This book won the William Hill Sports Book of Year in 2009 and is one of the worthiest winners of the award.
The Bodyline cricket series is remembered as the only
aberration to the greatness and near immortality of Donald Bradman ostensibly
brought about by unfair means of bodyline bowling. The culpable men – Douglas
Jardine and Harold Larwood.
Unfortunately for Harold Larwood, Bodyline is all most
cricket fans associate him with and remember him for. Well not anymore. All thanks
to his fellow Nottingham man, Duncan Hamilton.
In this meticulously researched and beautifully crafted book,
Hamilton gives us a biography that a cricketer of Larwood’s stature truly
deserves. Not only does he detail the pacer’s life before and after the cricket
series, he also builds a convincing portrayal of what Bodyline truly was – a gladiatorial
contest between a great batsman and a great fast bowler where the honours went
to the latter. In doing so he debunks the commonly held belief that Jardine,
Larwood and company used unfair means to stop the Don. The hero-villain
depiction was also created because of what happened after the series – Bradman went
on to become the greatest batman in the game while the English cricket
mandarins did a quick about turn and banished Jardine and Larwood from the game,
finding them guilty of tarnishing the game.
The passing years cemented this belief and the genuinely
great quick bowling exploits of Larwood were lost and forgotten. Luckily,
Larwood’s feats were recognized and applauded by most of the Aussies who played
in the historic series. And that remains the greatest proof that Larwood was
one of the greatest who delivered a performance for the ages.
The book traces Larwood’s journey from
being a young Nottinghamshire miner to becoming the fastest and most feared
bowler in the world, whose career and honour are ruined by injury, politics and
an ungrateful cricket establishment, before he finds redemption and peace in Australia
and amongst Aussies.
The book is full of wonderful anecdotes
which make for fascinating reading.
Duncan Hamilton is at
times a little too sympathetic to Harold, but we can allow him a little leeway
given that he is restoring the glory of a cricketer who got more than his fair
share of bad luck.
He played a cerebral role in finding a
chink in Bradman’s armour and creating a weapon to exploit it. This helps
correct his historic portrayal as a dim lad who was Jardine’s lackey. The two
shared a great relationship till the very end. Larwood had the highest regard
for his captain and never blamed him for his miseries.
The two have never been given their due for being so far
ahead of their time and doing something which has become an industry in itself
today – detailed video analysis to study opponents and prepare for games.
One of the strengths of this book is Larwood’s detailed
character sketch which paints Larwood as a proud and honourable man who always
gave his best for king, captain and country in the most difficult circumstances. He was a principled man who refused to take the chance
to resurrect his cricket career at the cost of his honour.
The study of Larwood’s post bodyline
trauma is touching. He is completely overcome with a deep sense of extreme
injustice and unable to come to terms with it. He shuns the world of cricket
and is afraid of facing his past colleagues.
His redemption is equally heart
warming. He finds a new life in Australia and slowly reconnects with cricket
and cricketers. The respect and admiration that he receives from his fellow
cricketers does most of the healing.
Larwood was the worthiest adversary Bradman had and he was
arguably the greatest fast bowler of his generation. In purely cricketing
terms, he got the better of Bradman. He
stuck to his principals in spite of his hardships and will never get the
recognition he deserved. Bradman got fame and used it to make money. Duncan Hamilton has done his bit to make the long
departed Larwood feel less aggrieved about life. He has done so by writing for
Harold Larwood one of the greatest cricketing biographies if not the greatest
cricket book of all time.
Rating – This is a great book which deserves nothing less
than five out of five.
Where you can buy – The hardcopy can be ordered from
Infibeam.com. It is fairly inexpensive.
