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Western Mail, Thursday 22 June 1933, page 2
"BODYLINE" TACTICS.
"D.L.I.'s" yarn in the issue of April 27 reminds me of a time at Moascar, Ismailia, when the "heads" tried the "stick" gag to smarten up the main guard.
An extra man was mounted; the "cleanest" man was picked Out, given a day's pass and credited with a tour of guard duty.
The boys took a tumble to it, and sold a horse to find the lucky one. This man got all the cleanest equipment, and a hand to clean up. He was a sure winner; the rest were also rans!
The last time they tried this extra man wheeze, the orderly, officer picked out the scrubbiest man on parade for the day off.
This was considered distinctly unsporting, and he was told about it afterwards.
J. Ryder, Lake Biddy.
Those in the story:
Bill Woodfull evades a bodyline ball
"BODYLINE" = Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman. A bodyline delivery was one where the cricket ball was pitched short so as to rise towards the body of the batsman on the line of the leg stump, in the hope of creating leg-side deflections that could be caught by one of several fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. This was considered by many to be intimidatory and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a game once supposed to have gentlemanly traditions, but commercialisation of the game has subsequently tended to elevate the principle of 'win at all costs' above traditional ideals of sportsmanship.
"BODYLINE" TACTICS = This story paralleled the treatment of the guards to that of the "BODYLINE" Series in that the Narrator considered the treatment to be intimidatory and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a scheme once supposed to be ruled by the gentlemanly traditions of officer fidelity.
Narrator J. Ryder = 218 Sergeant James RYDER, a 36 year old Farmer from Maylands, Western Australia. He enlisted on 20 October 1914; and at the conclusion of the war Returned to Australia, 27 January 1919.