On 19 May 1835 the Marylebone Cricket Club rewrote Law 10 a second time, raising the permitted height of the bowler's hand from the elbow (the 1828 limit) to the shoulder. The change ratified what most leading bowlers — Lillywhite, Broadbridge, the Lillywhite imitators in Kent and Surrey — had already been doing in practice and was the second of three law changes (1828, 1835, 1864) by which underarm cricket gave way to overarm.
The 1828 roundarm law had been a hard-fought compromise; both Lillywhite and Broadbridge had been openly no-balled in the years before its passage. By 1834 the same problem had recurred at the new limit, and umpires were calling no-balls inconsistently because of the practical difficulty of judging the elbow line.
The 1834 season had seen several public disputes about hand height in important matches. Lord Frederick Beauclerk's faction lobbied for tighter enforcement; the practical men, led by William Ward at Lord's, argued for a higher legal limit.
The 1828 legalisation of roundarm at elbow height had been a compromise. Bowlers immediately pushed against the limit, and umpires struggled to judge whether the hand was an inch above or below the elbow at the moment of release. Lord Frederick Beauclerk, who had opposed roundarm altogether, argued for tighter enforcement; William Ward and the practical men at Lord's argued for the law to be widened to match the practice. The MCC committee debated the question through the early 1830s. At the annual general meeting on 19 May 1835 the new wording was adopted: 'The ball must be bowled; if it be thrown or jerked, or if the hand be above the shoulder in the delivery, the umpire must call No Ball.' This permitted what the trade had been calling 'high roundarm' — the hand at or just below shoulder height — and removed the difficulty of judging the elbow line. The change was practical and uncontroversial; most county bowlers had been bowling at the new permitted height for years. The law would stand until 1864, when the Willsher walk-off would force the next and final widening to overarm.
1828: First roundarm law passed — hand permitted to elbow height
Early 1830s: Bowlers routinely deliver above the elbow line
1834: Several disputed no-ball calls force the issue
19 May 1835: New Law 10 passed at MCC AGM — hand permitted to shoulder
1835 season: New wording in force; uncontroversial in use
1816
Bowling restricted to underarm
1828
Hand permitted to elbow height
19 May 1835
Hand permitted to shoulder height
1864
Overarm bowling legalised
“The ball must be bowled; if it be thrown or jerked, or if the hand be above the shoulder in the delivery, the umpire must call No Ball.”
“The new law puts the matter beyond doubt and the umpires beyond temptation.”
The 1835 law stood unchanged for nearly thirty years. Bowlers within the new limit refined their actions; pace bowlers like Alfred Mynn used the freedom to bowl with greater speed and bounce. The next law change — to overarm — would come only in 1864 after a further public confrontation.
A practical law change that ratified existing practice and gave the next generation of bowlers — including the young Alfred Mynn — the freedom to develop higher actions and greater pace.
The 1835 law is the second in a sequence of three (1828 - 1835 - 1864) by which the bowling action moved from underarm to overarm. Each step ratified existing practice; each was forced by the inability of umpires to police the previous limit. The 1835 wording, with its requirement that the hand be 'not above the shoulder', is the direct ancestor of every later law on bowling fairness.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.