Adelaide Test Match, 1933: The Times Report

In the Ashes tour to England in 1930, Don Bradman had destroyed the English bowling. In the return tour of 1932-1933, the England captain Douglas Jardine, determined to neuter the run-making machine, resorted to the 'leg-theory' or, as it is better remembered, 'bodyline'. Jardine instructed the extremely fast and accurate bowler, Harold Larwood, to bowl short-pitched balls at the body of the batsmen, while he packed the leg-side field with close catchers. It caused an outrage in Australia, which climaxed at the Third Test match in Adelaide in January 1933. Police were called in to control the crowd by the South Australian government, still shaken from riots caused by the Depression. Both Woodfull, the Australian captain, and Oldfield, the wicketkeeper had been hit by fast balls from Larwood—Oldfield had cracked his skull. Bradman and McCabe, the only batsman to have shown any fluency against bodyline, both fell to leg-theory in this match. The following report in The Times that appeared on January 19, 1933, describes the Australian official complaint against leg-theory that followed the fourth day as England set up a victory that gained them The Ashes. Bodyline caused a diplomatic rift between England and Australia that eventually involved the prime ministers of both countries.