Nasser Hussain
Vijay Hazare
Vivian Richards
Great Sportsmen Aren't Perfect!
Farokh Engineer
Gundappa Viswanath
Glenn McGrath
Andy Roberts
Rahul Dravid
Kapildev Nikhanj
Syed Kirmani
Doug Walters
Fergie Gupte
Ladhabhai N. Amar Singh
Imran Khan Niazi
Adam Craig Gilchrist
VVS Laxman
Vishwanath's Humour
Geoff Boycott
Anil Kumble
On the other side of a slump is victory!
Richie Benaud
Shane Keith Warne
Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji
Sir Donald George Bradman
Dilip Narayan Sardesai
Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell
Are you a Winner or a Quitter?
Garfield St. Aubrun Sobers
Dennis Keith Lillee
Sir Len
Summer Tips
Myth No. 10
Myth No. 9
Myth No. 8
Myth No. 7
Sir Neville Cardus
Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar
Myth No 6
Focus on Dreams
Martina Navratilova
Stephen Rodger Waugh
Myth No. 5
David Gower's Curry
Practice to Perfect!
Bhagwat Subramaniam Chandrasekhar
Myth No. 4
Myth No. 3
Failure
Anju George
Sanjay Vijay Manjrekar
Myth No. 2
Steffi Graf
Arthur Mailey
Laws of Success in Sport
Lala Amarnath
Myth No. 1
Sachin Slogs, but Smiles too!
Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi
Mulvantrai Himatlal 'Vinoo' Mankad
Building Muscles
Intimidating Opponents
Muhammad Ali
Baichung Bhutia
Sandeep Madhusudan Patil
Finding Time
Derek Randall
Ronaldo
Sanath Jayasuriya
Stretching
Step outside comfort zone
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Ajit Laxman Wadekar
Stay in the Present
Pahelam Ratanji Umrigar
Pele
John McEnroe
Lance Armstrong
Marion Jones
Tiger Woods
Bob Beamon
Flexibility
Speed and Agility
Heart Endurance
Muscle Endurance
Muscle Power
Muscle Strength
Wilma Rudolph
Teofilo Stevenson
Sergei Bubka
Raymond Ewry
P.T.Usha
Paavo Nurmi
Naim Suleimanov
Nadia Comaneci
Milo of Kroton
Milkha Singh
Mark Spitz
Leander Paes
Lasse Viren
Johnny Weissmuller
Jim Thorpe
Jesse Owens
James B. Connolly
Irina Kirzenstein
Greg Louganis
Florence Griffith Joyner
Fanny Blankers-Koen
Emil Zatopek
Edwin Moses
Dick Fosbury
Dhyan Chand
Dawn Fraser
Daley Thompson
Carl Lewis
Bob Beamon
Babe Didrikson
Al Oerter
Abebe Bikila
Dhanraj Pillay
David Beckham
Serena Williams
Steve Ovett
Alec Bedser
Donald Bradman
You are Your Dreams
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Viswanathan Anand
Prakash Padukone
Sunil Gavaskar
Alan Knott
Godfrey Evans
Jeffrey Thomson
Mohinder Amarnath
Clive Lloyd
Javagal Srinath
Stanley McCabe
Michael Ferreira
Sourav Ganguly
Sachin Tendulkar
Trueman's Wit
Jesse Owens
Fred Spofforth & the Ashes
Enthusiasm
Inspirational Poem
Dhyan Chand

Fred Spofforth & the Ashes

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Australia had beaten England in the first ever Test match played at Melbourne in 1877. A series of test matches were played in the interim. However, when Australia beat England at The Oval in 1882, it was regarded as a national disaster in England. A mock obituary appeared in the Sporting Times the next day.




It read:

In affectionate remembrance of English Cricket Which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882, Deeply lamented by the large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B.- The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia

In this match, England had been set 85 runs to win, but a superb spell of fast bowling from Fred Spofforth 'The Demon Bowler' left them groping by seven runs. He had captured 14 wickets for 90 runs in the match.

The following winter, England won the Test series in Australia. At a dinner before the England team's departure, skipper Ivo Bligh had promised to bring back the 'ashes of English cricket'. After the decider, some ladies burnt a stump, sealed its ashes in an urn and presented it to the England skipper. Thus began the great tradition of 'the Ashes'. The urn stands in the Memorial Gallery at Lord's, even if Australia wins them.

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last updated on: 5/16/2021