Bodyline. Seventy years on, it remains cricket's most emotive word, conjuring up flickering images of a far-off encounter, the 1932-33 Ashes Test series. It was a tactic dreamed up by an England captain desperate to contain the batting phenomenon of that (or any other) era - Don Bradman.

Bradman had scored runs at will in England in 1930 - a record 974 of them in the Tests. Eventually he retired with an unapproached Test batting average of 99.94 - the next-best is just under 61. Against the controversial Bodyline attack that average was suppressed to 56 - and England were happy with that.

Bodyline needed fast, accurate bowlers, sending down rapid bouncers, supported by a packed leg-side field. Just about all the batsman could do was duck, or hook (dangerous, with all those fielders lurking), or let the ball hit him (even more dangerous, in those pre-helmet days).

The tactic worked - England won the series 4-1 - but at a cost. In an age before instant telecommunications, cables zinged back and forth between Melbourne and Marylebone and the respective cricket boards. Politicians were dragged in, and there was talk of Australia leaving the Commonwealth. In sedate old Adelaide there was a real fear that the crowd would riot after Harold Larwood, the chief Bodyline bowler, hit Australia's captain and broke their wicketkeeper's skull.

The architect of all this was Douglas Jardine, the patrician England captain. He was dedicated to winning - and none too keen on the Australians, having taken a dislike to them on his previous tour in 1928-29. He carried out his plan - but he and the unfortunate Larwood were virtually disowned by the English cricket authorities when they belatedly realised what all the fuss was about.

The Bodyline series has spawned countless newspaper articles and animated cricket conversations, a five-part TV drama series, and numerous books. The latest of these, David Frith's Bodyline Autopsy, is published in Australia in October by ABC Books, and in England in November by Aurum Books.

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