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English
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England
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Eng
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DR Jardine
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Douglas Jardinejpg
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Right-handed batsman (RHB)
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Leg break
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22
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1296
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4800
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1/10
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127
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6
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0
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n/a
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0
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0
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n/a
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26/0
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262
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14848
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4683
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35/72
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214
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2582
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48
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4683
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1
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0
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6/28
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188/0
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23 June
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1928
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13 February
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1934
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(
23 October 1900 ,
Bombay -
18 June 1958 ,
Montreux ) was a British
Cricket er and captain of the controversial 1932-33
Bodyline tour of
Australia . He captained the
England side from
1931 to
1933 -34.
Jardine was born in
India of Scottish descent. His parents were
Malcolm Robert Jardine , who himself played
First-class Cricket for
Oxford University and
Middlesex , and
Alison Moir . Douglas Jardine was educated at Horris Hill School, Newbury, Berkshire,
Winchester College and
Oxford University , and habitually wore the Oxford Harlequin cap on the cricket field, which some saw as a symbol of pretension. He made his
Test debut for England against the
West Indies at
Lord's in
1928 . A skilled right-handed
Batsman , he was arguably England's best amateur batsman of his time - an age when cricketers were still divided between upper class amateurs and working class professionals.
He toured Australia with the English team in 1928-29. He played in all five Test matches, scoring 341 runs at the commendable average of 42.63. His skills displayed throughout the year led
Wisden to name Jardine a
Wisden Cricketer Of The Year for 1928.
During the tour of Australia, for some reason Jardine appeared to develop an intense dislike for the country and its people. Australians claim that this was provoked by his own pretentious behaviour, as cricket fans took exception to his exclusive Harlequin cap and somewhat haughty attitude. It is recorded that during one tour match Australian player
Hunter Hendry expressed his sympathies to Jardine for the jeers the crowd was giving him, and Jardine responded, "All Australians are uneducated, and an unruly mob."
Jardine did not play in the
1930 English Test series against the touring Australian team because he preferred to attend to business appointments that summer. Nevertheless, he took a great interest in the extraordinary batting skills of Australia's
Don Bradman , who finished the tour with a record (unbeaten to this day) aggregate of 974 Test runs at an
Average of 139.14.
Following this tour, Jardine met with
Nottinghamshire captain
Arthur Carr and his two
Fast Bowlers Harold Larwood and
Bill Voce . Together they devised a plan of attack aimed at countering Bradman's skills. This became known in the press as ''Bodyline''. Jardine never referred to this kind of short-pitched bowling as "bodyline", preferring to call it "Fast Leg Theory".
Jardine was appointed captain of the English touring team to Australia in 1932-33, and used the Bodyline tactics ruthlessly and effectively against his opposition. He also appreciated the benefit of psychologically boosting his own players; on the boat trip out to Australia he encouraged his team to foster a hatred for the Australian players, and to refer to
Don Bradman exclusively as "the little bastard".
In Australia, Larwood and Voce repeatedly hit Australian batsmen with fast balls, causing outrage amongst Australian fans. In the third Test at
Adelaide , Larwood struck Australian captain
Bill Woodfull over the heart, resulting in serious injury. Jardine's reaction was to call audibly to Larwood, "Well bowled, Harold!" Later in the same game, Australian
Wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield was struck on the head by another Larwood delivery, which fractured his skull (although Oldfield admitted that this was his fault as the injury was caused by the ball deflecting off the bat into his head).
Despite the uproar by the Australian public and the
Australian Board Of Control For Cricket , Jardine insisted his tactic was not designed to cause injury and that he was leading his team in a sportsmanlike and gentlemanly manner, arguing that it was up to the Australian batsmen to play their way out of trouble. It seems he did genuinely regret the injuries caused by Bodyline, as he secretly sent a telegram of sympathy to Bert Oldfield's wife and arranged for presents to be given to his young daughters.
But his popularity with the general Australian public never recovered. In a famous incident recorded by the press, Jardine was on the field and trying to brush a persistent fly away from his face when a spectator yelled across the ground, "Leave our flies alone, Jardine! They're the only flamin' friends you've got here!"
However, Jardine and his team returned to England as heroes, having convincingly won back
The Ashes 4-1. He was invited by the MCC to captain England again for the Tests against India before deciding that he had no wish to captain England again and resigned before the 1934 Ashes tour. In effect, he retired from first class cricket in 1934 aged 33.
Jardine married in 1934, Irene Margaret Peat (1914-1998) daughter of Sir Harry Peat. They had 4 children, Fianach, Marion, Iona & Euan.
During the war, he was commissioned into the
Royal Berkshire Regiment , serving with distinction in both France and India.
Jardine died from
Lung Cancer aged 57, in
Montreux ,
Switzerland . His ashes were returned to Scotland to be scattered at
Loch Rannoch .
To the present day, Jardine is remembered throughout much of the cricket world as the architect of what some, particularly in Australia, consider the most vicious premeditated behaviour seen on a cricket field; but the fact remains that these tactics were certainly within the rules of the game at the time and, furthermore, the tactic of intimidating batsmen with
Bouncer s (without a supporting Bodyline field) later became commonplace. His reputation remains particularly low in Australia, where respected cricket commentator
Alan McGillvray once described Jardine as "the most notorious Englishman since
Jack The Ripper ". However in England his reputation is as a ruthless, highly determined player and perhaps the first amateur captain with a fully professional attitude. Indeed,
Sir Pelham Warner commented "If ever there was a cricket match between England and the rest of the world, and the fate of England depended upon the result, I would pick Jardine as England Captain every time".
Jardine is also remembered as the originator of what many consider one of the most eloquent descriptions of the sport of cricket:
Cricket is battle and service and sport and art.
Jardine played in 22 Test matches for England, scoring 1,296 runs at an average of 48.00. In his
First-class Cricket career, he played 262 matches, scoring 14,848 runs at an average of 46.83. He also bowled
Leg Spin at first-class level, taking 48 wickets at an average of 31.10. A stand is named in his honour at
Surrey 's home ground,
The Oval ,
London ,
England .
