Australia national cricket team age of 23 three years later, after playing eight Tests. The team was widely considered unstoppable, winning nine of its next ten Tests. The 1932–33 England tour of Australia is considered one of the most infamous episodes of cricket, due to the England team's use of bodyline, where captain Douglas Jardine instructed his bowlers Bill Voce and Harold Larwood to bowl fast, short-pitched deliveries aimed at the bodies of the Australian batsmen. The tactic, although effective, was widely considered by Australian crowds as vicious and unsporting. Injuries to Bill Woodfull, who was struck over the heart, and Bert Oldfield, who
Ballarat Cricket Association H. Stephenson of Surrey played a XXII from Ballarat. The most notable match played in Ballarat was during the 1932-33 England tour of Australia known as the Bodyline series on 22 January 1933. There was speculation in the Australian press leading up to the match that the Ballarat team may employ Bodyline tactics in response to the controversial tactic being employed by England in the Test matches. H. Brereton, the Secretary of the Victorian Cricket Association (VCA) wrote to the Ballarat Cricket Association stating that any organised body attack employed by the Ballarat team would be viewed with great disfavour