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Jardine returned to lead England against the West Indies in 1933. His innings at Old Trafford was a standard work in daring---against Constantine and Mardindale---employing the very bowling Jardine had devised in the previous winter.
Jardine refused a thigh ad after being struck on the hipbone. He stood erect, waved back the fieldsmen running to help him, took a fresh guard and went on to score a defiant 127. When the dressing room door had closed behind him, Jardine collapsed on the masseur's table.
A 2-0 win in India in 1933-34 did not fuel Jardine's ambition. Prior to the start of the season in 1934 he announced his unavailability for Surrey. "I have neither the intension nor the desire," he added, "to play against Australia this summer. More crucially Lord's, which had backed him in 1932-33, had slowly turned against him. He took the hint and bowed out of Test cricket.
The Bodyline series had been an unqualified success for Harold Larwood. When he had worked himself into his rhythm, no batsman could time his first few balls with assurance. His accuracy was rewarded with 33 wickets in the series, the highest on either side. Fingleton later wrote of his experience about batting against him. "The first dorsal interasseous muscle, between the thumb and the index finger, ached for a week after batting against Larwood, so severe was the concussion of the ball hitting the bat. I experienced this against no other fast bowler. Larwood was so fast and skilful in the 1932-33 season that his figures would still have set a standard in history had he contended himself with orthodox means of attack.
(To be continued)
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