Book review: Harold Larwood

Was Harold Larwood the fastest bowler that cricket has seen? Perhaps it is better if the uncertainty remains, and the legend is undiminished. Whatever, Harold Larwood was seriously fast, and far more so than any other bowler of his era.

That the Bodyline series was his last in Test cricket was a tragedy, and largely a result of MCC hypocrisy – congratulatory during the series, they changed their tune after the team returned home and demanded that Larwood apologise for his bowling. He refused, and that was that.

Duncan Hamilton’s biography, written with the assistance of Larwood’s family, is an excellent account, examining the effect that Bodyline had on Larwood for the rest of his life. Always shy, Larwood became more reclusive, shunning publicity to run a sweet shop in Blackpool. Eventually, he emigrated to Australia, where he was welcomed in the country that had the most reason to vilify him.

In Englad, the stigma lasted longer, at least within the cricket establishment, and it was many years before he was welcomed into an England dressing room. Eventually, official recognition came with an MBE in 1993 (instigated by cricket loving PM John Major) and he is now recognised as one of the country’s finest cricketers.

Whilst Bodyline is clearly the defining event of Larwood’s life, Hamilton manages to provide a rounded story including his formative days working in the mines and the importance of figures such as Nottinghamshire captain Arthur Carr.

For anyone interested in the story of Bodyline, or the history of English cricket in general, this is a must-have.