Clearly his was a key wicket and, as part of their plans to dismiss Bradman in 1932/33, England brought in their bodyline tactic. In the previous series between England and Australia in 1930, Bradman had scored 974 runs in five tests at an average above 139 and that’s a record that stands to this day. In the 1930s, the Australian was at the height of his powers and opposition teams were looking at new ways in which to combat his brilliance. With a test batting average just below a perfect 100, most people in the game feel that Sir Don Bradman was the greatest batsman that cricket has ever seen. By the time that the bodyline series came along in 1932, most people inside cricket felt that the English bowlers had definitely crossed a line.

The Spirit of CricketĮven in the 19th century, the concept of leg theory was considered to be ungentlemanly and against the spirit of the game. Under the guidance of controversial captain Douglas Jardine, fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce were the main exponents of short pitched leg theory.īowling to a packed leg side field, the England side of that season won the Ashes but left behind plenty of ill feeling with battered and bruised Australian batsmen brushed aside. This progress exploded in 1932/33 when bodyline was used extensively during England’s Ashes tour. It’s said that bodyline became prevalent in Australia and that captains were split as to whether the tactic should be used. It was at this point that leg theory started to involve shorter balls that were directed at the batsman’s body. The next big development in the history of bodyline bowling came in the 1920s. That leg side would be packed with fielders and the aim for the bowling team was for the batters to hit the ball in their direction.

This made it difficult for the batsman to play a shot anywhere but on the leg side. The deliveries weren’t necessarily short but the bowler would often direct the ball at, or outside of leg stump. By the start of the 20th century, a number of bowlers were beginning to use leg theory as a legitimate tactic. Many may think that bodyline was born in that 1932/33 series but the practise has been around for a lot longer.

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