Bodyline - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...

, was a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

ing tactic devised by the English cricket team

English cricket team

The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...

for their 1932–33 Ashes

The Ashes

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting

Batting (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...

skill of Australia's Don Bradman

Donald Bradman

Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...

. A bodyline delivery was one where the cricket ball

Cricket ball

A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...

was pitched short

Good length ball

A good length ball is a type of delivery in cricket that pitches at a distance from the batsman that makes it difficult to score runs. Furthermore, such a delivery is difficult for the batsman to judge whether to play on the back-foot or on the front-foot...

so as to rise towards the body of the batsman on the line of the leg stump

Stump (cricket)

Stump is a term used in the sport of cricket where it has three different meanings:# part of the wicket# a manner of dismissing a batsman# the end of the day's play .-Part of the wicket:...

, in the hope of creating leg-side

Leg side

The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...

deflections that could be caught by one of several fielders

Fielding (cricket)

Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...

in the quadrant of the field behind square leg

Fielding (cricket)

. This was considered by many to be intimidatory and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a game once supposed to have gentlemanly traditions, but commercialisation of the game has subsequently tended to elevate the principle of 'win at all costs' above traditional ideals of sportsmanship.

Although no serious injuries arose from any short-pitched deliveries while a leg theory

Leg theory

Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket....

field was set, the tactic still led to considerable ill feeling between the two teams, with the controversy eventually spilling into the diplomatic arena. Over the next two decades, several of the Laws of Cricket

Laws of cricket

The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...

were changed to prevent this tactic being repeated. Law 41.5 states At the instant of the bowler's delivery there shall not be more than two fielders, other than the wicket-keeper, behind the popping crease on the on side, commonly referred to as being "behind square leg". Additionally, Law 42.6(a) includes: The bowling of fast short pitched balls is dangerous and unfair if the umpire at the bowler's end considers that by their repetition and taking into account their length, height and direction they are likely to inflict physical injury on the striker...'

The occasional short-pitched ball aimed at the batsman (a bouncer

Bouncer (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...

) has never been illegal and is still in widespread use as a tactic.

Genesis

The Australian cricket team

Australian cricket team

The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...

toured England in 1930. Australia won the five-Test

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

series 2–1, with Don Bradman scoring 974 runs

Run (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...

at a batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

of 139.14, an aggregate record that still stands. By the time of the next Ashes series of 1932–33, Bradman's average hovered around 100, approximately twice that of all other world-class batsmen. England feared that without resorting to drastic tactics, they might not be able to defeat Australia until Bradman—then aged 24— retired, something that might be over a decade away. It was believed that something new was required to combat Bradman, but it was believed more likely that Bradman could be dismissed by leg-spin as Walter Robins

Walter Robins

Robert Walter Vivian Robins was a dynamic English cricketer and footballer.Walter Robins was born in Stafford and was educated at Highgate School and Cambridge University. He played football for Nottingham Forest and first-class cricket for Middlesex, Cambridge University and England...

and Ian Peebles

Ian Peebles

Ian Alexander Ross Peebles was a cricketer who played for Oxford University, Middlesex, Scotland and England. After retiring from cricket he became a cricket writer, working as a journalist on The Sunday Times and as the author of many books on cricket.Peebles had one of the strangest...

had supposedly caused him problems; two leg-spinners were included in the English touring party of 1932–33. This view gradually came to change leading up to 1932.

The idea of bodyline had originated in the Oval Test of the 1930 Ashes series. While Bradman was batting, the wicket became briefly difficult following rain. Bradman was seen to be uncomfortable facing deliveries which bounced higher than usual at a faster pace, being seen to step back out of the line of the ball. Former England and Surrey captain Percy Fender

Percy Fender

Percy George Herbert Fender was an English all-round cricketer who played 13 Tests for England. He was a middle order batsman and bowled mainly leg spin.-Biography:...

was one who noticed, and the incident was much discussed by cricketers. However, given that Bradman scored 232, it was not thought that a way to curb his prodigious scoring had been found. When Douglas Jardine

Douglas Jardine

Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...

later saw film footage of the Oval incident and noticed Bradman's discomfort, he shouted, "I've got it! He's yellow!" Further details which added to the plan came from letters Fender received from Australia in 1932 which described how Australian batsmen were increasingly moving across the stumps towards the off side to play the ball on the on side. Fender showed these letters to Jardine when it became clear that he was to captain the MCC in Australia during the 1932-33 tour, and he also discussed Bradman's discomfort at the Oval. It was also known in England that Bradman was dismissed for a four-ball duck

Duck (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...

by fast bowler Eddie Gilbert

Eddie Gilbert (cricketer)

Eddie Gilbert was a Queensland Aboriginal cricketer. He was an exceptionally fast bowler.-Early years:...

, and looked very uncomfortable. Bradman had also appeared uncomfortable against the pace of Sandy Bell

Sandy Bell

Alexander John Bell , also known as Sandy Bell, was a South African cricketer who played in 16 Tests from 1929 to 1935. He was born in East London, Cape Province in 1906 and died there in 1985....

in his innings of 299 not out, when the desperate bowler decided to bowl short to him, and South African Herbie Taylor

Herbie Taylor

Herbert Wilfred Taylor MC was a South African cricketer who played 42 Tests for his country including 18 as captain of the side. Specifically a batsman, he was an expert on the matting pitches which were prevalent in South Africa at the time and scored six of his seven centuries at home...

, according to Jack Fingleton

Jack Fingleton

John "Jack" Henry Webb Fingleton OBE was an Australian cricketer who was trained as a journalist and became a political and cricket commentator after the end of his playing career...

, may have mentioned this to English cricketers in 1932. Fender felt Bradman might be vulnerable to fast, short-pitched deliveries on the line of leg stump. Jardine felt that Bradman was afraid to stand his ground against intimidatory bowling, citing instances in 1930 when he shuffled about, contrary to orthodox batting technique.

When Jardine was appointed England's captain

English national cricket captains

This is a list of all English national cricket captains, comprising all of the men, boys and women who have captained an English national cricket team at official international level. England played in the first Test match in 1877 and have played more Test matches, and had more captains, than any...

for the 1932–33 English tour of Australia, a meeting was arranged with Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

captain Arthur Carr and his two fast bowler

Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...

s Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....

and Bill Voce

Bill Voce

Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...

at London's Piccadilly Hotel to discuss a plan to combat Bradman's extraordinary skills. Jardine asked Larwood and Voce if they could bowl on leg stump

Stump (cricket)

Stump is a term used in the sport of cricket where it has three different meanings:# part of the wicket# a manner of dismissing a batsman# the end of the day's play .-Part of the wicket:...

and make the ball come up into the body of the batsman. The bowlers agreed they could, and that it might prove effective. Jardine also visited Frank Foster who had toured Australia in 1911–12 to discuss field-placing in Australia. Foster had bowled leg-theory on that tour with his fielders placed close in on the leg side, as had George Hirst in 1903–04.

A cordon of close-in fielders

Fielding (cricket)

would be arrayed behind the wicket and on the leg side

Leg side

to exploit batting errors elicited by this bowling line

Line and length

Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...

. In these circumstances, a batsman can either duck and risk being hit, or play the ball. Defensive shots rarely score runs and risk being caught in the cordon, while the pull and hook shots can result in a catch on the boundary, for which two men were usually set in "leg-theory" bowling. Leg theory had been practised previously without resort to short-pitched bowling, usually by slow

Spin bowling

Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...

or medium-pace bowlers. This type of leg theory was aimed outside the line of leg stump; the object being to test the batsman's patience and force a rash stroke. It was occasionally an effective tactic, but was unattractive for spectators and never became widely used except by a handful of specialists such as Fred Root

Fred Root

Charles Frederick Root was an English cricketer who played for England in 1926 and for Derbyshire between 1910 to 1920 and for Worcestershire between 1921 and 1932.- Early career :...

, the Worcestershire

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

bowler and Warwick Armstrong

Warwick Armstrong

Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...

, the former Australian captain.

However, there had been instances of what would later be recognised as bodyline prior to 1932. In 1925, Australian Jack Scott

John Scott (cricketer)

John Drake Scott was an Australian cricketer and Test match umpire. Scott played as a right-arm fast bowler and was also a useful lower-order right-handed batsman. He was the first man to dismiss Don Bradman in first-class cricket, in December 1927...

first bowled a form of bodyline in a state match for New South Wales, but his captain Herbie Collins

Herbie Collins

Herbert Leslie Collins was an Australian cricketer who played 19 Tests between 1921 and 1926. An all-rounder, he captained the Australian team in eleven Tests, winning five, losing two with another four finishing in draws...

disliked it and would not let him use it again when he was captain. Other Australian captains were less particular, including Vic Richardson

Vic Richardson

Victor York Richardson OBE was a leading Australian sportsman of the 1920s and 1930s, captaining the Australian cricket team and the South Australian Australian rules football team, representing Australia in baseball and South Australia in golf, winning the South Australian state tennis title and...

who let him use those tactics when he moved to South Australia. He repeated them against the MCC in 1928–29. In 1927

1927 English cricket season

Five years before Bodyline, top of the averages in the 1927 English cricket season were Douglas Jardine and Harold Larwood. The season is notable for being the last one to date in which there was no Test series, apart from the years of World War II and 1970 .-Honours:*County...

, in a Test trial match, "Nobby" Clark

Edward Clark (cricketer)

Edward Winchester 'Nobby' Clark was a Northamptonshire cricketer of the inter-war period during which they were one of the weakest counties ever to play in the County Championship...

bowled short to a leg-trap field. He was representing England in a side captained by Jardine. In 1928–29, Harry Alexander

Harry Alexander

Harry Houston "Bull" Alexander was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test match, the fifth of the 1933 "bodyline series" against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as a fast, right-arm opening bowler.He played for Victoria in 41 Sheffield Shield matches between 1928 and 1936, plus 89...

bowled an early form of bodyline at the MCC tourists. Larwood used a form of bodyline on that same tour, bowling fast leg theory to a leg-side field in two Test matches, although not with the same intensity and duration as came later. Bob Wyatt

Bob Wyatt

Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....

later claimed that Learie Constantine

Learie Constantine

Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...

unsuccessfully used bodyline in 1929–30 in the West Indies.

Larwood and Voce practised the plan over the remainder of the 1932 season

1932 English cricket season

The 1932 English cricket season saw the beginning of England's Test matches against India. A team known as "All-India" toured, with one Test played, 25 other first-class matches and 12 lesser games...

with varying but increasing success and several injuries to batsmen. Ken Farnes

Ken Farnes

Kenneth Farnes was an English cricketer. He played in 15 Tests from 1934 to 1939.Farnes was born in Leytonstone, Essex, and was educated at the Royal Liberty School in Gidea Park. He made his first-class debut for Essex in 1930, aged only 19. He took 5-36 in his second county match against Kent...

experimented with short-pitched, leg-theory bowling but was not selected for the tour. Bill Bowes

Bill Bowes

Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...

also used short-pitched bowling, notably against Jack Hobbs

Jack Hobbs

Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....

Antipathy between Australians and Jardine

Jardine's first experience against Australia came when his Oxford University

Oxford University Cricket Club

Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...

team played against the 1921 Australian touring side

Australian cricket team in England in 1921

Australia won the 1921 Ashes series held in England. They won the first three matches against England, which meant that they had won eight in succession, an unequalled sequence in Ashes Tests, following the 5-0 drubbing they had administered to England in the 1920-21 season in Australia...

. In the second innings, Jardine was 96 not out when the game ended, having batted his team to safety. The tourists were criticised in the press for not allowing Jardine to reach his hundred, but they had tried to help him with some easy bowling. There has been speculation that this incident helped develop Jardine's antipathy towards Australians, although Christopher Douglas denies this. Cricket historian David Frith

David Frith

David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...

believed it is possible that the abrasive Australian captain Warwick Armstrong

Warwick Armstrong

could have addressed sarcastic comments to Jardine but Wisden believed his slow approach cost him his century.

Regardless of what happened in 1921, Jardine's conflicts with Australia solidified after he was selected to tour the country in 1928–29. He began the tour with three consecutive hundreds. During the first century, the crowd engaged in some good-natured joking at Jardine's expense, but he was jeered by the crowd during his second hundred for batting too slowly. Jardine accelerated after another slow start, during which he was again barracked to score his third century. The crowds took an increasing dislike to him, mainly for his superior attitude and bearing, his awkward fielding, and particularly his choice of headwear. His first public action in South Australia was to take out the members of the South Australian team who had been to Oxford or Cambridge Universities. Then, he wore a Harlequin cap, given to successful cricketers at Oxford. It was not unusual for Oxford and Cambridge cricketers to wear similar caps while batting, as both Jardine and MCC captain Percy Chapman

Percy Chapman

Arthur Percy Frank Chapman was an English cricketer who captained England to a then English-record-equalling seven consecutive Test match wins, a record that was not surpassed until Michael Vaughan's team won eight in a row in 2004...

did so on this tour, although it was slightly unorthodox to wear them while fielding. However, this was neither understood nor acceptable to the Australian crowds. They quickly took exception to the importance he seemed to place on class distinction. Although Jardine may simply have worn the cap out of superstition, it conveyed a negative impression to the spectators; his general demeanour drew one comment of "Where's the butler to carry the bat for you?" Jardine's cap became a focus for criticism and mockery from the crowds throughout the tour. Nevertheless, Jack Fingleton

Jack Fingleton

John "Jack" Henry Webb Fingleton OBE was an Australian cricketer who was trained as a journalist and became a political and cricket commentator after the end of his playing career...

later claimed that Jardine could have won over the crowd by exchanging jokes or pleasantries with them. It is certain that Jardine by this stage had developed an intense dislike for Australian crowds. During his third century at the start of the tour, during a period of abuse from the spectators, he observed to a sympathetic Hunter Hendry

Hunter Hendry

Hunter Scott Thomas Laurie Hendry was a cricketer who played for New South Wales, Victoria and Australia national cricket team.Nicknamed Stork, he was a formidable batsman who bowlers found difficulty in delivering to...

that "All Australians are uneducated, and an unruly mob". After the innings, when teammate Patsy Hendren

Patsy Hendren

Elias Henry Hendren better known as Patsy Hendren was an English cricketer. Patsy was one of the most prolific English batsmen of the period between the wars, averaging 47.63 in his 51 Test matches...

remarked that the Australian crowds did not like Jardine, he replied "It's fucking mutual". During the tour, Jardine fielded next to the crowd on the boundary. There, he was roundly abused and mocked for his awkward fielding, particularly when chasing the ball. On one occasion, he spat towards the crowd while fielding on the boundary as he changed position for the final time.

During the journey to Australia, some players reported that Jardine told them to hate the Australians in order to defeat them, while instructing them to refer to Bradman as "the little bastard." At this stage, he seemed to have settled on leg theory

Leg theory

Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket....

, if not full bodyline, as his main tactic.

Once the team arrived in Australia, Jardine quickly alienated the press by refusing to give team details before a match and being uncooperative during interviews. The press printed some negative stories as a result and the crowds barracked as they had done on his previous tour, which made him angry.

In Australia

Although English bowlers did aim at the batsmen's body in the opening tour matches, they did not follow through by packing the leg-side field until Bill Woodfull

Bill Woodfull

William Maldon "Bill" Woodfull OBE was an Australian cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. He captained both Victoria and Australia, and was best known for his dignified and moral conduct during the tumultuous bodyline series in 1932–33 that almost saw the end of Anglo-Australian cricketing ties...

led an Australian XI against the tourists in Melbourne on 18–22 November, in what was effectively a Test rehearsal. Jardine was rested from that match and his deputy, Bob Wyatt

Bob Wyatt

Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....

, deployed the full bodyline tactics for the first time on the tour. The match was drawn and Woodfull struggled, making 18 and a duck. Utilising his hopping technique and attempting to play unorthodox shots resembling overhead tennis smashes, Bradman failed to make an impact, and England were buoyed ahead of the Tests. Seeing the bruising balls hit the Australian batsmen on several occasions in this game and the next angered the spectators.

The English players and management were consistent in referring to their tactic as fast leg theory considering it to be a variant of the established and unobjectionable leg theory

Leg theory

Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket....

tactic. The inflammatory term "bodyline" was coined and perpetuated by the Australian press. (see below). English writers used the term fast leg theory. The terminology reflected differences in understanding, as neither the English public nor the Board of the Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

(MCC)—the governing body of English cricket—could understand why the Australians were complaining about what they perceived as a commonly used tactic. Some concluded that the Australian cricket authorities and public were sore losers. Of the four fast bowlers in the tour party, Gubby Allen

Gubby Allen

Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...

was a voice of dissent in the English camp, refusing to bowl short on the leg side, and writing several letters home to England critical of Jardine, although he did not express this in public in Australia. A number of other players, while maintaining a united front in public, also deplored bodyline in private. The amateurs Bob Wyatt

Bob Wyatt

Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....

(the vice-captain), Freddie Brown and the Nawab of Pataudi

Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi

Iftikhar Ali Khan , sometimes I.A.K. Pataudi was the 8th Nawab of Pataudi and captain of the Indian cricket team. He was one of few cricketers to have played for two countries, having also played for the English Test side...

opposed it, as did Walter Hammond and Les Ames

Les Ames

Leslie Ethelbert George Ames, CBE was an outstanding wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, the Wisden of 1991 described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time...

among the professionals.

During the season, Woodfull's physical courage, stoic and dignified leadership won him many admirers. He flatly refused to employ retaliatory tactics and did not publicly complain even though he and his men were repeatedly hit.

Australia lost heavily by ten wickets in the first Test at Sydney, when the bowling spearhead of bodyline, Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood

, took ten wickets. Bradman missed the first Test due to illness, although Jardine refused to believe this and thought the real reason was that the batsman had suffered a nervous breakdown

Nervous breakdown

Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...

due to his tactical scheme. The only Australian batsman to make an impact was Stan McCabe

Stan McCabe

Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...

, who resolutely stood his ground and impulsively hooked and pulled everything aimed at his upper body, undeterred by the prospect of taking a potentially lethal blow to the head. He scored 187 not out in four hours, an innings described by leading historian David Frith

David Frith

David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...

as "among the most stirring innings Test cricket has ever produced".

Before the second Test in Melbourne, Woodfull had to wait until minutes before the game before he was confirmed as captain by the selectors. This caused the toss to be delayed and fomented speculation that the Australian Board of Control was considering the possibility of removing Woodfull because of his absolute refusal to allow his bowlers to use retaliatory tactics. His deputy Victor Richardson had advocated retaliation along with several other players. Richardson recalled Woodfull's private response:
The media advocated the selection of Eddie Gilbert

Eddie Gilbert (cricketer)

Eddie Gilbert was a Queensland Aboriginal cricketer. He was an exceptionally fast bowler.-Early years:...

, an indigenous bowler of extreme pace, in order to return the bodyline barrage. In one tour match, Gilbert had bloodied Jardine and left a bruise the size of a saucer. Another suggested means of retaliation was Laurie Nash

Laurie Nash

Laurence John "Laurie" Nash was a Test cricketer and Australian rules footballer. An inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Nash was a member of South Melbourne's 1933 premiership team, captained South Melbourne in 1937 and was the team's leading goal kicker in 1937 and 1945...

, whose notoriously abrasive personality and aggression saw him regarded as a thug. However, Woodfull was totally unmoved by such suggestions.

On the opening day, Bradman wildly hooked at Bill Bowes

Bill Bowes

Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...

first ball (a non-bodyline ball) and was famously out for a golden duck

Duck (cricket)

, leaving the entire stadium in shock. Jardine, who was known for being extremely dour even by the standards of the day, openly exulted and danced wildly upon Bradman's demise. Australia's eventual victory was met by widespread public jubilation, as many believed that Australia had found a means of overcoming the tactics. Bradman scored a match-winning century in the second innings, but it turned out to be his only triple figure score for the series, while Larwood was hampered by a bloodied foot and a slow pitch.

While bodyline was successful as a tactic (England regained the Ashes with a 4–1 margin), Australian crowds regarded it as vicious and unsporting.

The controversy reached its peak during the second day of the Third Test

Third Test, 1932–33 Ashes series

The Third Test of the 1932–33 Ashes series was one of five Tests in a cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide from 13 to 19 January 1933, with a rest day on 15 January...

. On January 14, an all-time record Adelaide Oval

Adelaide Oval

The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...

crowd of 50,962 watched Australia finish off England's first innings. Shortly after the start of Australia's innings, Larwood, bowling to a conventional field setting, struck Woodfull an agonising blow under his heart with a short, lifting delivery. Woodfull was struck when he was bent over his bat and wicket, and not when upright as often imagined. As Woodfull bent down over his bat in pain for several minutes, an image that became one of the defining symbols of the series, the huge crowd began jeering, hooting and verbally abusing the English team. Jardine reacted by saying "Well bowled, Harold." Tension and feelings ran so high that a riot was narrowly averted as police stationed themselves between the players and enraged spectators.

Jardine then ordered his team to move to bodyline positions immediately after Woodfull's injury. Jardine wrote that Larwood had asked for the field, while Larwood said that it was Jardine's decision. The capacity Saturday afternoon crowd viewed this as hitting a man when he was down. Journalist–cricketer Dick Whitington wrote that Jardine's actions were seen as "an unforgivable crime in Australian eyes and certainly no part of cricket". Mass hooting and jeering occurred after almost every ball. Whitington noted that "[Umpire] Hele believes that had what followed occurred in Melbourne the crowd would have leapt the fence and belaboured the English captain, Larwood, and possibly the entire side". Some English players later expressed fears that a large-scale riot could break out and that the police would not be able to stop the irate home crowd, who were worried that Woodfull or Bradman could be killed, from attacking them.

During the over, another rising Larwood delivery knocked the bat out of Woodfull's hands. He battled it out for 89 minutes, collecting more bruises before Allen bowled him for 22. Later in the day, the English team manager Pelham Warner visited the Australian dressing room to express his sympathies to Woodfull. Woodfull had remained calm in public, refusing to complain about Jardine's tactics. Woodfull's abrupt response was meant to be private, but it was leaked

Adelaide leak

The Adelaide leak was the revelation of a dressing-room incident which occurred during the third Test match of the 1932–33 Ashes series between Australia and England, more commonly known as the Bodyline series. During the course of play on 14 January 1933, the Australian Test captain Bill Woodfull...

to the press and became the most famous quotation of this tumultuous period in cricket history:
Woodfull reportedly added "This game is too good to be spoilt. It's time some people got out of it", hinting that he might withdraw his team from competition in protest. Australia's Leo O'Brien

Leo O'Brien

For the former US congressman from New York, see Leo W. O'BrienFor the former Wisconsin politician, see Leo P. O'BrienLeo Patrick Joseph O'Brien was an Australian cricketer who played in 5 Tests from 1932 to 1936.He attended both Xavier College and St Patrick's College, Ballarat....

later reported that Warner was close to tears following Woodfull's rebuke.

The leaking to the press of Woodfull's comments to Warner angered the Australian captain. He had intended the comments to be private, and ill feeling grew in the Australian camp as speculation about who leaked the incident to the press grew and many of the team privately pointed the finger at Bradman. (Bradman strenuously denied that he had been responsible to his dying day; others, including Plum Warner, pointed the finger at Bradman's team-mate and journalist, Jack Fingleton

Jack Fingleton

John "Jack" Henry Webb Fingleton OBE was an Australian cricketer who was trained as a journalist and became a political and cricket commentator after the end of his playing career...

. However, in his autobiography, Fingleton claimed that Sydney Sun reporter Claude Corbett

Claude Corbett

Claude Gordon Corbett was a highly respected Australian sporting journalist who wrote, and was the sporting editor for Sydney's Sun newspaper in the early twentieth century. He also played first-grade rugby for St George, Newtown and Eastern Suburbs...

had received the information from Bradman.)

The next day, Larwood fractured wicket-keeper

Wicket-keeper

The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...

Bert Oldfield

William Albert Stanley "Bert" Oldfield was an Australian cricket player. He played for New South Wales and the Australian cricket team as wicket-keeper....

's skull. This occurred when Oldfield mishit a hook, which flew from the top edge off a traditional non-bodyline ball; Oldfield later admitted it was his fault. As a result of the injuries, the costs of insurance cover for players doubled.

At the end of the fourth day's play the Australian Board of Control for Cricket

Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...

sent the following cable to the MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

in London:

Jardine however insisted his tactic was not designed to cause injury and that he was leading his team in a sportsmanlike and gentlemanly manner, arguing that it was up to the Australian batsmen to play their way out of trouble. He also secretly sent a telegram of sympathy to Oldfield's wife and arranged for presents to be given to his young daughters.

The situation escalated into a diplomatic incident between the countries as the MCC—supported by the British public and still of the opinion that their fast leg theory tactic was harmless—took serious offence at being branded "unsportsmanlike" and demanded a retraction. Many people saw bodyline as fracturing an international relationship that needed to remain strong. Jardine, and by extension the entire English team, threatened to withdraw from the fourth and fifth Tests unless the Australian Board withdrew the accusation of unsporting behaviour. Public reaction in both England and Australia was outrage directed at the other nation. The Governor

Governors of South Australia

The Governor of South Australia is the representative in the Australian state of South Australia of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level.In...

of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, Alexander Hore-Ruthven

Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie

Brigadier General Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie VC, GCMG, CB, DSO & Bar, PC was a British soldier and colonial governor and the tenth Governor-General of Australia. Serving for 9 years and 7 days, he is the longest serving Governor-General in Australia's history...

, who was in England at the time, expressed his concern to British Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs

Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs

The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British cabinet level position created in 1925 responsible for British relations with the Dominions — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free State, as well as the self-governing colony of...

James Henry Thomas

James Henry "Jimmy" Thomas was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks.-Early career and Trade Union activities:...

that this would cause a significant impact on trade between the nations. The standoff was settled only when Australian Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

Joseph Lyons

Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...

met with members of the Australian Board and outlined to them the severe economic hardships that could be caused in Australia if the British public boycotted Australian trade. Given this understanding, the Board withdrew the allegation of unsportsmanlike behaviour two days before the fourth Test, thus saving the tour.

The English team continued to bowl bodyline in the remaining two Tests, but slower pitches meant the Australians, although frequently bruised, sustained no further serious injuries. England won the last three Tests to take the series 4–1.
In the Test matches, Bradman countered bodyline by moving toward the leg side, away from the line of the ball, and cutting it into the vacant off side field. Whilst this was dubious in terms of batting technique

Batting (cricket)

, it seemed the best way to cope with the barrage, and Bradman averaged

Batting average

56.57 in the series (an excellent average for most, but well short of his career average of 99.94), while being struck above the waist by the ball only once. His team-mates fared worse, with only Stan McCabe

Stan McCabe

Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...

scoring a century.

In England

Bodyline continued to be bowled occasionally in the 1933 English season—most notably by Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

, who had Carr, Voce and Larwood in their team. This gave the English crowds their first chance to see what all the fuss was about. Ken Farnes

Ken Farnes

, the Cambridge University

Cambridge University Cricket Club

Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...

fast bowler, also bowled it in the University Match

The University Match (cricket)

The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...

, hitting a few Oxford

Oxford University Cricket Club

Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...

batsmen.

Jardine himself had to face bodyline bowling in a Test match. The West Indian cricket team

West Indian cricket team

The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...

toured England in 1933, and, in the second Test at Old Trafford

Old Trafford (cricket)

Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...

, Jackie Grant

Jackie Grant

George Copeland Grant was a West Indian cricketer who captained the side through several series.Grant was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He captained the West Indies' team in the 1930-31, 1933, 1934-35 series...

, their captain, decided to try bodyline. He had a couple of fast bowlers, Manny Martindale

Manny Martindale

Emmanuel Alfred Martindale was a West Indian cricketer who played in ten Tests from 1933 to 1939. He was a right-arm fast bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman....

and Learie Constantine

Learie Constantine

. Facing bodyline tactics for the first time, England first suffered, falling to 134 for 4, with Wally Hammond

Wally Hammond

Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...

being hit on the chin, though he recovered to continue his innings. Then Jardine himself faced Martindale and Constantine. Jardine never flinched. With Les Ames finding himself in difficulties, Jardine said, "You get yourself down this end, Les. I'll take care of this bloody nonsense." He played right back to the bouncers, standing on tiptoe, and played them with a dead bat, sometimes playing the ball one handed for more control. Whilst the Old Trafford pitch was not as suited to bodyline as the hard Australian wickets, Martindale did take 5 for 73, but Constantine only took 1 for 55. Jardine himself made 127, his only Test century. In the West Indian second innings, Clark bowled bodyline back to the West Indians, taking 2 for 64. The match in the end was drawn but played a large part in turning English opinion against bodyline. The Times used the word bodyline, without using inverted commas or using the qualification so-called, for the first time. Wisden

Wisden

The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...

also said that "most of those watching it for the first time must have come to the conclusion that, while strictly within the law, it was not nice."

In 1934, Bill Woodfull

Bill Woodfull

led Australia back to England on a tour that had been under a cloud after the tempestuous cricket diplomacy of the previous bodyline series. Jardine had retired from International cricket in early 1934 after captaining a fraught tour of India and under England's new Captain, Bob Wyatt

Bob Wyatt

Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....

, agreements were put in place so that bodyline would not be used. However, there were occasions when the Australians felt that their hosts had crossed the mark with tactics resembling bodyline.

In a match between the Australians and Nottinghamshire, Voce, one of the bodyline practitioners of 1932–33, employed the strategy with the wicket-keeper standing to the leg side and took 8/66. In the second innings, Voce repeated the tactic late in the day, in fading light against Woodfull and Bill Brown

Bill Brown (cricketer)

William Alfred "Bill" Brown, OAM was an Australian cricketer who played 22 Tests between 1934 and 1948, captaining his country in one Test. A right-handed opening batsman, his partnership with Jack Fingleton in the 1930s is regarded as one of the finest in Australian Test history...

. Of his 12 balls, 11 were no lower than head height. Woodfull told the Nottinghamshire administrators that, if Voce's leg-side bowling was repeated, his men would leave the field and return to London. He further said that Australia would not return to the county in future. The following day, Voce was absent, ostensibly due to a leg injury. Already angered by the absence of Larwood, the Nottinghamshire faithful heckled the Australians all day. Australia had previously and privately complained that some pacemen had strayed past the agreement in the Tests.

Origin of the term

Although Jack Worrall

Jack Worrall

John "Jack" Worrall was an Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy in the VFA and a test cricketer, a coach of both sports and a sporting journalist....

claimed that he had invented the term "bodyline", it is more likely that it was coined by Sydney journalist Hugh Buggy

Hugh Buggy

Edward Hugh Buggy was a leading journalist well known as an Australian rules football writer covering the Victorian Football League ....

who worked for The Sun in 1932, and who happened to be a colleague of Jack Fingleton

Jack Fingleton

John "Jack" Henry Webb Fingleton OBE was an Australian cricketer who was trained as a journalist and became a political and cricket commentator after the end of his playing career...

. Buggy sent a telegram to his newspaper from the Test after a day's play. As a substitute for "in the line of the body" he used the term "bodyline" to keep the cost down, and the new term quickly became established.

Changes to the Laws of Cricket

As a direct consequence of the 1932–33 tour, the MCC introduced a new rule to the Laws of Cricket

Laws of cricket

in 1935. Specifically, umpires

Umpire (cricket)

In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...

were now given the power—and the responsibility—to intervene if they considered a bowler was deliberately aiming at a batsman with intent to injure.

Some 25 years later, another rule was introduced banning the placement of more than two fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. Although this rule was not principally intended to prevent leg theory, it diluted the potency of short-pitched leg theory, as it allowed for fewer catching positions on the leg side.

Later law changes, under the heading of "Intimidatory Short Pitched Bowling", also restricted the number of "bouncer

Bouncer (cricket)

s" which may be bowled in an over

Over (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....

. Nevertheless, the tactic of intimidating the batsman is still used to an extent that would have been shocking in 1933, although it is less dangerous now because today's players wear helmets and generally far more protective gear. The West Indies teams of the 1980s, which regularly fielded a bowling attack comprising some of the best fast bowlers in cricket history, were perhaps the most feared exponents.

Legacy

Following the 1932–33 series, several authors, including many of the players involved, released books expressing various points of view about bodyline. Many argued that it was a scourge on cricket and must be stamped out, while some did not see what all the fuss was about. The series has been described as the most controversial period in Australian cricket history, and voted the most important Australian moment by a panel of Australian cricket identities.

The MCC asked Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood

to sign an apology to them for his bowling in Australia, making his selection for England again conditional upon it. Larwood was furious at the notion, pointing out that he had been following orders from his upper-class captain, and that was where any blame should lie. Larwood refused, never played for England again, and became vilified in his own country. Douglas Jardine always defended his tactics and in the book he wrote about the tour, In Quest of the Ashes, described allegations that the England bowlers directed their attack with the intention of causing physical harm as stupid and patently untruthful.

Outside the sport, there were significant consequences for Anglo-Australian relations, which remained strained until the outbreak of World War II made cooperation paramount. Business between the two countries was adversely affected as citizens of each country displayed a preference for not buying goods manufactured in the other. Australian commerce also suffered in British colonies in Asia: the North China Daily News published a pro-bodyline editorial, denouncing Australians as sore losers. An Australian journalist reported that several business deals in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

and Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

were lost by Australians because of local reactions.

English immigrants in Australia found themselves shunned and persecuted by locals, and Australian visitors to England were treated similarly. In 1934–35 a statue of Prince Albert in Sydney was vandalised, with an ear being knocked off and the word "BODYLINE" painted on it.

Both before and after World War II, numerous satirical cartoons and comedy skits were written, mostly in Australia, based on events of the bodyline tour. Generally, they poked fun at the English.

In 1984, Australia's Network Ten

Network Ten

Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

produced a television mini-series titled Bodyline

Bodyline (miniseries)

Bodyline is an Australian 1984 television miniseries which dramatised the events of the 1932–1933 English Ashes cricket tour of Australia....

, dramatising the events of the 1932–33 English tour of Australia. It starred Gary Sweet

Gary Sweet

Gary Sweet is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in Alexandra's Project , Police Rescue, Cody, Big Sky, The Battlers, Bodyline and Stingers....

as Don Bradman, Hugo Weaving

Hugo Weaving

Hugo Wallace Weaving is a Nigerian born, English-Australian film actor and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "V" in V for Vendetta, and performances in numerous Australian character dramas.-Early...

as Douglas Jardine, Jim Holt

Jim Holt (actor)

Jim Holt, is a British-born actor who has appeared in many Australian television shows and films.Holt is also a magician, and has had the opportunity to incorporate this talent into some of his television appearances. Well known productions in which he has appeared include "Crocodile" Dundee II, A...

as Harold Larwood, Rhys McConnochie as Pelham Warner, and Frank Thring

Frank Thring

Frank William Thring was an Australian character actor.-Early life:Thring was born in Melbourne and educated at the Melbourne Grammar School. His father, Frank W. Thring, was the head of Efftee Studios, in Melbourne, in the 1920s, and is said to be the inventor of the clapperboard...

as Jardine's mentor Lord Harris

George Harris, 4th Baron Harris

George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, GCSI, GCIE was a British politician, cricketer and cricket administrator...

. The series took some liberties with historical accuracy for the sake of drama, including a depiction of angry Australian fans burning a British flag

Flag of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland uses as its national flag the royal banner known as the Union Flag or, popularly, Union Jack. The current design of the Union Flag dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801...

at the Sydney Cricket Ground, an event which was never documented. Larwood, having emigrated to Australia in 1950, received several threatening and obscene phone calls after the series aired. The series was widely and strongly attacked by the surviving players for its inaccuracy and sensationalism.

In 2006, Australian film director Peter Clifton

Peter Clifton

Peter Clifton is an Australian film director and producer, perhaps best known for directing the Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains the Same ....

proposed production of The Bloody Ashes, a film on the bodyline series.

To this day, the bodyline tour remains one of the most significant events in the history of cricket

History of cricket

The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the present day, with international matches played since 1844, although the official history of international Test cricket began in 1877...

, and strong in the consciousness of many cricket followers. In a poll of cricket journalists, commentators, and players in 2004, the bodyline tour was ranked the most important event in cricket history.

From 2008 to 2009, the bodyline controversy was a topic in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate as part of the preliminary (Year 11) Modern History syllabus.

External links

Footage of the 1933 Ashes test where bodyline bowling is used on Don Bradman
The Bodyline Series Original reports from The Times
Bodyline Series - State Library of NSW

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