Very few cricket series have attracted as much attention, scrutiny, and controversy as the Ashes of 1932/33, now more famously known as the Bodyline Series.
England, led by Douglas Jardine, arrived in Australia with a single plan to defeat the home side: stack the leg-side field and bowl fast, short-pitched deliveries aimed at the body. It was a tactic designed to intimidate, and at its centre was concern for the batting of one man, Don Bradman.
The story goes that during a planning meeting at Lord’s, after watching hours of Bradman’s batting, Jardine leapt from his chair and declared that the greatest ever batter had a weakness, “He’s yellow."
From that moment, the plan was set. With the feared Harold Larwood as his spearhead, Jardine assembled an attack capable of delivering his strategy.
The opening Tests in Sydney and Melbourne had set the tone, but it was Adelaide Oval where the series reached its fever pitch. A record crowd packed the ground, eager to see Bradman, who was coming off of a hundred at Melbourne. Instead, they witnessed chaos.
Bill Woodfull, Australia’s captain, was struck above the heart by Larwood. He staggered, clutching his chest, while Jardine’s response, “Well bowled, Harold,” echoed across the ground.
The crowd erupted, with their anger pointed towards the English. Later, Bert Oldfield suffered a fractured skull from another Larwood delivery. The sickening crack was heard on radio. As Oldfield collapsed, the crowd surged. Mounted police were deployed to prevent a riot.
Inside the dressing room, MCC manager Plum Warner visited Woodfull to check in on him. Woodfull’s reply became legend, “there are two teams out there. One is trying to play cricket; the other is not.” That exchange was leaked to the press, and decades later it emerged that Bradman himself had leaked the story.
The tactic helped England to crush Australia in Adelaide by 338 runs; they then won the remaining Tests to seal the series 4–1. The fallout was immediate and intense. Newspapers raged, public opinion boiled over, and the tactic was condemned as the most unsportsmanlike act ever witnessed.
Now immortalised in the SACA Members’ Bodyline Bar, the Adelaide Test remains the defining moment of cricket’s most infamous series.
The Ashes return to Adelaide Oval on 17 December 2025, with England boasting one of the most formidable fast-bowling units seen since Jardine’s men.