Stuart Broad and James Anderson have every right to feel proud men. In England’s colors they bowled in tandem for years, Anderson claiming 704 Test wickets and Broad, 604.
Their achievement has been recognized this week via a joint portrait that was unveiled at Lords and is to be hung alongside other luminaries of the game. Surely, there are few who would quibble at this acclaim for yeomen of their craft and country.
They are one chapter in a long line of English and Welsh fast bowlers and, so far, have not been satisfactorily replaced. When they started their careers, they were regarded as “promising,” a euphemism for maybe they will make it to the top level or maybe not.
Both needed to make their case and overcome early setbacks. Anderson survived one coach’s attempt to remodel his action, while Broad overcame the embarrassment of being hit for six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh at Durban in 2007 in the inaugural T20 World Cup, aged 21. He says that this hardened his approach to the game, making him more resilient and adaptive. His father, Chris, played for England between 1984 and 1989 as an opening batter and faced the might of an uncompromising West Indies attack with bravery.
Stuart, born in 1986, was steeped in cricket, following his father around at Trent Bridge when he played for Nottinghamshire, a place he calls home. The pavilion was officially renamed the Stuart Broad end in July 2024, following his retirement from playing in 2023.
Two stands around from the pavilion is one named after Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, two other fast bowlers from Nottinghamshire. In Larwood’s case, many observers judged him to be the fastest bowler ever. This was a view held by Australian players, commentators and spectators during the 1932-33 Ashes series in Australia. It was also a series filled with controversy that lingers today. A plan had been devised by England’s captain, Douglas Jardine, to curb the prodigious run-scoring of Australia’s captain, Don Bradman. This involved his fast bowlers directing short-pitched deliveries at the Australian batmen’s upper body, with fielders placed strategically close by to take advantage. Larwood was the spearhead of the attack, aided by Voce, his county bowling partner, whose extra height generated more bounce.
At that time, there was no law to limit the number of close fielders behind the batsman on his legside. During the third Test, after Bert Oldfield suffered a fractured skull, the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket cabled its counterpart in England, the Marylebone Cricket Club, describing England’s tactics as “unsportsmanlike.” The MCC resented the accusation and the situation spiraled. It was only an intervention by Australia’s prime minister, worried that the British public might boycott Australian trade, that saved the series from being discontinued. Such was the outcry about these tactics, which were dubbed “bodyline,” that the MCC, cricket’s lawmakers, were forced to act. In 1934, “the type of bowling regarded as a direct attack by the bowler upon the batsman,” was deemed unfair.
On their return to England, both Jardine and Larwood were disowned by the English cricketing establishment. Larwood, but not Voce, was asked by the MCC to sign an apology to them for his bowling in Australia. Furiously affronted, Larwood pointed out that he was following orders from his captain and refused to sign, never to be picked again for England. He continued to play for Nottinghamshire, for whom he took 1,427 wickets in a 14-year career, before injury forced his retirement in 1938, whereupon he moved to Blackpool, Lancashire, to live in relative obscurity.
Voce was not picked for England in 1933 and 1934 but was selected in 1935. He rarely talked about the bodyline tactics and there have been rumors that he did not like them. Other bowlers certainly did not, refusing to go along with them, while the tour manager was privately not in favor. Voce’s career ended with Nottinghamshire in 1952, aged 42, for whom he took 1,447 wickets. In an era when there were three Test playing nations, Voce played 27 times for England and Larwood 21. They were born a short distance from each other in one of Nottinghamshire’s mining communities. In Larwood’s case, it was Nuncargate, a village near Kirkby-in-Ashfield, 10 miles northwest of Nottingham. He attended Kirkby Woodhouse school, which over the years produced four other international cricketers, including Voce.
At 14, Larwood began work in a local coal mine, as well as breaking into Nuncargate’s second team in 1918 and then the first team in 1920, alongside his father. At the time, he was only 5 feet, four inches tall but had acquired upper body strength from his shifts at the mine. He was watched by a former Nottinghamshire and England cricketer who lived in Nuncargate and he suggested that he should go for a trial at Trent Bridge in April 1923. After a nervous start, his bowling speed increased and by the end of the session he was offered a playing contract, which he immediately accepted. The wages were £1.60 per week, no more than his mining wages, but he was desperate to leave the mines behind.
Larwood had grown to almost 5 feet, eight inches and, under the guidance of the county’s coach and captain, Larwood put on weight and learned the art of fast bowling. His progress earned a county debut in August 1924 and a regular place in 1925. An England debut against Australia arrived in 1926, during a season in which he claimed 137 wickets at 18.31 runs per wicket. His bowling style can be seen in videos. He had long arms in relation to his height, a smooth, rhythmical and fast approach to the wicket His delivery action was a classical side-on one in which his right arm would swing from low on his right leg to a point where, according to Jardine, his knuckles would sometimes touch the ground in his follow-through. In 1927, he was joined in the county team by a 17-year-old Voce, who was five years younger than Larwood and had walked the 10 miles from his home to Trent Bridge for a trial.
In 1948, Larwood was persuaded to attend a farewell luncheon for Don Bradman at the end of the Australian team’s tour. By now he had bought a sweet shop in Blackpool, but it made little money in postwar Britain. One of his former opponents, Jack Fingleton, said that there were better prospects in Australia. On April 1, 1950, Larwood emigrated with his wife and five daughters, sailing on the same ship that had carried the bodyline party of 1932-33. They were welcomed warmly, a bungalow found in a Sydney suburb and a steady job with a soft drinks firm. It is ironic that he should find happiness in Australia, where he died in 1995 aged 90. An MBE was awarded to him in 1993, prompting one newspaper to say: “At last the ruling classes honor the man who carried the can for their savage arrogance.”
This week there have been calls by two cricket journalists, including Mike Atherton, for a portrait of Larwood to be commissioned and hung in the Long Room at Lords. I would go further than that and include Bill Voce. He kept the pressure on at the other end, with his left-arm action and accuracy, a perfect foil. They shared 48 wickets in the bodyline series, half of the ones to fall. They deserve to be united again in the place from which Larwood was shamefully excommunicated.
