the big bambino
International Captain
It could've happened again; or at least an iteration of bodyline. There wasn't an outright sanction against the tactic just a law against intimidatory bowling. If anything the tactic of targeting the man was ended by agreement as the English got a taste of their own medicine and both sides realised the danger to the conduct of future series presuming they were played at all. The unreasonable vilification of Larwood and Voce played a significant part in burying the tactic as well and that was the most likely reason Larwood never played tests again, his injury issues notwithstanding.Yeah, that bit in bold is unquestionably true. I suppose my take on the matter is that once Bradman came along, it took a one-off tactic for England to win in 1932-33, which wasn't going to happen again.
The rain had a meaningful impact on almost all the 36/37 tests and the luck was evenly spread. But it was not the reason Australia lost either the first two tests. We were chasing a large target in the first test and really just needed to bat out one difficult period in Sydney but failed. I think Australia were favourites for the series but that was due solely to Bradman's presence.