Albert Ernest Knight (8 October 1872 – 25 April 1946) was an English professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

player. He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. From 1895 until 1912 he played for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

as a somewhat dour batsman in a generally weak team. He represented England in three matches of the 1903–04 Ashes series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, with a highest score of 70 not out at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He had had his most successful domestic season in 1903, scoring 1834 runs at an average of 45.85,'' Wisden'' 1948, p. 789. including his highest score of 229 not out against Worcestershire. A. A. Thomson saw his innings of 147 against Yorkshire at Sheffield when Leicestershire were following-on, made in his final season of 1912. He wrote: "His batting was unencumbered by frills, but strong and solid, attuned to the difficulties of the situation. Albert was a man of admirable character and a Methodist local preacher." His most important contribution to the game was a book, ''The Complete Cricketer'', published in 1906. Sir Derek Birley, in his ''A Social History of English Cricket'', described it as "a masterpiece of its kind, stuffed full of learned observations in weighty prose". '' Wisden'' called it "grandiose in style, containing much startling metaphor". After retirement, Knight was cricket coach at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

, where his portrait in oils was painted by the art teacher, Kyffin Williams.

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* 1872 births 1946 deaths Cricket historians and writers England Test cricketers English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers London County cricketers People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers from Leicester Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players of the South cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers {{England-Test-cricket-bio-stub