Bodyline

Bodyline, also known as Fast Leg Theory, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman. Bodyline bowlers deliberately aimed the cricket ball at the bodies of batsmen, in the hope of creating legside deflections which could be caught by one of several fielders located in the quadrant of the field behind square leg.

The 1932–33 English tour

The English players first tried their tactic in a first-class tour match against an Australian XI in Perth, a game in which Jardine rested and gave the captaincy duties to his deputy Bob Wyatt. Seeing the bruising balls hit the Australian batsmen on several occasions in this game and the next angered the spectators.

Related Topics:
First-class - Perth - Bob Wyatt

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The English players and management were consistent in referring to their tactic as fast leg theory because they 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, which 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 and came to the conclusion that the Australian cricket authorities and public were sore losers and "squealers".

Related Topics:
Leg theory - See below - Marylebone Cricket Club

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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, it seemed the best way to cope with the barrage, and the Don averaged a creditable 56.57 in the series (compared to his career average of 99.94), while being struck above the waist by the ball only once. His team-mates fared worse, performing poorly and taking many hits on the body.

Related Topics:
Off side - Batting technique - Averaged

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Whilst moderately successful as a tactic (England regained The Ashes with a 4-1 margin), the Australian crowds abhorred Bodyline as vicious and unsporting. Matters came to a head in the third Test at Adelaide, when Larwood struck Australian captain Bill Woodfull above the heart and fractured wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield's skull (although this was from a top edge). Tension and feelings ran so high that a riot was narrowly averted as police stationed themselves between the players and enraged spectators. However, at the time England were not using the Bodyline tactics. Woodfull was struck when he was bent over his bat and wicket – and not when upright as often imagined. The crowd was incensed, and popular imagination blurred, when Jardine ordered his team to move to Bodyline positions immediately after Woodfull's injury.

Related Topics:
The Ashes - Adelaide - Bill Woodfull - Wicket-keeper - Bert Oldfield

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In a famous quotation, Bill Woodfull said to the England tour manager Pelham Warner, when the latter came to express his sympathy for Woodfull's injury: "I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there. One is trying to play cricket and the other is not."

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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:

Related Topics:
Australian Board of Control for Cricket - London

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:Bodyline bowling assumed such proportions as to menace best interests of game, making protection of body by batsmen the main consideration. Causing intensely bitter feeling between players as well as injury. In our opinion is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once likely to upset friendly relations existing between Australia and England.

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This escalated into a diplomatic incident between the countries as the MCC — supported by the British public and still under the impression 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.

Related Topics:
World War I - World War II

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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 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.

Related Topics:
Governor - South Australia - Alexander Hore-Ruthven - Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs - James Henry Thomas

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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.

Related Topics:
Australian Prime Minister - Joseph Lyons

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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.

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