Editing Bodyline (section)

==Definition and etymology==
Bodyline is a tactic devised for and primarily used in the [[The Ashes|Ashes]] series between [[English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33|England and Australia in 1932–33]]. The tactic involved bowling at the [[Stump (cricket)|leg stump]] or just outside it, but pitching the ball short so that, on bouncing, it reared up threateningly at the body of a batsman standing in an orthodox batting position. A ring of fielders ranged on the [[leg side]] would catch any defensive deflection from the bat.<ref name=D103/><ref name=BBC>{{cite web|last1=Watson|first1=Greig|title=Bodyline: 80 years of cricket's greatest controversy|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-21013615|publisher=BBC|access-date=21 October 2017|date=16 January 2013}}</ref> The batsman's options were to evade the ball through ducking or moving aside, allow the ball to strike his body, or attempt to play the ball with his bat. The last course carried additional risks, as defensive shots brought few runs and could carry far enough to be caught by fielders on the leg side, and [[Batting (cricket)#Pull and hook|pull and hook shots]] could be caught near the [[Boundary (cricket)|boundary]] of the field where two men were usually placed for such a shot.<ref name=pi130/><ref name=h70/><ref name=c171/>

Bodyline bowling is intended to be intimidatory,<ref name=D103>Douglas, p. 103.</ref> and it was primarily designed as an attempt to curb the unusually prolific scoring of [[Donald Bradman]],<ref>Douglas, pp. 86, 111.</ref> although other Australian batsmen such as [[Bill Woodfull]], [[Bill Ponsford]], and [[Alan Kippax]] were also targeted.<ref>Frith, p. 44.</ref>

Several terms were used to describe this style of bowling before the name 'bodyline' was used. Among the first to use it was the writer and former Australian Test cricketer [[Jack Worrall]] in the match between the English team and an Australian XI. When 'bodyline' was first used in full, he referred to "half-pitched slingers on the body line" and first used it in print after the first Test. Other writers used a similar phrase around this time, but the first use of 'bodyline' in print seems to have been by the journalist [[Hugh Buggy]] in the Melbourne [[The Herald (Melbourne)|''Herald'']], in his report on the first day's play of the first Test.<ref>Frith, pp. 35–36.</ref>