Portal:Cricket/Featured article/2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bert Oldfield is hit in the head by a Bodyline ball.

Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman. A Bodyline bowler deliberately aimed the cricket ball at the body of the opposing batsman, in the hope of creating legside deflections that could be caught by one of several fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg.

The tactic led to ill feeling between the two national teams, with the controversy eventually spilling into the diplomatic arena. Over the next two decades, several of the Laws of Cricket were changed to prevent this tactic being repeated.

More featured articles · Read more...