Said a sputtering BBC announcer: "It makes me furious—absolutely furious!" At Nottingham, England, in the famed Test Matches (Britain v. Australia), an Australian cricketer was sending down "bumpers" (a beanball type of bowling that bounced up into the batsman's face). Every time he bowled, the audience cut loose with the British equivalent of Brooklynese. Even the tea-sippers in the pavilion joined in the vulgar booing. What was cricket coming to?
After the match, the embarrassed chairman of the Nottinghamshire Club apologized to Don Bradman, Australia's cricketing Babe Ruth, for the crowd's behavior. Bradman...