 Between 1900 and the 1930s , the number of runs scored by batsmen , and the proportion of lbw dismissals , continued to rise . <unk> grew increasingly frustrated with pad @-@ play and the extent to which batsmen refused to play shots at bowling directed outside the off stump , simply allowing it to pass by . The English fast bowler Harold Larwood responded by targeting leg stump , frequently hitting the batsman with the ball in the process . This developed into the controversial Bodyline tactics he used in Australia in 1932 – 33 . Some batsmen began to go further and preferred to kick away balls pitched outside off stump — reaching out to kick the ball instead of allowing it to hit their pads — if they presented any threat , knowing that they could not be dismissed lbw . The authorities believed these developments represented poor entertainment value . At the height of the Bodyline controversy in 1933 , Donald Bradman , the leading Australian batsman and primary target of the English bowlers , wrote to the MCC recommending an alteration of the lbw law to create more exciting games . 
