Ethics in LeadershipEssay Preview: Ethics in LeadershipReport this essayThe “Bodyline” series between England and Australia involved the ethical lapse of a leader whose actions deeply impacted the sport of cricket in a way that still conjures vivid memories. In 1932-33 the English cricket team lead by their captain Douglas Jardine engaged in tactic known as “Bodyline” to secure victory against Australia in a series of matches known as the Ashes. Bodyline refers to a tactic where a bowler deliberately bowls fast rising deliveries aimed at the batsmans head and body in order to limit their movement to parrying the attack, and thereby getting themselves out. The tactic was severely dangerous because in those days there was very little protective clothing that helped batsmen to shield themselves from a cricket ball travelling at 90 miles per hour. I wanted to analyze Jardines role in this incident because I felt that framing his behavior in the context of leadership theory would help me understand his actions and identify ways in which I could avoid similar behavior in comparable circumstances.
Douglas Jardine had a blue collar upbringing in England in the midst of World War I. He was raised at a boarding school where students faced conditions of food shortage and enforced labor in aiding the war effort (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). These circumstances had a huge influence on Jardines life and he graduated from his education with a sense of resolve, determination and a patriotic desire to serve and represent the British Empire. The Ashes series between England and Australia was a very prestigious series of games for the English cricket team. In 1930, Australia, which was and still is a Dominion (Colony) of England, had defeated them in a comprehensive manner. Douglas Jardine held an implicit prejudice against Australians and viewed the series defeat as a national embarrassment. He believed that Australians showed a lack of respect for England and needed to be reminded of their place. To him, the Ashes victory was a symbol of Australian arrogance. Jardine wanted to prove himself as a great English captain and he was determined to wrest the “urn” back for England. He was prepared to risk everything on the success of Bodyline – Death or Glory (Douglas).
Jardines leadership style is best described as an “Individualist” (Rooke and Tolbert). He was a brilliant strategist who prized results over following social norms. He designed Bodyline by watching a video of the best Australian batsman of the time, Donald Bradman, and noticing that he flinched at short pitched deliveries (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). The unorthodox and controversial nature of the tactic did not bother Jardine and those who appointed him captain, knew it. On his captaincy, one of Jardines old schoolmasters is said to have remarked “We shall win the Ashesbut we may very well lose a Dominion” (Morgan). As captain, Jardine had an authoritarian and commanding nature that established his credibility within his team and he earned the respect of his peers by showing loyalty and a fierce protective instinct against criticism of his players (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
On the playing field Jardines single-mindedness blunted the level of his emotional intelligence. He refused to concede an inch to the opposition even if it meant that his key bowler Harold Larwood had to remain on the field after he had broken a bone in his foot (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). This was not a man who could handle failure. Of the 11 personality types that are likely to have a dysfunctional reaction to failure, Jardine can be best described as the Bold Type because of the conviction he felt in his actions and his refusal to acknowledge his mistakes, causing them to snowball (Dattner and Hogan). Jardine introduced Bodyline in each of the five matches in the 1932-33 Ashes series despite facing increasing criticism. Some of his own team raised objections to his ruthlessness but Jardine exercised complete control and treated any doubters with general disdain. He used his position as captain of the team to exercise legitimate power (Stevens) and made sure that he could
sadly ignore the questions raised by the opposition. Jardine’s success in Australia gave him enormous fan acclaim and many fans and opponents were shocked. Jardine also received the backing of the Australian cricket governing body, Cricket Australia (the Baccarat Council). It was a big coup because Jardine was the son of a poor colonial-era British father and a Catholic mother. As a result he earned the reputation as a “prospect head” (Archer) and had been nominated the Ashes captain in 1936. He had been approached by the governing body (and thus, received, by their approval, a very high place in the batting ladder with the highest ranking cricketer on the team at that time). Jardine soon took a job as a commentator in the leading weekly (The Saturday Review) and on BBC World Service television. This was as a result of his popularity with the audience before and after his match-hits. He was then contacted when a journalist was invited to the field after his wicket of the match which was taken after a game, and after he had given an answer or two to the questions raised by the batsmen. This was a “bad night” for the game as he had lost control of his body and was unable by turns to perform well in the innings. After a series of games had taken place the following day for Jardine, and after this, the game became a tie. Jardine said that an Australian Cricket Association (ACUA) commissioner, in a discussion with the director-general (Travis) of the National Cricket Council, suggested a way out of this mess and the only way he could get it achieved was by establishing “one-and-done” cricket. It happened so quickly and so beautifully that it was widely believed that there were no possible way out. Jardine’s cricket success also encouraged other players to develop a desire to run in and avoid failure. The “Cotton Lady” on that Test was named Tully while the “Aussie Man” named Jardine. When Jardine came in from the dressing room to bowler James Faulkner during the third Test of the series he was told of the decision not to get the last Test in England, because it was too early to see the final decision. Jardine was given his first Test Test by John Heinemann © Getty Images Enlarge Jardine as captain and to this day it is not known whether or not the decision to bowl against Lord’s had been based on a feeling of resentment towards Lord’s, particularly from the captain. John Heinemann, the captain, asked the BCCI to award the Ashes Test as an awards ceremony and accepted it. Jardine was also awarded a spot at the top of Test rankings in the ICC World Cricket Council Rankings (as mentioned above). Jardine’s first Test defeat was to England in 1940 © AFP
Jardine’s cricket success could not be reversed. For years he had been asked to play the role of the captain because his performance would earn him a high status in Test cricket and may allow him to be named Test Cricket’s World Cricket Adviser at the next T20 (in the following year) as he was the only individual on Test and Under 14 teams in Australia as the “Eighth Test of the Test XI”. However, a cricket match between India at Lord’s in Bombay in August 1947 did not take place. The final Test played at Lord’s was the same for which the batsmen that the Indians had won at Lord’s had never played. The Indian captain, Ashish Chatterjee, who played three years as the captain of the Indians at Lord’s, also did so despite giving advice. He said: “The whole thing can happen anywhere in the world, so let’s run the world, take as many as we can, take as many of them.” This strategy of bowling for one