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He had one of those natures which called to you and in whose presence you felt it was good to live. Thus wrote Frank Iredale of Victor Trumper, his colleague on the 1899 Australian tour of England. Many contemporaries echoed Iredales sentiments and in the 101 years since Trumpers death from Brights disease, his reputation has grown to legend. Cricket writers have strived and sometimes strained to express their admiration of his batsmanship yet none of them come close to that picture in capturing the elusive magic.George Beldams 1905 image Jumping out for a straight drive is surely the most famous photograph in the history of cricket. Certainly it is the most reproduced, for it has appeared on the covers of countless books and on letterheads and posters; it has been sculpted, etched, reprinted and woven; it has even been the symbol for an internet chat room.And in 1975 it appeared on page 89 of Great Australian Cricket Pictures, where it first came to the notice of a young Gideon Haigh. Thus began a 40-year fascination with Trumper that has culminated in Stroke of Genius, which in the authors words is an iconography, a study of Trumpers valence in crickets mythology and imagery.It could be argued that Haigh has sold himself a little short there. For his latest book is more than a study in polysemy and its related fields, invaluable though that is. Stroke of Genius includes passages on the early history of photography, the development of cricket in Australia and the changing ways in which Australian writers like Jack Fingleton viewed the game. And it is perhaps appropriate that a cricketer whose method was exclusively his own is the chief subject of a book that defies easy classification.But if the librarians at Lords or the MCG are uncertain as to which section Stroke of Genius properly belongs, there need be no doubt about its quality. This may be the book Haigh was destined to write, and he has not been overawed by the occasion. While one might quibble at the absence of an index, one enjoys everything else.It is not only Haighs familiarity with his material that makes this book a triumph. He has three qualities rarely found in conjunction: he is a very good scholar, a very fine writer, and he also understands that what he describes is often best understood in its wider non-cricketing context.The sections in the book where these skills were most interestingly in evidence, at least to this reviewer, were those on photography. Again this is only fitting given that the centrepiece of the book is that wonderful moment of incipience captured by Beldam 111 years ago. Haigh begins the relevant chapter with a quotate from Emile Zola that could serve as an epigraph to the whole book.I dont think you can really say you have seen something until you have taken a photograph of it, which reveals all the details you would not otherwise have noticed - and which in most case cannot even be seen. Soon afterwards the reader is learning about gelatine emulsions, focal-plane shutters and the other innovations by which Beldam sought to refine photographic technique, and that would lead to the production of Great Batsmen: Their Methods at a Glance, which was published with text by CB Fry in 1905 and which included the famous image of the best batsman in the world at that time. Thus an English photographer, who like Trumper followed his own method, helped preserve the powerful image that was used as Australia sought to free itself from colonial associations and establish its independence.Trumper lifted [cricket] to a level of art beyond the reach of all but himself, wrote Bede Nairn in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. And, in achieving this, he reworked the charter of cricket from a Victorian artefact into an Edwardian palimpsest, with spacious Australian flourishes all but replacing the English script. The nature and variety of further Australian flourishes inspired by Trumper, a few of them rather eccentric, are carefully chronicled by Haigh in this rich and rewarding book. So rewarding, indeed, that one wonders whether another edition might be published, rather following the example of Edmund de Waals wonderful The Hare with the Amber Eyes, in which all the photographs, some of which seem a trifle cramped in the current version, could be reproduced in full clarity.That, though, is another cavil at excellence. For the moment, anyone remotely interested in why players like Steve Waugh were so interested in the style of cap worn by Trumper can do no better than buy Haighs book. It will take them back to that glorious image of an Australian cricketer who took the art of batting and reinvented it after his own fashion.You know that photograph. It just sits in your mind and your memory, said former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd on dedicating the SCGs Trumper Stand in December, 2008. Yes, thats right, it really does. Get the modest acceptance speeches ready, Gideon. 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VERMILLION, S.D. -- Sean McGuire found Joey Borsellino for a 2-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal with 32 seconds left and Western Illinois battled back from a 31-14 halftime deficit to beat South Dakota 35-34 on Saturday.McGuires game-winner capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive that included a 28-yard completion to Jaelon Acklin on fourth-and-10.Leading 34-28, South Dakota was driving to ice the game when Trevor Bouma fumbled on third-and-goal from the 1 with 4:35 left, setting up the Leathernecks final possession.McGuire finished with 286 yards passing with two scores passing and another rushing.dddddddddddd Steve McShane added 112 yards rushing and a TD for Western Illinois (6-2, 3-2 Missouri Valley).Trailing 14-10, the Coyotes (4-4, 3-2) scored 21 unanswered points to take a 31-14 lead at the half. Chris Streveler found Dakarai Allen from 7-yards out, and then capped the run with a 1-yard TD plunge.Streveler finished with 373 yards passing, 102 rushing, and three total touchdowns. 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