A Tale of Two Bails & an Umpire’s Counter

Archie Mac | 9:26am BST 14 June 2026

Published: 2026
Pages: 8
Author: Cardwell, Ronald
Publisher: The Cricket Publishing Company
Rating: 3.5 stars

The short monograph on a specific subject always appeals to the cricket book collector, especially if they are a signed limited edition. This little booklet ticks both boxes, with a limited print run of 59 copies, signed by the author.

The subject is a charming one and again indicates a serendipitous collecting coup for author and publisher Ronald Cardwell. The story centres on a gift given to Cardwell by George Borwick, an Australian umpire best remembered for officiating in the infamous Bodyline series.

We learn that a young Cardwell regularly drove both Borwick and former Australian Test player Bill Hunt home after Australian Cricket Society meetings in Sydney in the mid 1970s. After one such lift, Borwick gave Cardwell an envelope which contained two bails and a cricket counter. The counter was the one Borwick had used throughout most of his career and the bails were from the Adelaide Test of 1932/33.

The fearsome spearhead of the English Bodyline team, Harold Lardwood had broken a bail when he bowled Jack Fingleton for a duck. Borwick had kept the broken bail as a souvenir for 40 years before gifting it to Cardwell in 1974.

Apart from the story of the bail, Cardwell provides some biographical information on Borwick, which is quite interesting. It seems Borwick ‘fell’ into umpiring after someone asked him to substitute when the appointed umpire had failed to show. Borwick, unlike his fellow Bodyline umpire George Hele, had never played the game.

While Hele published an autobiography of sorts with R.S. Whitington, titled *Bodyline Umpire, Borwick never went into print. As such, the information in this booklet about Borwick’s umpiring journey is of great interest to the cricket lover. Perhaps Cardwell will one day produce a more substantial story on Borwick. I can guarantee him at least one sale.

Given its short print run, it’s not clear if there are still copies of this little zine available. If interested, you could try emailing Ronald Cardwell – cardwell@mcks.com.au – and if sold out don’t despair, there are certainly many other quality reads available from The Cricket Publishing Company.

*I’ve had this book on my shelves for many years, and will have to review it. I shall add it to my ever increasing list.