Harold Larwood
Encyclopedia
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.
In 2009 Larwood was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
.
Larwood was born in Nuncargate
, Nottinghamshire
, to working-class parents. When he was a child, a near-fatal accident prompted his father to make him a primitive bat, and the child took to cricket with great enthusiasm. Leaving school at fourteen to become a labourer in the local coal-mine, he also began to play for the village cricket team, Kirkby Portland.
, where he was offered a professional contract and starred with bat and ball.
Larwood was by this stage a fearsome bowler, claimed by many observers to bowl at speeds well in excess of "90 miles per hour" (145 km/h). Frank Tyson
recalled that attempts to measure his speed were highly variable, saying that "Larwood, for instance, was measured by high speed photography
at between 90 and 130mph". Such speeds would match him with the fastest of modern fast bowlers, Shane Bond
, Shoaib Akhtar
, Shaun Tait
and Brett Lee
. Larwood, moreover, was also very accurate. Such a combination made Larwood the most dangerous fast bowler of his time.
against Australia in the second Test of the series, at Lord's. Taking 2/99 and 1/37, he did not secure a permanent place in the team until the 1928 series, where he took seventeen wickets, including 6/32 in the first innings of the first Test.
The arrival of Donald Bradman
in the Australian team saw the English cricketing hierarchy scratching their heads to devise a plan to defeat the Australian phenomenon and thus retain the Ashes trophy. Douglas Jardine
, the English captain (and, like all England captains of the prewar era, a "gentleman amateur" leading a team partly made up of working-class professionals), determined that Bradman was vulnerable to short-pitched bowling, and adopted "fast leg theory". Larwood was tasked with implementing the plan, and thus the stage was set for the bodyline Test series.
By the end of the series in 1932-33, the MCC Lords celebrated the return of the Ashes back to England, not realising the damage that Larwood's bodyline bowling had caused on the fast pitches of Australia. However, in 1933, bodyline was used during the West Indies tour of England. There the MCC Lords saw for the first time that the "fast leg theory" involved in bodyline bowling was not the same as the tactic known by that innocuous name in English County Cricket. Rather, it was an extremely intimidating, premeditated plan of attack. Concerned about the worsening diplomatic relations between England and Australia as a result of this, the MCC hypocritically reprimanded Larwood and asked him to sign a Letter of Apology to the Australian Cricket Board & Players. Larwood refused on the basis that he, as a professional cricketer, was obliged to follow the directions of his captain, whose responsibility the tactics were. In fact Larwood never played cricket for England again, though he did play county cricket for Nottinghamshire until 1938. That year, he retired on medical advice. As Jardine was never asked to apologise, and Pelham Warner, the tour manager, managed to avoid the blame, Larwood felt he was being made the scapegoat
for what had occurred in 1932-33.
When he retired from cricket he ran a sweetshop in Blackpool
. Fellow cricketer Jack Fingleton
persuaded him to emigrate to Australia in 1953; and after he had settled there, he was employed by the Pepsi-Cola Company for many years. Although newsreel
s announced the arrival of the Englishman in Australia, he lived a quiet life in the eastern suburbs
of Sydney
. He was awarded an MBE
in 1993. His most treasured possession was a small silver ashtray inscribed "To Harold, For The Ashes, From A Grateful Skipper" from Douglas Jardine
. Larwood met the England fast bowler Frank Tyson
on Christmas Eve 1954, but refused to come to the England dressing room because of the MCC's treatment of him in the 1930s; nevertheless he did say, "When you hear 50,000 Aussies shouting at you, you know you've got 'em worried".
Larwood died at the age of 90, having gone partially blind in his last years. His ashes, along with his wife's, are interred at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Kingsford, New South Wales
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
" Ashes Test series of 1932–33.
In 2009 Larwood was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame "recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". A hall of fame, it was launched by the International Cricket Council on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers'...
.
Early life
Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 25,265 . It is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield District Council are located there....
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, to working-class parents. When he was a child, a near-fatal accident prompted his father to make him a primitive bat, and the child took to cricket with great enthusiasm. Leaving school at fourteen to become a labourer in the local coal-mine, he also began to play for the village cricket team, Kirkby Portland.
First class career
In 1922, at the age of 18, Larwood was invited to try playing for NottinghamshireNottinghamshire 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...
, where he was offered a professional contract and starred with bat and ball.
Larwood was by this stage a fearsome bowler, claimed by many observers to bowl at speeds well in excess of "90 miles per hour" (145 km/h). Frank Tyson
Frank Tyson
Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...
recalled that attempts to measure his speed were highly variable, saying that "Larwood, for instance, was measured by high speed photography
High speed photography
High speed photography is the science of taking pictures of very fast phenomena. In 1948, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers defined high-speed photography as any set of photographs captured by a camera capable of 128 frames per second or greater, and of at least three...
at between 90 and 130mph". Such speeds would match him with the fastest of modern fast bowlers, Shane Bond
Shane Bond
Shane Edward Bond was a New Zealand cricketer, described as "New Zealand's best fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee". He has represented New Zealand in Test, ODI and Twenty20 International cricket as well as playing for Canterbury in New Zealand domestic cricket and Warwickshire in English...
, Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against...
, Shaun Tait
Shaun Tait
Shaun William Tait is a professional Australian cricketer, who currently plays only in the Twenty20 format. Tait plays domestic cricket for South Australia and is also a representative for Australia at Twenty20 International level; he has also represented his country in One Day Internationals and...
and Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
. Larwood, moreover, was also very accurate. Such a combination made Larwood the most dangerous fast bowler of his time.
Test career
In 1926, he played his first Test matchTest 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...
against Australia in the second Test of the series, at Lord's. Taking 2/99 and 1/37, he did not secure a permanent place in the team until the 1928 series, where he took seventeen wickets, including 6/32 in the first innings of the first Test.
The arrival of Donald 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...
in the Australian team saw the English cricketing hierarchy scratching their heads to devise a plan to defeat the Australian phenomenon and thus retain the Ashes trophy. 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...
, the English captain (and, like all England captains of the prewar era, a "gentleman amateur" leading a team partly made up of working-class professionals), determined that Bradman was vulnerable to short-pitched bowling, and adopted "fast leg theory". Larwood was tasked with implementing the plan, and thus the stage was set for the bodyline Test series.
By the end of the series in 1932-33, the MCC Lords celebrated the return of the Ashes back to England, not realising the damage that Larwood's bodyline bowling had caused on the fast pitches of Australia. However, in 1933, bodyline was used during the West Indies tour of England. There the MCC Lords saw for the first time that the "fast leg theory" involved in bodyline bowling was not the same as the tactic known by that innocuous name in English County Cricket. Rather, it was an extremely intimidating, premeditated plan of attack. Concerned about the worsening diplomatic relations between England and Australia as a result of this, the MCC hypocritically reprimanded Larwood and asked him to sign a Letter of Apology to the Australian Cricket Board & Players. Larwood refused on the basis that he, as a professional cricketer, was obliged to follow the directions of his captain, whose responsibility the tactics were. In fact Larwood never played cricket for England again, though he did play county cricket for Nottinghamshire until 1938. That year, he retired on medical advice. As Jardine was never asked to apologise, and Pelham Warner, the tour manager, managed to avoid the blame, Larwood felt he was being made the scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
for what had occurred in 1932-33.
Personal life
Larwood married Lois Bird, and had five children.When he retired from cricket he ran a sweetshop in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
. Fellow cricketer 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...
persuaded him to emigrate to Australia in 1953; and after he had settled there, he was employed by the Pepsi-Cola Company for many years. Although newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
s announced the arrival of the Englishman in Australia, he lived a quiet life in the eastern suburbs
Eastern Suburbs (Sydney)
The Eastern Suburbs is a general term used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the east and south-east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Suburbs can refer to the suburbs within the local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Dover...
of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. He was awarded an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1993. His most treasured possession was a small silver ashtray inscribed "To Harold, For The Ashes, From A Grateful Skipper" from 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...
. Larwood met the England fast bowler Frank Tyson
Frank Tyson
Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...
on Christmas Eve 1954, but refused to come to the England dressing room because of the MCC's treatment of him in the 1930s; nevertheless he did say, "When you hear 50,000 Aussies shouting at you, you know you've got 'em worried".
Larwood died at the age of 90, having gone partially blind in his last years. His ashes, along with his wife's, are interred at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Kingsford, New South Wales
Kingsford, New South Wales
Kingsford is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kingsford is located 7 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick...
.