomorrow and have a good day," he said.
"The experience I have gained over the last couple of years I have put into my game recently and hopefully I can carry on this form for a while now.
"Graham Gooch has really helped my cricket. He has put some things into my game and hopefully I can carry on like this with my form now."
England batsman Jonathan Trott is confident the team will do well at the Ashes in Australia, as an English cricketer, winning the Ashes Down-Under is the biggest prize. The rivalry between the two countries in Cricket has brought about some of the best games of Cricket ever seen.
Trott's first taste of the Ashes came at the oval in 2009, hitting a second-innings century to help England win the series and now he wants to help regain the Ashes in Australia's back yard.
Could they regain the Ashes?
Trott said, "People that you speak to who have been on past tours say that, as an Englishman coming out here on an Ashes tour, it's the ultimate,"
"You come here with your eyes open expecting the toughest - you prepare for that so you are ready for whatever comes your way.
He added, "Coming here, wanting to do well, the team is expected to do well - and I want to contribute to that.
"I've prepared for all eventualities. I'm not going to change the way I prepare because that is what has made me successful in the past - so it would be foolish to change."
Anyone for cricket? Number 91 on our list of the top 100 sports stars is Adam Gilchrist, who otherwise goes by the nicknames of Church or Gilly. He is the first but not the last cricketer to appear but this guy is not yet retired from the game and has redefined the role of the Australian national cricket team.
Born in 1971, Glichrist is an attacking left-handed batsman but it is for his wicket keeping that he holds world records. He is the current holder of the record for the most dismissals by a wicket keeper by an Australian in test cricket and in One Day Internationals. He is generally thought to be one of the best ever wicket-keeper-batsman combinations in the history of the sport of cricket.
There is more – he is the only player ever to have hit 100 (that’s ONE HUNDRED) sixes in Test Cricket. Not only that, he has 17 Test centuries under his belt as well as 16 ODIs. As a player who was destined to be primarily a wicket keeper, that is some achievement.
He also has a unique record – the only player ever to score a minimum of fifty runs in successive World Cup finals (99, 03 and 07) and has actually won three titles – one of only three players to do so.
At the age of 17, Adam Gilchrist spent a summer with Richmond Cricket Club in London. He performed so well that he was interviewed by the regional BBC Sports Reporter, Michael Wale.
He has sometimes gone against the grain of the establishment in as much as he is a self-confessed walker. That is, occasionally he disagrees with the umpire, who says he is in – and walks off! Fair is fair, however, a player is more likely to know when they are out than the umpire yet many would make the contrary decision. Not so Gilchrist.
His first class debut was in 1992 and his first ODI (One Day International) debut followed four years later, with his Test debut in 99. He has played for his home nation in 96 test matches and getting on for 300 ODIs. In both forms he was Australia’s Vice-captain and captained the team when the regular captains were unavailable.
Here is Adam Gilchrist smashing a century in 57 balls in the Ashes 3rd test. He is the second fastest behind Viv Richards.
Although he has now retired from International cricket he still plays for the Indian Premier League with the Deccan Chargers. He was made captain in 2009 and led the team to the Twenty20 title in the same year.
It was his style of attack batting that was key to Australia’s ODI successes when he was a member of the team, and as such it was Gilchrist who invariably opened the batting. For a wicket keeper his batting average is more than reasonable – in the upper 40s in tests with a Test strike rate of 82 runs for every 100 balls and he is renowned for batting shots to every area of the field in a dynamic and consistent manner.
Outside of the sport Gilchrist serves as an ambassador for the World Vision charity in India – a country in which he is immensely popular.
Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is the right man to lead the side against England in the Ashes, according to former leg-spinner Shane Warne.
Ponting has come under some fierce criticism from former players after their 2-0 series loss to India, which saw the Aussies slump to fifth in the test rankings, with suggestions that he should relinquish his test captaincy position
Warne had questioned Ponting's tactics on Twitter during Australia's second test in Bangalore with tweeting:
"How the hell can Hauritz bowl to this field?"
"Feeling for Hauritz, terrible!! What are these tactics? Sorry Ricky, but what are you doing?"
Warne attempted to defuse his comments, saying they were not a criticism but an observation as he watched the match unfold.
"My tweet about Ricky's fields for Nathan Hauritz for (two) overs has been portrayed as a rift between myself and the Australian captain and journos have tried to start a slanging match between us; what rubbish," Warne wrote on his personal website www.shanewarne.com
"Commentators on the match, cricket journalists and even the Indian captain, MS Dhoni, have agreed with my tweet. It was an observation, not an attack!
"I have and always will support the Australian cricket team but, as a cricket commentator, I have to be honest, forthright and express my opinion. If people don't like it so be it."
"Ricky, to me, is the right man to lead Australia for the Ashes," Warne wrote of the series that begins on November 25 at the Gabba in Brisbane. "It's a great opportunity for him to show his leadership and captaincy skills.
"He also looks in super touch with the bat. I am sure he's going to fill his boots this summer.
"This Ashes series is going to be the biggest of his and the Australian team's career.
"I think Ricky is at his best when he shows his Tassie devil side which is, aggressive with a dash of flair."
Kevin Pietersen has apologised for his twitter rant, the 30-year-old batsman announced he had been dropped via Twitter, England's batsman has now said sorry and hopes to put that matter behind him. But key figures is cricket have hit out at the way Pietersen has handle the news of being dropped.
Pietersen added, "It came out in the way that I didn't want it to come out,"
"It wasn't meant for the public domain, I apologise for it entering the public domain and I also want to apologise for the language I used." he said.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan criticised Pietersen while speaking on BBC 5 Live radio,
"What he did on his Twitter account was totally wrong,"
"I think that's something Kevin will regret for a long time. I actually think that England have managed it in a good way.
"They feel that he needs more cricket and a couple of four-day games rather than playing the one-day series against Pakistan just to get that form and feel for batting again.
"I don't see it as a dropping. I just see it as the management of a player who needs to be playing more of the longer format of the game than the one day to try to get him into some kind of form leading into the winter."
The Australian cricket team have collapsed on day one for the second test at Headingley against Pakistan.
Austrailia were all out for 88.
The Aussies won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision which could come back to haunt them to say the least.
After the problems the Pakistanis had previously, with Captain Shahid Afridi retiring the other day, perhaps the Australians thought they were in for an easy match. However, the Pakistani team today came out fighting, removing all the Aussies for 88. Ouch.
Image Credit Flickr User Library of Congress
Image Credit Flickr User Library of Congress 
