In this cricket glut, some matches may never have happened. England’s Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932-1933 remains firmly rooted in the public’s imagination.
On Wednesday, ninety years ago, the Australian Cricket Board swallowed their pride and wrote a cable to the MCC retracting their earlier charges of “unsportsmanlike” conduct by the English cricket team, who had been employing cruel leg theory bowling in the pursuit of the win.
Under pressure from the then Australian prime minister, Joseph Lyon, who had told the grandees that a British boycott of Australian goods would be devastating, it was done with clenched teeth.
The most controversial match of the series, the third Test in Adelaide, cut the original cable. On the afternoon of the second day, with more than 50,000 fans crammed into the ground, Australia began their innings.
Bill Woodfull, the Australian captain, was struck in the heart by Harold Larwood, who was bowling with a conventional field at the time and stumbled away from the crease clutching his chest. The duration of the crowd’s jeers was three minutes. Then, with the perfect timing of the greatest pantomime villains, Douglas Jardine exclaimed, “Well bowled, Harold!” He had more tricks in his sleeve.
England’s Bodyline still works 90 years later
With Woodfull at the striker’s end and Larwood about to bowl his next over, Jardine paused play and positioned his fielders into bodyline positions on the leg side. Not only was the already explosive crowd ablaze, but they were not alone.
Sir Pelham Warner, the English manager, entered the Australian locker room later that day to check on Woodfuel’s health. “I do not wish to see you, Mr. Warner,” Woodfull said. There are two perspectives to consider. One attempt to play cricket, while the other does not.” Warner, speechless and personally humiliated, turned on his heel and departed.
The confrontation was leaked to the press the following day, with Jack Fingleton as the usual suspect, though he pointed the finger at Don Bradman, inflaming already high tensions, while on the field Australian wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield was struck on the head while attempting to hook Larwood, collapsing like a crushed tissue box.
The hostility when Oldfield was struck on the head by a ball from Larwood and dropped as if he had been shot after staggering a few yards was the most violent I have ever heard at a cricket event, according to Claude Corbett, who reported the scene in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. Hoots and screaming from one area, counting out from another, and dismay from the women’s stand created a cacophony.
Police were summoned to the scene
The crowd became so agitated that more police and others were called to the area. The leg theory attack has driven Australian crowds to such a high level of stress that the day when something more serious than vocal demonstrations will be the climax may not be too far off.
Two days later, in an environment bordering on hysteria, the ACB sent Lord an accusatory cable. However, they choose to send their message at the usual rate, which resulted in the news reaching London newspapers (whose cables from Australia were classed as urgent) before it reached MCC.
The story had now expanded from the back pages to the front, attracting letter writers, columnists, editorials, and the general public, just like the best sporting scandals. The Australians had a pantomime antagonist. “If there was a competition for the most popular guy in Australia right now and Douglas Jardine was one of the three participants, it’s reasonable to say he wouldn’t cut,” fumed the Truth’s editorial page editor.
Without television coverage, Londoners saw the commotion as intolerable whining from a depleted team.
“We regret your cable,” replied the MCC. “We disagree with your assessment that there was unsportsmanlike conduct. And we trust our captain, squad, and managers to never break cricket’s rules or spirit.” It concluded, “if you believe it to be desirable to discontinue the remainder of the program, we would reluctantly agree.”
Jardine also telegraphed London that he would not lead the team again until the ACB retracted their “unsporting” accusation.
The Australians were unable to proceed. No one wished for the series to be canceled, and they could not afford to further irritate the UK. They were driven into a humiliating retreat, and the fourth Test began on 10 February at the Gabba. Where England won the Ashes back.
The tour had huge repercussions, not only for individuals but also for the sport and geopolitics. The historian and journalist Gideon Haigh told the National Museum of Australia. “The significance is that probably for the first time the relationship between the two countries comes under serious strain. They were introduced to a species of cricket that was revolutionary for its time. Fast bowlers starving and pounding batsmen by bowling towards their bodies.” It has continued to reverberate throughout history ever since.”
