Top 5 must watch cricket documentaries

Bodyline- It’s just not cricket! (2002)

A scene from the documentary depicting the scenes on-field

Arguably one of the most intriguing incidents in cricket, the Bodyline incident involving Australia and England in 1932/33 was brought to the viewers through this feature film in 2002. Also known as the ‘Leg Theory’, this particular moment is regarded as one of the most controversial moment in the Australia-England rivalry.

Used by the touring England team led by Douglas Jardine, it was a defines the method employed to restrict the Australian batsmen from scoring freely mainly Don Bradman, by bowling short balls either on the leg stump line or on the body. In a bid to score, batsmen would get hit quite often and often led to ugly scenes on the pitch. The move not only enraged the batsmen, the management though, didn’t take any action, which deepened the Australia-England rivalry after the Ashes.

The documentary not only has an in-depth analysis of the whole saga but conversations with family members of the players who were involved in it. The film also shows how the ideology was implemented, how it was received and what effect it had on the players themselves. Apart from family members, social workers and cricket historians have also pitched in with their thoughts on the scandal. The icing on the cake in this documentary is the highlights package of the three test matches which represents how the whole episode unfolded.