Overview
"When Douglas Jardine and his team set sail for Australia in September 1932, a controversy was raging in Australia between Don Bradman himself and the Australian Cricket Board. Bradman had entered into a contract with the Sydney Sun to report the 1932/1933 Test series and thus was in direct contravention of the Australian Board's rules governing Test players. Until a compromise was reached it seemed that Bradman would not be playing in the Tests. By the time the series was over another controversy had taken centre stage and was still raging. It was all about Jardine's use of ""body line"" bowling tactics which effectively contained the Australian batsmen and Don Bradman in particular. Jardine and his team won back the Ashes but cricket purists were appalled by the methods used. Jardine was ostracised by the English authorities and left the game soon afterwards. He died a rather forgotten figure in Switzerland aged 58. This biography explores Jardine the man, by background (public school, Oxford) of the establishment; and Jardine the cricketer, the aloof amateur with a ruthlesness more akin to modern day professionalism, in his quest for victory."
Full Product Details
Author: Christopher Douglas
Publisher: Methuen Publishing Ltd
Imprint: Methuen Publishing Ltd
Edition: 2nd Revised edition
Weight: 0.465kg
ISBN: 9780413772169
ISBN 10: 0413772160
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 21 November 2002
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
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Reviews
The current English cricket team seem to freeze when faced with Australian opposition, but Jardine's 1932/1933 team were their polar opposites - hard, intimidating winners. Unfortunately for Jardine he is less remembered for being a winner than he is for the methods he employed to achieve success. The controversial 'bodyline' tactics which were used so successfully against the brilliant Bradman and co were seen by many in both Australia and England as crude and even unsporting. Despite his achievements - he was one of the most successful England captains ever - Jardine was punished by the English cricket authorities for the embarrassment they felt 'bodyline' had caused them. Dismissive of his detractors, Jardine left the game he loved for an unsatisfying business career and died in relative obscurity in Switzerland aged just 58. Christopher Douglas's biography sets out to provide an accurate, rounded portrait of Jardine the man and cricketer. He was seen by many contemporaries as arrogant and stubborn, but Douglas shows him to be a more complete personality who was also bright, cool, brave and sensitive. Following Jardine's life from his Establishment upbringing and his cricketing development at Winchester and Oxford on through his England captaincy and the 'bodyline' Test, Christopher Douglas provides a balanced view of his subject which explores the complexities and contradictions of his life, and goes some way towards re-establishing Jardine's cricketing reputation. (Kirkus UK)
