The Oxford companion to Australian sport

Australia is a nation of sporting enthusiasts, as famous throughout the world for its athletes as for its sporting obsessions. The Oxford Companion to Australian Sport is the first authoritative and encyclopaedic reference on sport in Australia. Produced by the Australian Society for Sports History, in association with the Australian Sports Commission, The Oxford Companion to Australian Sport provides the first cohesive overview of the temper and development of the innumerable codes that constitute the Australian sporting character. Associate Professor Wray Bamplew and his four co-editors - all noted sports historians and authors - provide readers with almost 1000 entries on everything from 'Bodyline' to pigeon-racing. All sports are covered, not just the major ones like cricket, Australian Rules, rugby, lawn tennis and horse-racing. The Companion offers succinct and informative entries on orienteering, parachuting, hang-gliding and korfball, as well as countless short entries on famous and influential sportsmen and women, and on significant institutions, competitions and venues. The Companion also offers major thematic essays on crucial aspects of the history, proliferation and in