Logical and effective, or dangerous and ugly, take your pick. I just feel that there was something simply wrong about the idea. One thing's for certain those batsman had guts facing Larwood at all with that lack of protection.
In response to some ridiculous comments here about "hooking 6s out of the stadium" off bodyline I would like to see you do it ball-after-ball & over-after-over off 90 mph chin music WITHOUT A HELMET & with several fielders between mid-off & fine leg.
Boy, I'd like to see that.
Actually, Stan McCabe did exactly that in the Sydney Test making 187 not out. No one else pasted the Poms like that in 1932-33, though. Bodyline worked REALLY well, no doubt. Bradman, especially, wasn't a fan of it.
@jambenes Rubbish comment, mate. Back it up with proof. Here, at least half the commentary is by Poms & in their own words. Right?
Good documentary on the most dramatic series in cricket history. In fact, the drama never abated till Larwood broke a foot bone in the final test.
Poms thought fast leg theory (bodyline) the only way to subdue Bradman. Within the rules, yes, but hardly sporting since batsmen's only options were to duck, get hit on the body, or sky catches to a packed leg field.
@windigo44 Face it. With the exception of the most recent series (3-1 to England by the way), Aussies often come up with excuses for losing an ashes series. Bodyline, Mcgrath's injury in '05 and Cardiff in '09 to name but 3 examples. We hardly ever hear congratulations or well Done England do we?
@jambenes Oi! I'm Aussie & have no problems calling the Poms the best test team in the world right now - easily, even just after getting pasted by the Paks (an anomaly, I think, but we'll see).
Larwood by far the best quick of the day. He said, "I only ever bowled really fast once, & that was in Australia in 1932-33." Even bowling to a conventional field, he was just too much to handle. "I'm really sorry, Bertie," he said after cracking Oldfield's skull. "My fault, Harold," replied Oldfield.
@jambenes Excuses? Let's stay on bodyline - McGrath, etc., are diff matters.
You really think bodyline is sporting? Wasn't illegal at all at the time, but sporting?
If so, then you MUST excuse Greg Chappell for the underarm. I don't, though. Chappell was the poorest of sports for doing it - no excuse at all. It was legal, yes, but dirty. Unforgivable, actually.
Bodyline = exciting, effective, legal (at the time), but hardly "cricket" in the literal & metaphorical sense of the term.
Absolute Genius from Jardine, he limited Bradman to an average of 56 in this series, some 43 below his normal test average, it may not have been pretty but it was damn well effective.
@dannya333 SO YOUR SAYING PLAYING BY THE RULES IS POOR SPOTSMANSHIP A TEAM SHOULD GET AN EDGE ON THERE OPPONTENTS ANY LEGAL WAY THEY CAN NOTHING STOPPED THE AUSSIES BOWLING EXACTLY THE SAME WAY BACK AND BESIDES THIS THE AUSSIES ARE THE BIGGEST CHEATS TO EVER PLAY THE GAME PONTING MAINLY NEVER EVER WALKS WHEN HE KNOWS HE'S GOT A NICK HE CLAIMS CATCHES IN THE SLIPS WHEN IT'S CLEARLY HIT THE GROUND
If i am personally afraid of 6 slips and a gully, then it's my problem.. i cannot complain that the fielding team is cheating.. The Bodyline is one rare occasion that the poms show some aggression.. That cannot be equated to cheating..
Anyone who thought we bloody Poms conned our way to world domination on the basis of 'fair play' was plainly naive and deserved to be conquered - or ruled - or both. What I don't like about Bodyline is it sort of gave the game away somewhat, which is a pity because clearly first Jerry and then the Yanks thought they'd have a crack at it too. Yes, folks, I blame the fall of Empire, the Second World War and US hegemony on Douglas Jardine. But we won the Ashes, so it was worth it.
@mattyo30 They didn't because the laws of cricket forbade it. In 1932, no such law was written. I've no doubt Lillee & Thomo would have done so if it was allowed. Temember Thomo's words, "I like to see blood on the pitch!"
cant believe that the aussies still moan about this. if you read about the history of leg-theory your find that australia had used it before but they did'nt have a fast and acqurate bowler in harold larwood and poor old moaning don bradman did'nt like it
I didn't know Jardine had a daughter - yet another historical inaccuracy of the mini-series, where he broke up with his longterm girlfriend after that series and who herself related at the end that he died of cancer at age 55 or so, presumably (so the impression given) as a bachelor?
If we can accept all that the Rules provide or proscribe as "Cricket" then we should not complain when Greg Chappel bowled that "underarm" delivery.
All in all I can only commend Jardine for one thing - the ability to think "out of the box" and devise a strategy that silenced the worlds greatest batsman - the Don. Was it cricket ? I have no answer.......
What was terrible was that Larwood a poor coal miner was punished and jardine - a "gentleman" was merely reprimanded.
Either you are a bit of a comdeian, or you know nothing about the cricket of the time. Australian pitches were hard and true in the 1930s and once the shine had gone off the ball you couldn't move it off the straight (no reverse swing in those days). Also, Bradman was superb outside the off stump due to his almost superhuman hand-eye co-ordination. It was an imaginative tactic, built on wonderful bowlers, played within the rules and used sparingly and depending on the situation.
Well, they didn't put 9 fielders on the leg side, did they? And it was only possible to use leg theory if you had bowlers good enough to carry out the plan. Thats why the convicts didn't bowl 'Bodyline' during the series. Nothing to do with honour or principle - as the Australian historians would have us believe - and all to do with the fact that Tim Wall wasn't good enough to bowl in this way. They tried to do it by bringing in Harry 'Bull' Alexander in the last test, and he got hammered.
@markbailey1970 i agree that it is not cheating, however, i believe that it was a disgusting move by the English and was far from a gentlemen like move and rightfully turn cricket into a life threatening sport. i think it was stupid dangerous and disgusting that they did this, and even though it proved very effective for other teams not to employ this tactic shows that everyone knows it its ridiculously unfair and blatantly dangerous.
I love the whole BodyLine saga.. its dirty as hell.. which makes it even more interesting.. it was done by people who are/were considered the most dour douchebags that you fan find on this planet - imperialist Englishmen !
The Pommies stopped pretending that they were gentlemen and went on to pummel the Aussies in the Ashes - Bradman had his worst series ! lots of bad blood.. I loved the TV series in the 80's - Hugo Weaving was awesome as Jardine. Forgot the guys who played Bradman & Larwood
@nagee76 Bradman was played by Gary Sweet, and was portrayed as a bit of a saint, when he was by all accounts a very difficult man to get along with. I agree Weaving was brilliantly cast as Jardine, and he simply made the whole series.
Logical and effective, or dangerous and ugly, take your pick. I just feel that there was something simply wrong about the idea. One thing's for certain those batsman had guts facing Larwood at all with that lack of protection.
raysteer 1 week ago
Sorry, I meant to say "with several fielders between MID-ON & fine leg."
When they flipped from regular 3-4 slips + gully, etc., to bodyline field it was like a mass migration from one side to the other.
It must've gotten into a batsman's mind when the Poms did this.
windigo44 1 month ago
In response to some ridiculous comments here about "hooking 6s out of the stadium" off bodyline I would like to see you do it ball-after-ball & over-after-over off 90 mph chin music WITHOUT A HELMET & with several fielders between mid-off & fine leg.
Boy, I'd like to see that.
Actually, Stan McCabe did exactly that in the Sydney Test making 187 not out. No one else pasted the Poms like that in 1932-33, though. Bodyline worked REALLY well, no doubt. Bradman, especially, wasn't a fan of it.
windigo44 1 month ago
@DAJAZDJ1 Wow, you must be really, really good. Like, the best batsman ever.
So, did you ever play test cricket? I'm guessing no - coz you're too good, right?
I guess that's why we've never heard of you.
windigo44 1 month ago
bodyline was pretty nasty
doomcaster76 3 months ago
Blatant piece of Aussie propaganda
jambenes 3 months ago
@jambenes Rubbish comment, mate. Back it up with proof. Here, at least half the commentary is by Poms & in their own words. Right?
Good documentary on the most dramatic series in cricket history. In fact, the drama never abated till Larwood broke a foot bone in the final test.
Poms thought fast leg theory (bodyline) the only way to subdue Bradman. Within the rules, yes, but hardly sporting since batsmen's only options were to duck, get hit on the body, or sky catches to a packed leg field.
windigo44 1 month ago
@windigo44 Face it. With the exception of the most recent series (3-1 to England by the way), Aussies often come up with excuses for losing an ashes series. Bodyline, Mcgrath's injury in '05 and Cardiff in '09 to name but 3 examples. We hardly ever hear congratulations or well Done England do we?
jambenes 1 month ago
@jambenes Oi! I'm Aussie & have no problems calling the Poms the best test team in the world right now - easily, even just after getting pasted by the Paks (an anomaly, I think, but we'll see).
Larwood by far the best quick of the day. He said, "I only ever bowled really fast once, & that was in Australia in 1932-33." Even bowling to a conventional field, he was just too much to handle. "I'm really sorry, Bertie," he said after cracking Oldfield's skull. "My fault, Harold," replied Oldfield.
windigo44 1 month ago
@jambenes Excuses? Let's stay on bodyline - McGrath, etc., are diff matters.
You really think bodyline is sporting? Wasn't illegal at all at the time, but sporting?
If so, then you MUST excuse Greg Chappell for the underarm. I don't, though. Chappell was the poorest of sports for doing it - no excuse at all. It was legal, yes, but dirty. Unforgivable, actually.
Bodyline = exciting, effective, legal (at the time), but hardly "cricket" in the literal & metaphorical sense of the term.
windigo44 1 month ago
DEVON MALCOM BOWLED LIKE THIS WHEN HE BOUNCED SOUTH AFRICA OUT WITH 9 WKTS
DAJAZDJ1 6 months ago
Absolute Genius from Jardine, he limited Bradman to an average of 56 in this series, some 43 below his normal test average, it may not have been pretty but it was damn well effective.
Stokie09123 7 months ago
@Stokie09123 well lets be honest its a lot easier to aim for the batsman than to aim for the stumps
irishgodfatherchris 6 months ago
IF I WAS FACING DAT BOWLING I WOULD OF BEEN THE 1ST TO HIT 6 SIXES IN AN OVER COS I'D OF HOOKED EVERYONE STRAIGHT OUT OF THE STADIUM
DAJAZDJ1 7 months ago
@DAJAZDJ1 they covered around the batsmen to catch the ball should they hook it, are you a troll?
doomcaster76 3 months ago
@doomcaster76 troll?
DAJAZDJ1 3 months ago
INSTEAD OF BITCHING WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST HOOK IT OUT OF THE GROUND
DAJAZDJ1 8 months ago
it's the stupid batsmen's fault cos theres these things what protect the head there called HELMETS
DAJAZDJ1 8 months ago
@DAJAZDJ1 Not in the 1930s.
pysgodfach 7 months ago
DISGRACE!!!!!!
gaiuskaiser 8 months ago
This is not cheating, because it was in the rules at the time, like the aus-NZ underarm incident. It was very poor sportsmanship though.
dannya333 1 year ago
@dannya333 SO YOUR SAYING PLAYING BY THE RULES IS POOR SPOTSMANSHIP A TEAM SHOULD GET AN EDGE ON THERE OPPONTENTS ANY LEGAL WAY THEY CAN NOTHING STOPPED THE AUSSIES BOWLING EXACTLY THE SAME WAY BACK AND BESIDES THIS THE AUSSIES ARE THE BIGGEST CHEATS TO EVER PLAY THE GAME PONTING MAINLY NEVER EVER WALKS WHEN HE KNOWS HE'S GOT A NICK HE CLAIMS CATCHES IN THE SLIPS WHEN IT'S CLEARLY HIT THE GROUND
DAJAZDJ1 8 months ago
These days they'd just hook it away
lozzag13 1 year ago
If i am personally afraid of 6 slips and a gully, then it's my problem.. i cannot complain that the fielding team is cheating.. The Bodyline is one rare occasion that the poms show some aggression.. That cannot be equated to cheating..
saig2007 1 year ago
@mattyo30 Yes mate, but they still bowled at the throat. What have 9 fielders on the leg site got to do with it........with respect.
Johndale99 1 year ago
@Johndale99 It wasn't cheating no, but the English knew very well what they were doing was not within the spirit of the game.
Muff0 1 year ago 2
Anyone who thought we bloody Poms conned our way to world domination on the basis of 'fair play' was plainly naive and deserved to be conquered - or ruled - or both. What I don't like about Bodyline is it sort of gave the game away somewhat, which is a pity because clearly first Jerry and then the Yanks thought they'd have a crack at it too. Yes, folks, I blame the fall of Empire, the Second World War and US hegemony on Douglas Jardine. But we won the Ashes, so it was worth it.
ludocrat 1 year ago
@mattyo30 They didn't because the laws of cricket forbade it. In 1932, no such law was written. I've no doubt Lillee & Thomo would have done so if it was allowed. Temember Thomo's words, "I like to see blood on the pitch!"
ikutoka1 1 year ago
Jardine exposed a chink in the armour of Bradman. Larwood bowled according to the laws. This hue and cry seems unjustified in today's context.
lahiridilli 1 year ago
@lahiridilli no batsman likes to get hit in the head at 80mph
irishgodfatherchris 1 year ago 2
Massive disgrace, Changed the game for the good though
mikeyj2105 1 year ago
cant believe that the aussies still moan about this. if you read about the history of leg-theory your find that australia had used it before but they did'nt have a fast and acqurate bowler in harold larwood and poor old moaning don bradman did'nt like it
fingersmolloy 1 year ago
I didn't know Jardine had a daughter - yet another historical inaccuracy of the mini-series, where he broke up with his longterm girlfriend after that series and who herself related at the end that he died of cancer at age 55 or so, presumably (so the impression given) as a bachelor?
Bernie8330 1 year ago
I blame body line for Australia wanting independence
GuyLyddonable 1 year ago
wow ur an ignorant pig
ireusecondoms 1 year ago
If we can accept all that the Rules provide or proscribe as "Cricket" then we should not complain when Greg Chappel bowled that "underarm" delivery.
All in all I can only commend Jardine for one thing - the ability to think "out of the box" and devise a strategy that silenced the worlds greatest batsman - the Don. Was it cricket ? I have no answer.......
What was terrible was that Larwood a poor coal miner was punished and jardine - a "gentleman" was merely reprimanded.
mohanvraman 2 years ago
Either you are a bit of a comdeian, or you know nothing about the cricket of the time. Australian pitches were hard and true in the 1930s and once the shine had gone off the ball you couldn't move it off the straight (no reverse swing in those days). Also, Bradman was superb outside the off stump due to his almost superhuman hand-eye co-ordination. It was an imaginative tactic, built on wonderful bowlers, played within the rules and used sparingly and depending on the situation.
markbailey1970 2 years ago
Well, they didn't put 9 fielders on the leg side, did they? And it was only possible to use leg theory if you had bowlers good enough to carry out the plan. Thats why the convicts didn't bowl 'Bodyline' during the series. Nothing to do with honour or principle - as the Australian historians would have us believe - and all to do with the fact that Tim Wall wasn't good enough to bowl in this way. They tried to do it by bringing in Harry 'Bull' Alexander in the last test, and he got hammered.
markbailey1970 2 years ago
Right...how is it cheating when the best fast bowler in cricket history bowls within the rules? Were Lillee and Thomson cheats?
markbailey1970 2 years ago
@markbailey1970 i agree that it is not cheating, however, i believe that it was a disgusting move by the English and was far from a gentlemen like move and rightfully turn cricket into a life threatening sport. i think it was stupid dangerous and disgusting that they did this, and even though it proved very effective for other teams not to employ this tactic shows that everyone knows it its ridiculously unfair and blatantly dangerous.
TheMrChibles 1 year ago
@markbailey1970 I'm british and i admit its not cheating, but neithers bowling underarm. both are disgusting and neither should ever happen again.
fixcef528 1 year ago 2
I love the whole BodyLine saga.. its dirty as hell.. which makes it even more interesting.. it was done by people who are/were considered the most dour douchebags that you fan find on this planet - imperialist Englishmen !
The Pommies stopped pretending that they were gentlemen and went on to pummel the Aussies in the Ashes - Bradman had his worst series ! lots of bad blood.. I loved the TV series in the 80's - Hugo Weaving was awesome as Jardine. Forgot the guys who played Bradman & Larwood
nagee76 2 years ago
@nagee76 Bradman was played by Gary Sweet, and was portrayed as a bit of a saint, when he was by all accounts a very difficult man to get along with. I agree Weaving was brilliantly cast as Jardine, and he simply made the whole series.
Bernie8330 1 year ago
Mate, will watch all of this at some point. We cheated didn't we?
tkw251070 2 years ago 2
thx 4 upload matt,
just watching this the other day,,
brill series,
bodyline was pritty much cheatin,
CMON THE AUSSIES
TommyJ1994 2 years ago