Beschreibung:

M.C.C. tour of Australia 1932/33 'Bodyline'. Sepia printed photograph of the M.C.C. team who toured Australia in 1932/33, seated and standing in rows and wearing cricket attire and touring blazers. The photograph is double mounted with titles above and below the image and is nicely signed in ink to the image by all seventeen playing members of the touring party featured. Signatures D.R. Jardine (Captain), G. Duckworth, Nawab of Pataudi, M. Leyland, H. Larwood, E. Paynter, L.E.G. Ames, H. Verity, W. Voce, W.E. Bowes, F.R. Brown, M.W. Tate, H. Sutcliffe, R.E.S. Wyatt, G.O.B. Allen, W.R. Hammond and T.B. Mitchell. The photograph measures 9.5"x7.25" and is attractively mounted, framed and glazed, overall 21"x18.25". Some fading to five of the signatures, although all legible, some signatures to darker areas of the image otherwise in good condition
England won the series by four Tests to one. The tour was highly controversial because of the bodyline bowling tactics used by the England team under the captaincy of Douglas Jardine. Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, 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 delivery was one where the cricket ball was bowled at the body of the batsman, in the hope that when he defended himself with his bat, a resulting deflection could be caught by one of several fielders standing close by. The tactic was considered by critics to be intimidatory and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a game that was supposed to uphold gentlemanly traditions. England's use of a tactic perceived by some as overly aggressive or even unfair ultimately threatened diplomatic relations between the two countries before the situation was calmed. Although no serious injuries arose from any short-pitched deliveries while a leg theory field was actually set, the tactic still led to considerable ill feeling between the two teams, particularly when Australian batsmen suffered actual injuries in separate incidents, which inflamed the watching crowds. The controversy eventually spilled into the diplomatic arena.