Cutting Edge Cricket

Frank Pyke has been involved in elite sport development as a sport scientist and administrator in Australia for more than 30 years. He played cricket at first-grade district level in Western Australia, developed and supervised fast bowler Dennis Lillee’s rehabilitation program after a back injury that threatened his career, and coordinated the fitness programs for the Australian team in preparation for World Series Cricket during the late 1970s. Frank has also been the editor of all three editions of the textbooks for the national coaching accreditation program in Australia in 1980, 1991 and 2001.

Following an academic career in several Australian universities, Frank became the inaugural executive director of the Victorian Institute of Sport in Melbourne in 1990. He retired from full-time work in 2006 and is currently involved in teaching and facilitating courses in sport development, leadership and management in universities and the sport industry. He holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Western Australia and a PhD in exercise physiology and human performance from Indiana University.

Ken Davis has played and coached cricket at the first-grade level in both Western Australia and Victoria for most of his life. Ken is a trained physical educator who understands the needs of elite, youth and club cricketers. He also has a background in sport psychology, which he draws on in his coverage of mental skills and preparation in this book. He taught human movement and physical education at Deakin University in Geelong, Victoria, for more than 20 years, and he has worked for Cricket Victoria since 2001.

Ken has a master’s degree from the University of Western Australia; his thesis was titled Fast Bowling in Cricket. He also has a PhD in sport psychology from Florida State University. Ken is currently working as a sport science consultant and is a member of the Cricket Coaches Association. He won the Coach of the Year award in 2005 through the Victorian Sports Awards.