Bodyline

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Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball

Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory, 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. A Bodyline delivery was one where the cricket ball was pitched short so as to rise towards the the body of the opposing batsman on the line of the leg stump, in the hope of creating legside deflections that could be caught by one of several fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. This tactic was considered by many to be intimidatory and physically threatening.

Although no serious injuries arose from any short-pitched deliveries while a leg theory 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 were changed to prevent this tactic being repeated. Law 42 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...'^[1]

The occasional short-pitched ball aimed at the batsman (a bouncer) has never been illegal and is still in widespread use as a tactic.

[edit] Genesis

The Australian cricket team toured England in 1930. Australia won the five-Test series 2–1,^[2] with Don Bradman scoring an astounding 974 runs at a batting average of 139.14, an aggregate record that stands to this day.^[3][4]

After the series, Douglas Jardine—who was later appointed England's captain for the 1932–33 English tour of Australia—devised a plan with Nottinghamshire captain Arthur Carr and his two fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce to combat Bradman's extraordinary skills.^[5] Bradman's average hovered around 100, approximately twice that of all other world-class batsmen.^[6][7] However, they also hoped to restrict the other Australian batsmen through such means.^[8] At a meeting in London's Piccadilly Hotel, Jardine asked Larwood and Voce if they could bowl on leg stump and make the ball come up into the body of the batsman. The bowlers agreed they could, and that it might prove effective.^[9][10][11]

The inspiration for the idea probably came from the former England and Surrey captain Percy Fender who when seeing Newsreel film of Bradman batting against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on the 1930 tour noticed that Bradman tended to jolt away to the leg side when faced with short-pitched deliveries. Bradman was known rarely if ever to play the hook shot and Fender therefore felt Bradman might be vulnerable to fast, short-pitched deliveries on the line of leg stump.^[11][12][13] The English players felt that Bradman was a coward who was afraid to stand his ground against intimidatory bowling, citing instances in 1930 when he shuffled about, contrary to orthodox batting technique.^[7][8] For his part, Bradman employed a self-styled technique and believed that there was no benefit in standing still and being hit, and he would continue to hop from side to side.^[8][14] England feared that without resorting to such drastic tactics, they might not be able to defeat Australia until Bradman—then aged 24—^[6] retired, something that might be over a decade away.

Accompanying this bowling line would be a cordon of close fielders set on the leg side. The only options a batsman had were to duck and risk being hit on pitches with irregular bounce, or to play the ball. However, defensive shots scored no runs and risked a catch in the cordon, while standing and hooking, the only conventionally feasible run-scoring option, carried the danger of being hit in the head at potentially lethal speeds, as well as giving a catch on the boundary, for which two men were usually set.^[7][8][15]

A similar tactic, known as leg theory, had been employed previously, by medium-paced bowlers such as Fred Root and Armstrong, but with more conventionally pitched and much slower deliveries.^[16] Bodyline, however, was very different from leg theory in that it was aimed directly at the line of the body and at a height threatening the head and chest of batsmen, whereas leg theory was aimed outside the line of leg stump. In the latter, the object was to test the batsman's patience and force a rash stroke, while bodyline relied more on physical intimidation. It was occasionally an effective tactic, but sometimes made for boring watching, like the modern tactic of leg-spin or left-arm bowlers bowling into the rough area of the pitch outside leg stump to restrict a batsman's scoring opportunities.

Larwood and Voce practised the plan over the next two seasons of English county cricket, terrorising their opponents.^[17] By the time the English team left for Australia on 17 September 1932, Larwood and Voce, along with Bill Bowes from Yorkshire, had perfected their attack.^[18][19]

[edit] In Australia

Australian captain Bill Woodfull (left) with Monty Noble (centre) and Tim Wall (right)

Although English bowlers did aim at the batsmen's body in the opening tour matches, they did not enforce the second half of the Bodyline structure, by not packing the leg side.^[8] This changed in the next match, when Bill Woodfull led an Australian XI against the tourists in Melbourne on 18-22 November, in what was effectively a Test rehearsal. With Jardine rested from the match, his deputy Bob Wyatt used the full Bodyline tactics for the first time on the tour.^[8][20][21] The match was drawn and Woodfull struggled, making 18 and a duck.^[22] 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.^[8] Seeing the bruising balls hit the Australian batsmen on several occasions in this game and the next angered the spectators.^[23]

The English players and management were consistent in referring to their tactic as fast leg theory because most of them considered it to be a variant of the established - and relatively harmless - leg theory tactic. The Australian press came up with the far more evocative and inflammatory term, Bodyline (see below). The reporting of the series in England described the tactic as fast leg theory. This caused serious misunderstandings, as neither the English public nor the Board of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) - the governing body of English cricket - could understand why the Australians were complaining about a commonly used tactic. They came to the conclusion that the Australian cricket authorities and public were sore losers and "squealers".^[24][25] Of the four fast bowlers in the tour party, Gubby Allen was a voice of dissent in the English camp, refusing to bowl short on the leg side,^[26] and writing several letters home to England critical of Jardine, although he did not express this in public in Australia.^[27] A number of other players, while maintaining a united front in public, also deplored Bodyline in private. The amateurs Bob Wyatt (the vice-captain), Freddie Brown and the Nawab of Pataudi opposed it,^[26] as did Walter Hammond and Les Ames among the professionals.^[28]

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.^[15][29]

Australia lost heavily by ten wickets in the First Test at Sydney, when the bowling spearhead of Bodyline, Harold Larwood, took ten wickets.^[30] 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 due to his tactical scheme.^[20][31] The only Australian batsman to make an impact was Stan McCabe, who resolutely stood his ground and impulsively hooked and pulled everything aimed at his upper body,^[14] 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 as "among the most stirring innings Test cricket has ever produced".^[20][30][31]

Before the Second Test in Melbourne, Woodfull had to wait until minutes before the game before he was confirmed as captain by the selectors.^[32] This caused the toss to be delayed and fomented speculation that the Australian Board of Control were considering the possibility of removing Woodfull because of his absolute refusal to allow his bowlers to use retaliatory tactics.^[33][34] His deputy Victor Richardson had advocated retaliation along with several other players.^[35] Richardson recalled Woodfull's private response:

There is no way I will be influenced to adopt such tactics which bring such discredit to the game. I know Tim could do it but I am not going to participate in actions that can only hurt the game.^[35]

The media advocated the selection of Eddie Gilbert, an indigenous bowler of extreme pace,^[36] in order to return the Bodyline barrage. In one tour match, Gilbert had bloodied Jardine and left a bruise the size of a saucer.^[37] Another suggested means of retaliation was Laurie Nash,^[36] whose notoriously abrasive personality and aggression saw him regarded as a thug.^[38] However, Woodfull was totally unmoved by such suggestions.^[39]

On the opening day, Bradman wildly hooked at Bill Bowes first ball (a non-bodyline ball) and was famously out for a golden duck, leaving the entire stadium in shock.^[33][40] Jardine, who was known for being extremely dour even by the standards of the day,^[40] openly exalted and danced wildly upon Bradman's demise.^[33][40] 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,^[33][41] but it turned out to be his only triple figure score for the series,^[42] while Larwood was hampered by a bloodied foot and a slow pitch.^[33]

Bert Oldfield is hit in the head after Harold Larwood's delivery deflected off his bat.

Whilst successful as a tactic (England regained the Ashes with a 4-1 margin),^[2] the Australian crowds abhorred Bodyline as vicious and unsporting.

The controversy reached its peak during the second day of the Third Test. An all-time record Adelaide Oval crowd of 50,962^[43][44] 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.^{[44][45][46][47][48][49]} 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,^[44] something that was almost unheard of for the placid social standards of the era.^{[citation needed]} Jardine reacted by saying "Well bowled, Harold".^{[44][46][49][50]} Tension and feelings ran so high that a riot was narrowly averted as police stationed themselves between the players and enraged spectators.^{[26][47][48][49]}

Jardine then ordered his team to move to Bodyline positions immediately after Woodfull's injury.^[48][50] The capacity Saturday afternoon crowd viewed this as hitting a man when he was down.^[44][51] Journalist–cricketer Dick Whitington wrote that Jardine's actions were seen as "an unforgivable crime in Australian eyes and certainly no part of cricket".^[52] Mass hooting and jeering occurred after almost every ball.^[44][52] 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".^[52] Some English players later expressed fears that a large-scale riot^{[clarification needed]} 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.^[44][53]

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.^[54] 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.^[44][51] Woodfull's abrupt response was meant to be private, but it was leaked to the press and became the most famous quotation of this tumultuous period in cricket history:^[29][55][56]

I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there, one is playing cricket. The other is making no attempt to do so.^[55][56][57]

Woodfull reportedly added "This game is too good to be spoilt. It's time some people got out of it",^[44][51][58] hinting that he might withdraw his team from competition in protest.^[59] Australia's Leo O'Brien later reported that Warner was close to tears following Woodfull's rebuke.^[51]

The next day, Larwood fractured wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield'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.^[57][60][61] As a result of the injuries, the costs of insurance cover for players doubled.^[62]

At the end of the fourth day's play the Australian Board of Control for Cricket sent the following cable to the MCC in London:

Bodyline bowling has assumed such proportions as to menace the best interests of the game, making protection of the body by the batsman the main consideration. This is causing intensely bitter feeling between the players, as well as injury. In our opinion it is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once it is likely to upset the friendly relations existing between Australia and England.^[25][63]

Bert Oldfield staggers away with his skull fractured.

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.^[64]

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. With World War I still fresh in people's memories and the first rumblings of World War II beginning, many people saw Bodyline as fracturing an international relationship that needed to remain strong.^[65]

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.^[66][67] Public reaction in both England and Australia was outrage directed at the other nation. The Governor of South Australia, Alexander Hore-Ruthven, who was in England at the time, expressed his concern to British Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs James Henry Thomas that this would cause a significant impact on trade between the nations.^[68][69]

The standoff was settled only when Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons 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.^[69][70]

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.^[71] Whilst this was dubious in terms of batting technique,^[71] it seemed the best way to cope with the barrage, and Bradman averaged 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.^{[citation needed]} His team-mates fared worse, with only Stan McCabe scoring a century.^[72]

[edit] In England

Bodyline continued to be bowled occasionally in the 1933 English season – most notably by Nottinghamshire, who had Carr, Voce and Larwood in their team.^[73] This gave the English crowds their first chance to see what all the fuss was about. Ken Farnes, the Cambridge University fast bowler, also bowled it in the University Match, hitting a few Oxford batsmen.

Jardine himself had to face Bodyline bowling in a Test match. The West Indian cricket team toured England in 1933, and, in the second Test at Old Trafford, Jackie Grant, their captain, decided to try Bodyline. He had a couple of fast bowlers, Manny Martindale and Learie Constantine.^[73] Facing Bodyline tactics for the first time, England first suffered, falling to 134 for 4,^[74] with Wally Hammond being hit on the chin,^[73] though he recovered to continue his innings. Then Jardine himself faced Martindale and Constantine.^[73] Jardine never flinched. He played right back to the bouncers, standing on tiptoe, and partly because he eschewed the hook shot, played them with a dead bat.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[74] Jardine himself made 127, his only Test century.^[73]

In the second West Indian innings, Clark bowled Bodyline back to the West Indians, taking 2 for 64. The match in the end was drawn; it was also the highest-profile game in which Bodyline was bowled in England.^[75]

In 1934, 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, after agreements were put in place so that Bodyline would not be used.^[76][77][78] However, there were occasions when the Australians felt that their hosts had crossed the mark with tactics resembling Bodyline.^[76]

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.^[78][79] In the second innings, Voce repeated the tactic late in the day, in fading light against Woodfull and Bill Brown. Of his 12 balls, 11 were no lower than head height.^[79]

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.^{[78][79][80][81]} Already angered by the absence of Larwood, the Nottinghamshire faithful heckled the Australians all day.^[78] Australia had previously and privately complained that some pacemen had strayed past the agreement in the Tests.^[79]

[edit] Origin of the term

Although Jack Worrall claimed that he had invented the term "Bodyline", it is more likely that it was coined by Sydney journalist Hugh Buggy who worked for The Sun in 1932, and who happened to be a colleague of Jack Fingleton. 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.^[82]

[edit] 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 in 1935.^[83] Specifically, umpires 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.^[84]

Later law changes, under the heading of "Intimidatory Short Pitched Bowling", also restricted the number of "bouncers" which may be bowled in an over. 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.^[26] 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.^[85]

[edit] 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.^[86] The series has been described as the most controversial period in Australian cricket history,^[15] and voted the most important Australian moment by a panel of Australian cricket identities.^[87]

The MCC asked 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.^[88] Larwood refused, never played for England again,^[73] and became vilified in his own country.^[89] In retrospect, this event is seen by many as the first step in breaking down the amateur/professional class distinction in English cricket.^{[citation needed]} 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 and Shanghai were lost by Australians because of local reactions.^[90]

English immigrants in Australia found themselves shunned and persecuted by locals, and Australian visitors to England were treated similarly.^[91] 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.^[92]

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.^[93]

In 1984, Australia's Network Ten produced a television mini-series titled Bodyline, dramatising the events of the 1932–33 English tour of Australia. It starred Gary Sweet as Don Bradman, Hugo Weaving as Douglas Jardine, Jim Holt as Harold Larwood, Rhys McConnochie as Pelham Warner, and Frank Thring as Jardine's mentor Lord Harris.^[94] The series took some liberties with historical accuracy for the sake of drama, including a depiction of angry Australian fans burning a British flag at the Sydney Cricket Ground, an event which was never documented.^[94] Larwood, having emigrated to Australia in 1950 to escape ongoing vilification in England, received several threatening and obscene phone calls after the series aired.^[95] The series was widely and strongly attacked by the surviving players for its inaccuracy and sensationalism.^[95]

Currently, Australian film director and producer Peter Clifton is co-producing The Bloody Ashes, a film which will focus on the Bodyline series. An Australian casting agency has been commissioned for the search, while UK casting scouts are hunting for cricketing actors to play Jardine and Larwood. Clifton, who wrote the film with his long-time writing partner Michael Thomas, said the decision to search cricket clubs for the young Bradman role came after lengthy discussions with former Australian cricket captain Ian Chappell.^[96]

To this day, the Bodyline tour remains one of the most significant events in the history of cricket, 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.^[97]

From 2008 to 2009, the Bodyline controversy is a topic in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate as part of the preliminary (Year 11) Modern History syllabus.^[98]

Bodyline is also part of the Class 9 CBSE History Curriculum in India. ^[99]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Frith, David (2002). Bodyline Autopsy. ABC Books. ISBN 0-7333-1321-3. 
• Gibson, Alan (1989). The Cricket Captains of England. The Pavilion Library. ISBN 1-85145-390-3. 
• Jardine, Douglas (1933). In Quest of the Ashes. Hutchison. 
• Le Quesne, Laurence (1983). The bodyline controversy. Martin Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-24410-1. 
• Perry, Roland (2006). The Ashes: a celebration. Random House Australia. ISBN 1-74166-490-X. 
• Pollard, Jack (1988). The Bradman Years: Australian Cricket 1918–48. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-207-15596-8. 
• Wheeler, Paul (1983). Bodyline: The Novel. Faber and Faber. 
• Bodyline IMDB entry.. Retrieved 30 November 2006.

[edit] External links

• The Bodyline Series Original reports from The Times
• Bodyline Series - State Library of NSW