Faldage asks: Speaking of body-line what is leg theory?
Leg theory bowling, as Bradman has it, is bowling (usually from around the wicket) in which the focus of the ball is the leg side. There is, of course, a more limited range of strokes you can play on the leg side (because your body is facing the other way and your legs are in the way) so this is a good way to restrict run scoring. Also, if you have enough fielders there, the leg glances, sweeps, miscued hooks and the like can be easily caught.
Leg theory suffered a decline because it was so successful (and bodyline was simply leg theory taken to its logical extreme) that the laws of cricket were changed to bring some balance to the equation. The two key changes affect fielding and leg before wicket.
1. You may no longer have more than two fielders backward of square on the leg side. So these days you usually see backward square leg and fine leg, though leg slips are not unheard of.
2. You may not be leg before wicket if the ball pitches outside the leg stump.
The second rule in particular has made it a lot easier for batsmen to cope with quality legspin, since they often simply pad the ball away. Even so, as you may know, leg spinners have come back into fashion, with Shane Warne leading the way, and many, if not most, Test teams boasting at least one quality leg spinner.
Hope that helps.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
