Harold Larwood (November 14, 1904 - July 22, 1995) was an English cricket player, an extremely quick and accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "Bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932-33. November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Cricket is a team sport played between two groups of eleven players each. ... Darren Gough bowling A bowler in the sport of cricket is usually a player whose speciality is bowling. ... Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball. ... The Ashes is a regular international cricket contest between England and Australia, played every two years, so named after the trophy, which is a small wooden urn, said to contain the burnt bails from an 1882 game between the countries at The Oval. ...

Larwood was born in Nuncargate, Nottinghamshire to working-class parents. As a child, a near-fatal accident prompted his father to make him a primitive bat, and the child reportedly took to cricket with great enthusiasm. Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ...

Leaving school at 14 to become a labourer in the local mine, he also began to play for the village cricket team. By 18 he was invited to trial for Nottinghamshire, where he was offered a professional contract and starred with bat and ball.

Larwood was by this stage a fearsome bowler, claimed by many observers to bowl at speeds well in excess of "90 miles per hour" (145 km/h). Such speeds compare quite favourably to the fastest of modern fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee. Larwood, moreover, was also very accurate. Such a combination made Larwood the most dangerous fast bowler of his time. [[Pindi Express. ... Brett Lee (born November 8, 1976 in Wollongong, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer. ...

In 1926, he played his first Test match against Australia in the second Test of the series, at Lord's. Taking 2/99 and 1/37, he did not secure a permanent place in the team until the 1928 series, where he took 17 wickets, including 6/32 in the first innings of the first Test. Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. ...

The arrival of Donald Bradman in the Australian team saw the English cricketing hierarchy scratching their heads to devise a plan to defeat the Australian phenomenon and thus retain the Ashes trophy. Douglas Jardine, the English captain (and, like all England captains of the prewar era, a "gentleman amateur" leading a team partly made up of working-class professionals), determined that Bradman was vulnerable to short-pitched bowling, and adopted "fast leg theory". Larwood was tasked with implementing the plan, and thus the stage was set for the Bodyline Test series. For more coverage of cricket, go to the Cricket portal. ... Douglas Robert Jardine (23 October 1900, Bombay - 18 June 1958, Montreux) was a British cricketer and captain of the controversial 1932-33 Bodyline tour of Australia. ...

At the end of the series, Larwood was asked by the English cricketing hierarchy to apologise for his bowling. He refused, on the basis that he, as a professional cricketer, was obligated to follows the directions of his captain, whose responsibility the tactics were. Larwood never played cricket for England again, returning to Nottinghamshire where he played until 1938. A professional cricket match In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball towards the batsman. ...

In 1953, Larwood emigrated to Australia, where he largely lived a quiet life. He was awarded an MBE in 1993. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand...

Harold Larwood married Lois Bird, and had five children.

External links

• Cricinfo Player Profile : Harold Larwood
• Official Harold Larwood Site