Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood is an England cricketing legend. During the MCC_s notorious 1932_3 Ashes tour of Australia, his _Bodyline_ bowling left Australia_s batsmen bruised and battered, halved the batting average of the great Don Bradman _ and gave 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 apologise for bowling Bodyline. Arguing that he had simply obeyed the instructions of his captain, Douglas Jardine, Larwood refused. He never played for England again. The Bodyline saga has been told before, but Larwood_s story has not. Using materials provided by the fast bowler_s family, Duncan Hamilton has created an intimate and compelling portrait of Larwood_s life: from his mining village upbringing, through the trauma of 1932_3 and its bitter aftermath, to his emigration to Australia, where he and his family found happiness. A moving recreation of the triumph, betrayal and redemption of a working-class hero, Harold Larwood will enthral not only cricket fans, but all those who relish biographical writing of the highest quality.

Duncan Hamilton is the author of the 2009 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, the authorized biography of Harold Larwood.