Douglas Robert Jardine was born in India, educated at Winchester and Oxford, then established a reputation for himself as a very good cricketer – good enough as a batsman to play for Surrey and England. With a test batting average of 48, he became a regular in the England side and eventually assumed the captaincy.

 

 

Australia had regained The Ashes during their tour of England in 1930. The 5-match series had been dominated by the outstanding batting of the young Don Bradman, who scored 974 runs during the series and who had looked increasingly difficult to restrain. The Australian batting line-up was strong anyway, but the outstanding Bradman gave it an air of invincibility.

 

 

In order to beat Australia on their own soil it was clear that a plan had to be identified for dealing with Bradman. If he could be confined to mere mortal levels of performance, then England had a chance.

Jardine had studied Bradman and recognised a slight flaw in the way the batsman dealt with short-pitched fast deliveries on his legs. He therefore devised a plan called “Leg Theory” which would require fast bowling on the leg stump (in line with the batsman’s body) and delivered with aggression. A menacing field setting, with catchers grouped around the batsman, would put enormous pressure on the batting side. If he could assemble the right type of bowlers – and if he could motivate them to persist with his plan – Jardine felt that Bradman could be contained.

Jardine’s theory needed young, strong, fast bowlers to make it effective. He was lucky in that England was blessed at that time with three such players – Harold Larwood and Bill Voce of Nottinghamshire and Bill Bowes of Yorkshire.

In the 1930s, England cricket teams travelled to Australia by sea. The long journey saw Jardine really getting to work on his team: –
* he explained how “Leg Theory” would ensure that Bradman was contained
* he whipped up aggression by referring to Australians as “an unruly mob”
* he set an example by treating the Australian press with disdain
When they disembarked, the English players were ready to run through a brick wall for their captain.

The 5-match series went down in history as “The Bodyline Series” and Jardine’s theory nearly caused a major diplomatic incident as the Australians bitterly complained about the aggressive tactics employed by the English team. Jardine himself was openly hostile towards the opposition and refused to co-operate with them. This really upset the Australians who were noticeably put off their game. England’s bowlers delivered the plan exactly as Jardine had envisaged, Bradman was nothing like as effective and England won the series by 4 matches to 1.

Jardine’s tactics, demeanour and example resulted in the most hostile atmosphere ever seen in a cricket test series up to that time. Batsman were injured by the “Bodyline” bowling, spectators were provoked and the press were ignored. There is no doubt that Jardine achieved success within the laws of cricket as they were written at the time, but his behaviour was roundly criticised as being outside the spirit of the game. The laws of cricket were subsequently re-written so that “Bodyline” bowling became illegal.

Looking at Jardine’s performance:-
* he recognised a problem
* he formulated a plan
* he ensured he had the right personnel at his disposal
* he shared his vision
* he motivated his team and
* he delivered what he believed was the right result
Jardine was haughty, arrogant and dismissive but what a leader! Perhaps his fault was in failing to recognise his aim was to win the series and avoid the break up of the Commonwealth.

When Jardine died in 1958, his former fast bowler Bill Bowes said, “To me and every member of the 1932-33 side in Australia, Douglas Jardine was the greatest captain England ever had. A great fighter, a grand friend and an unforgiving enemy.”

 

Mike Stokes : Exportential Ltd :
Tel 01733 211873 : www.exportential.co.uk

 

Editor’s note: As Mike points out strong teams sometimes fit uneasily in the big scheme of things. Team building emphasises inclusivity and outsiders are not welcome. This causes difficulties when team members need to operate in other teams– a specialist on loan to another team for example. Organisations need to build links – Likert’s Linking Pin theory – to ensure teams do not operate in isolation. - SW

 

Pictures under the GNU Open License see

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License