Since the Dark and Caldecourt dispute and ruling by the M.C.C., the law of l.b.w. has been substantially the same, but batsmen for fifty years until Shrewsbury's day, about 1885, played according to the spirit of the old interpretation of the law, and did not use the legs as a means of defence. But though it took a long time in coming, there has been a huge increase of l.b.w. cases, as the following table shows:—
The above table shows the effect of Shrewsbury's action, and since his day cases of l.b.w. have increased by leaps and bounds. Not long before his death I had a most interesting conversation with the late F. R. Spofforth, who many think was the greatest bowler that has ever bowled in England, and he told me how the prevalence of leg play struck him. In 1884, he got more than two hundred wickets, and only three times were batsmen out l.b.w. to him. This interested me so much that I carefully examined Spofforth's bowling figures in England in 1882 and 1884, the years of his prime.
| Year. | No. of wickets taken. |
l.b.w. | Percentage. |
| 1870 | 1772 | 44 | 1 in 40 |
| 1890 | 3792 | 219 | 1 „ 17 |
| 1910 | 6702 | 451 | 1 „ 14 |
| 1923 | 7919 | 921 | 1 „ 8 |
| 1926 | 8528 | 957 | 1 „ 8 |
| 1927 | 8061 | 863 | 1 „ 9 |
In these two years he got four hundred and four wickets, only six of which were l.b.w., or one in sixty-seven. Spofforth
