 Following the 1932 – 33 series , several authors , including many of the players involved , released books expressing various points of view about bodyline . Many argued that it was a <unk> on cricket and must be stamped out , while some did not see what all the fuss was about . The series has been described as the most controversial period in Australian cricket history , and voted the most important Australian moment by a panel of Australian cricket identities . The MCC asked Harold Larwood to sign an apology to them for his bowling in Australia , making his selection for England again conditional upon it . Larwood was furious at the notion , pointing out that he had been following orders from his upper @-@ class captain , and that was where any blame should lie . Larwood refused , never played for England again , and became vilified in his own country . Douglas Jardine always defended his tactics and in the book he wrote about the tour , In Quest of the Ashes , described allegations that the England bowlers directed their attack with the intention of causing physical harm as stupid and <unk> <unk> . The immediate effect of the law change which banned bodyline in 1935 was to make commentators and spectators sensitive to the use of short @-@ pitched bowling ; bouncers became exceedingly rare and bowlers who delivered them were practically <unk> . This attitude ended after the Second World War , and among the first teams to make extensive use of short @-@ pitched bowling was the Australian team captained by Bradman between 1946 and 1948 . Other teams soon followed . 
