It was conceived by a Scot, executed most lethally by a Nottingham miner, and almost destroyed relations between England and Australia.

It was conceived by a Scot, executed most lethally by a Nottingham miner, and almost destroyed relations between England and Australia. In the UK it was called Leg Theory, but a whinging Aussie cricket hack christened it Bodyline, and this stuck. So The Bodyline Tour is how the 1932-33 Test series is remembered.

Today the episode would be regarded as little more than an illustration of sour grape-guzzling Australians and their inability to handle defeat. Then, in the days of an Empire built on cricket and the ethos of fair play, it was much more than that. The Aussies, improbably, refused to retaliate in kind. Motivated partly, if historians are to be believed, by notions of preserving "Imperial harmony".

It's 75 years ago yesterday since the opening day of the first Test of this infamous tour. Don Bradman had humiliated England in the previous series, hitting 974 runs at an average of 139. The MCC believed they might not win the Ashes for 10 years with a successful Bradman at the wicket, but he was known for a lack of confidence with short deliveries.

Douglas Jardine was the son of a Scots solicitor who became advocate general of Bombay. Brought up initially in St Andrews and educated at Winchester and Oxford, he had a 9-1 win-loss record in 15 Tests as England captain.

Leg theory worked so well that England required just a single off the opening ball of their second innings to win the first Test in Sydney after Harold Larwood had taken five for 96 and then five for 28.

Bradman did not start that first Test, but went for a duck in the opening innings of the next, though he then carried his bat for 103 in his second innings. However the plan worked so spectacularly that England won the series 4-1. The Don's average was reduced to 56.

Today Jardine would have been hailed as a hero, but even the MCC, who had given their full backing, afterwards hung him out to dry.

His tactic was to place at least five fielders close to the bat, and bowl short-pitched deliveries at leg stump. Though Larwood personally struck just two men, several were injured, and catches were scooped up off the rising ball. When Australia captain Bill Woodfull was hit above the heart, Jardine congratulated his team mate: "Well bowled, Harold". A fractured skull was sustained by Bert Oldfield. It's not widely known that Jardine arranged for presents to be sent to Oldfield's children, but the injury brought outrage to the boil.

Apologies were offered after the match by England's manager, but Woodfull said: "I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there. One is trying to play cricket and the other is not."

A celebrated telegram was then sent to Lord's: "Bodyline is assuming such proportions as to menace the best interests of the game, making protection of the body by the batsmen the main consideration. This is causing intensely bitter feeling between the players as well as injury. In our opinion it is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once it is likely to upset the friendly relations between England and Australia."

But England also thought their opponents unsporting. There was threat of a trade boycott. The governor of South Australia warned the UK Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs that this would cause a significant impact. Australia's Prime Minister warned his country's Cricket Board of the potential economic consequences, and they withdrew the "unsporting" allegation. Without this, the fourth Test was unlikely ever to have been played.

Police ringed the pitch to prevent a riot and contrary to later portrayal in a TV dramatisation there is no factual proof of Aussies burning the Union flag. But Jardine, who died in 1958, was villified, described by a leading commentator as "the most notorious Englishman since Jack the Ripper."

In a contemporary letter (auctioned for some £10,000 in the 1990s) team mate Gubby Allen wrote: "Jardine is loathed, and between you and me, rightly more than any German who fought against us in any war." On one occasion he had thrown the ball back to Jardine: "I'm not bowling to this field, Douglas, and remember, you cannot push me around."

Larwood later refused to sign a letter of apology and declined to play Test cricket again. Australia agreed to the 1934 series only on condition that Bodyline was outlawed. Woodfull's side regained the Ashes, 2 to 1.

The MCC introduced a new rule, giving umpires power and responsibility to intervene if they considered a bowler was deliberately targeting a batsman with intent to injure. In the 1950s outlawing more than two fielders in the quadrant behind square leg ended bodyline's effectiveness. Later still, the number of bouncers per over was restricted.

When bodyline was employed against Jardine by the West Indies, later in 1933, the Scot did not flinch. He hit 127, his only Test century.

The Bodyline Tour is now on the history syllabus in New South Wales schools.

Jardine's daughter, Fianach, was until recently minister of St James Episcopal Church in Dollar.