Harold Larwood

Martin Chandler | 8:43am BST 27 March 2022

Published: 2006
Pages: 150
Author: Smith, Raymond
Publisher: Private
Rating: 4 stars

I’ll start this review with an admission, that being that Harold Larwood, aka ‘Lol’ or ‘The Notts Express’, is probably my all-time favourite cricketer. His life story is superbly told in Duncan Hamilton’s superb 2009 biography, and Larwood himself, assisted by journalist Kevin Perkins, had produced The Larwood Story in 1965, a thoroughly worthwhile autobiography.

There are other books about Larwood, those being one that concentrates on his time with Blackpool in the Northern League after his First Class career ended, a booklet in the old ACS Famous Cricketers series, and then this one, written by Aussie Raymond Smith, and published three years before Hamilton’s magnum opus.

Smith is an unashamed admirer of Larwood and, as other writers have illustrated in the past, including one as eminent as EW ‘Jim’ Swanton, that is not genrally a good start for a biographer. But having established that it is also the case that there are times, as noted in my review of the Gulu Ezekiel edited My Cricket Hero, when hagiography can be a good thing.

Harold Larwood comes down very much on the right side of the line. Smith’s book is not a biography as such, and indeed its sub title, A Match by Match Record of the First Class Career of the Greatest Fast Bowler of them all, suggests it is more an exercise in statistical analysis than anything else, but in truth it is rather more than that.

The book consists of a season by season look at Larwood’s career. It begins with a chapter on 1925 and ends with one on 1938, and includes separate chapters on each of Larwood’s two England tours, both to Australia for the Ashes, first in 1928/29 and then, more famously, the still celebrated 1932/33 Bodyline tour.

Each chapter contains a summary of each match that Larwood played, and sets out his own contributions. In addition to the bare numbers there is also a decent narrative summary of the season in question, slightly more detailed in respect of each of the trips to the Antipodes.

The chapters on those 17 seasons represent the bulk of the book, but there is of course an introduction as well, and an epilogue in addition to, finally, ten pages of overall career statistics. In the autumn of Larwood’s years he corresponded with Smith and the two men also met. The narrative therefore has an authenticity about it that could not have been gleaned from books alone.

There is something else however and, with all due respect to the fine efforts Smith has put in himself, it is the highlight of the book, that being a foreword from one of the great man’s daughters, Enid Todd, and an exceptionally powerful piece of writing it is too.

The reason I picked this one off the shelves the other day was to check Larwood’s contribution to Nottinghamshire’s County Championship triumph in 1929. Having done that I soon became immersed once again in the Larwood story and while Smith’s book is not a substitute for Hamilton’s masterly account, it is still one that is well worth reading.

The book also served as a reminder of just what a great bowler Larwood was. His record of topping the national averages in England on no less than five occasions is unmatched, and his record in Australia in 1932/33 is eye watering. In five Tests he took 33 wickets at 19.51, a fine performance at any time, but never forget the quality of batsman he was facing. Out on his own of course was Donald Bradman, but there was also the genius of Stan McCabe, not to mention Bill Woodfull and Bill Ponsford, both with career averages in all First Class matches that are well over 60, and all were, of course, batting in their own back yard.

The book originally appeared as a modest paperback, but also in a limited edition of thirty copies bound in cloth and signed by author and subject. Published in Australia not too many copies ever got to the UK, so anyone wishing to acquire a copy of this excellent little book might do best to start their search there, with either Roger Page or Ken Piesse, although I note whilst finalising this review that there is a paperback available from Christopher Saunders, and one of the thirty hardbacks from Sportspages.