The Ashes: Reliving the infamous Bodyline saga

#1 England's contentious triumph

A television mini-series titled 'Bodyline' was produced by Network Ten in 1984

In 1972, Ray Robinson wrote, "In the year 2010, I wonder, will Wesley Hall and Frank Tyson be remembered with the awe evoked by the name Harold Larwood 40 years after his bowling demoralized Australia's batting in the bodyline Tests of 1932-33? Why, it seemed to take almost that long for batsmen's nerves to settle down again!"

No one could quite have the kind of effect the miner from Nottinghamshire had, back in the 1930s. The West Indian quartet was terrifying. So were Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. But none could have the impact Larwood had on cricket post that 1932-33 Ashes series.

Cables flew between the two cricket boards and the term gained popularity. When Rockley Wilson first heard that Jardine was chosen as the captain of the series, he had said, " We shall win the series- but we may lose a dominion". Rockley knew his pupil too well. England did win the series but, by the end of the series, there were far serious issues at stake. It had its effects on the individuals involved as well.

During the infamous Adelaide Test of that series, one evening Larwood went to a local theater to watch a movie. There he overheard a small child saying to her mother, " Mummy, he doesn't look like a murderer."

The Larwood-effect was everywhere. Bill O'Reilly found that all the school teams playing at St. George Sports Ground were setting Bodyline fields for their bowlers. O'Reilly thought to himself, " Well, I'm not going to interfere. I'll let them have a go and find out how they like it."

Larwood was the most hated yet the most followed cricketer in Australia at that point. And Bodyline was the most talked about topic in the cricket world.

No other series created more controversy or more debate. The number of books written on this series is way too many but the search for the definitive account ended as late as 2002 when David Frith produced his magnum opus.

Hugh Buggy. Jack Worrall. Ray Robinson. Now it hardly matters who among these three invented the term but there is little doubt that the most talked about cricketing term was coined on December 2nd,1932.

Here are some famous books on the subject.

Bodyline Autopsy by David Frith

And Then Came Larwood by Arthur Mailey

Between Wickets by Ray Robinson

The Larwood Story by Harold Larwood and Kevin Perkins

The Vic Richardson Story by Vic Richardson and R.S. Whitington

Stan McCabe: The Man and His Cricket by Jack McHarg