What cricket’s cheating scandal reveals about the ‘spirit’ of the game

Daily Maverick | 16.08.2026 15:33
Cricket, by some metrics the world’s second most popular sport, has a penchant for producing rather peculiar scandals. UK-Australian relations were put under significant strain over the way that Harold Larwood, a coal miner from Nottinghamshire who could hurl cricket balls at batters very quickly, bowled at Don Bradman and the rest of his team in the 1932-33 “Bodyline” series.