Bodyline

Bodyline was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. The tactic involved bowling at leg stump or just outside it, pitching the ball short so that it reared at the body of a batsman standing in an orthodox batting position. A ring of fielders ranged on the leg side would catch any defensive deflection from the bat. Critics considered the tactic intimidating and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a game that was supposed to uphold gentlemanly traditions.

About Bodyline in brief

Bodyline was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. The tactic involved bowling at leg stump or just outside it, pitching the ball short so that it reared at the body of a batsman standing in an orthodox batting position. A ring of fielders ranged on the leg side would catch any defensive deflection from the bat. Critics considered the tactic intimidating and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a game that was supposed to uphold gentlemanly traditions. England’s use of a tactic perceived by some as overly aggressive or even unfair ultimately threatened diplomatic relations between the two countries before the situation was calmed. Short-pitched bowling continues to be permitted in cricket, even when aimed at the batsman. However, over time, several of the Laws of Cricket were changed to render the bodyline tactic less effective. Bodyline bowling is intimidatory, and was largely designed as an attempt to curb the prolific scoring of Donald Bradman, although other prolific Australian batsmen such as Bill Woodfull, Bill Ponsford and Alan Kippax were also targeted. Several different terms were used to describe this style of bowling before the name ‘bodyline’ was used. Among the first to use it was the writer and former Australian Test cricketer Jack Worrall; in the match between the English team and an Australian XI, when bodyline was first used in full, he referred to \”half-pitches slingers on the body line\” and first used it in print after the first Test.

In the early years of the 20th century, some bowlers, usually slow or medium-paced, used leg theory as a tactic; the ball was aimed outside the line of leg stump and the fielders placed on that side of the field. When cricket resumed after the First World War, few bowlers maintained the tactic, which was unpopular with spectators owing to its negativity. Fred Root, the Worcestershire bowler, used it regularly and with considerable success in county cricket. In 1925, Australian Jack Scott first bowled a form of what would later have been called bodyline in a match for New South Wales; he later let England use it again. In 1927, South Australian captain Vic Richardson asked Lance Gunner, who was representing England, to use a short leg-trap bowler in a Test match against the MCC, and later let him use it when he moved to Australia. Some bowlers experimented with leg theory prior to the 1930s, sometimes accompanying it with short-pitch bowling. In 1932, England’s Fred Root defended the use of leg theory—and bodyline—observing that when bowlers bowled off stump,  men were able to let the ball pass them without playing a shot. In 1928, South Australia’s Jack Scott repeated the tactics in a test match in 1928–29, when he was representing South Australia. In 1933, England’s Fred Root used it again in a trial match against South Australia, and the tactic was not used again.

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