Product Description

The Nottinghamshire bowler Harold Larwood was his country's chief weapon in the notorious 1932-3 Ashes tour, during which England's fast bowlers used so-called 'Bodyline' tactics to counter the threat posed by the great Australian batsman Don Bradman. Larwood's pace and hostility left Australia's batsmen battered, reduced Bradman to the status of mere mortal - and brought England a 4-1 series victory. But the fury it engendered brought Anglo-Australian relations to the brink of collapse. After the series Larwood was used as a scapegoat by the MCC, which demanded he apologise for his intimidatory bowling. Arguing that he had simply obeyed the instructions of his captain Douglas Jardine, Larwood refused. He never played for England again. Frustrated and depressed, in 1953 he was encouraged to emigrate to Australia by some of the same men he had played against and injured in 1932-3. The saga of Bodyline has been told before, but Larwood's own tale, particularly his attitude to the 1932-3 series and his shoddy treatment by the establishment there-after, has not. Using materials provided by Larwood's family, Duncan Hamilton charts the peaks and troughs of Larwood's life: from his mining village upbringing, through his rise to stardom, the shock of Bodyline and its traumatic aftermath, to his emigration to Sydney, where he and his family found happiness. Hamilton examines what his story tells us about issues of class and social standing in early 20th-century Britain, and about the codes and hierarchies that existed in a game that distinguish-ed rigidly between public-school amateurs and working-class professionals A thrilling and moving recreation of the triumph, betrayal and redemption of a working-class hero and forgotten titan of English cricket, Harold Larwood will enthral and delight not only cricket fans, but all those who relish biographical writing of the highest quality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #316 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
This is a brilliant book, encompassing themes way beyond the narrow confines of sport - Times.
Vivid portrayal of his subject … an excellent cricket biography, one of the best of recent times. Thoroughly recommended - All Out Cricket. --Reviews

A magnificently written, intensely moving story of that rarest of breeds a great England fast bowler. ... If you want to know why the Ashes matter, you could do worse then lose yourself for a few days in the story of this great and humble man. --Michael Atherton, The Times

This is cricket biography of the highest stamp, fit to compare in recent memory with Gideon Haigh s excavation of the life of Jack Iverson, David Foot s dramatic revisionism on Wally Hammond and Leo McKinstry s remarkably even-handed portrait of Geoff Boycott. Five stars. --Wisden Cricketer.

From the Inside Flap
Harold Larwood was the terror of the shires. He stood just 5 feet 7½ inches in his cricket boots and weighed less than 11 stone, but he bowled as fast and as furiously as any bowler before or since - particularly after a couple of lunchtime pints had sharpened his appetite for unleashing mayhem...
Larwood was his country's chief weapon during the MCC's 1932-33 tour of Australia, when England used `Bodyline' tactics to combat a batting phenomenon called Don Bradman. Bodyline halved Bradman's batting average and brought England a 4-1 series victory, but the diplomatic row that followed brought Anglo-Australian relations to the brink of collapse. Larwood was used as a scapegoat by the MCC, which demanded he apologize for bowling Bodyline. Arguing that he had simply obeyed the instructions of his captain, Douglas Jardine, Larwood refused. He never played for England again. Frustrated and depressed, in 1950 he emigrated to Australia.
The saga of Bodyline has been told before, but Larwood's own story has not. Using documents provided by Larwood's family, Duncan Hamilton has created an intimate and compelling portrait of the fast bowler's life: from his Nottinghamshire mining village upbringing, through the shock of Bodyline and its traumatic aftermath, to his emigration to Sydney where he and his family found happiness.
A moving recreation of the betrayal and redemption of a working-class hero and forgotten titan of English cricket, Harold Larwood will enthral not only cricket fans, but all those who relish biographical writing of the highest quality.

From the Back Cover
The first biography of Harold Larwood, the man synonymous with the biggest controversy in cricket history - the Bodyline tour of 1932-33.

Customer Reviews

Great Read of the Fastest Bowler Ever
This biography is a sympathetic account of the fastest bowler the world has ever seen - allowing the reader to understand him fully in a way that previous published works have failed to do - and giving an insight into the man and cricketer that is wonderful to behold. It tells of the proud man who always put his family first and of the proud cricketer who always gave of his best - even in difficult circumstances. It corrects that much believed myth that Larwood was just a tool under Jardine's control and replaces it with the fact that in reality, Larwood stood shoulder to shoulder with his 'Skipper' when it came to believing in and delivering 'Bodyline'. Harold Larwood paid as high a price as DRJ for his involvement in the 1932/33 Ashes series and yet never sought to blame his captain - always holding Douglas Jardine in the highest regard both as a man and as a cricketer. I warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in cricket or history or both but also to those wishing to get a more realistic account of 'Bodyline' from its principle weapon. It is a book that once picked up the reader will find it hard to put down.

Wisden Cricket Book of the year for 2010
This is an outstanding book - the best cricket book I have read in years. The story of the '32-33 series has been told many times but this book is more about the man.

The latter parts of the book, about his post cricket life, are particularly fascinating but also very sad. I don't mind admitting I had more than one lump in my throat as I got near the end. This MUST be Wisden's cricket book of the year for 2010 - if not sports book of the year period. This book exceeds Hamilton's previous biography of Brian Clough by far in my view (which was also very good).

A great English hero
A decent biography of one the greats of English cricket is long overdue and Hamilton does Harold Larwood proud. Packed with fascinating and often very funny anecdotes, Hamilton tells the story of Larwood's rise from the mines of Nottingham to become the fastest, most devastating and most feared bowler in the world. Every aspect of Larwood's career from the early days at Notts through to the England period, the Bodyline tour and aterwards is handled with immense care and detail. Yes, it's an athorised biography, so it's kind to Larwood. But Hamilton gives plenty of insight into this prickly, proud and stubborn character. Brilliant on his relationships with Voce, Jardine, Carr, the MCC and, of course, Bradman and the appalling way the events unfolded in the aftermath of the Bodyline crisis. Extraordinary how welcoming and kind the Australians were to him when he finally emigrated there.
Harold Larwood is a very touching, warm and gripping read, though Hamilton could have done with a sterner editor because it's a tad over-written in places. But don't let that stop you buying and enjoying this marvellous biography of a great gentleman and giant of cricket.