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the Patrons of the Old Surrey Players; for, his lordship lived in the
midst of them at Farnham; and, I have often heard Beldham say, used to
provide bread and cheese and beer for as many as would come out and
practise on a summers evening: this is too _substantial_ a supporter
of the Noble Game to be forgotten.
We must not conclude without grateful acknowledgments to some
distinguished amateurs representing the science both of the northern
and the southern counties, who have kindly allowed us to compare notes
on various points of play. In all of our instructions in Batting, we
have greatly benefited by the assistance, in the first instance, of
Mr. A. Bass of Burton, and his friend Mr. Whateley, a gentleman who
truly understands Philosophy in Sport. Then, the Hon. Robert Grimston
judiciously suggested some modification of our plan. We agreed with
him that, for a popular work, and one for play hours, the lighter
parts should prevail over the heavier; for, with most persons, a little
science goes a long way, and our winged words, if made too weighty,
might not fly far; seeing, as said Thucydides[1], men do find it such
a bore to learn any thing that gives them trouble. For these reasons
we drew more largely on our funds of anecdote and illustration, which
had been greatly enriched by the contributions of a highly valued
correspondent--Mr. E. S. E. Hartopp. When thus the science of batting
had been reduced to its fair proportions, it was happily undertaken by
the Hon. Frederick Ponsonby, not only through kindness to ourselves
personally, but also, we feel assured, because he takes a pleasure in
protecting the interests of the rising generation. By his advice, we
became more distinct in our explanations, and particularly careful of
venturing on such refinements of science as, though sound in theory,
may possibly produce errors in practice.
_Tant molis erat CRICETANUM condere CAMPUM._
For our artist we have one word to say: not indeed for the engravings
in our frontispiece,--these having received unqualified approbation;
but, we allude to the illustrations of attitudes. In vain did our
artist assure us that a foreshortened position would defy every attempt
at ease, energy, or elegance; we felt bound to insist on sacrificing
the effect of the picture to its utility as an illustration. Our
principal design is to show the position of the feet and bat with
regard to the wicket, and how every hit, with one exception, the Cut,
is made by no other change of attitude than results from the movement
of the left foot alone.
J. P.
_Barnstaple,
April 15th, 1851._
[1] B. i. c. 20.
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAP. I.
Origin of the Game of Cricket
CHAP. II.
The general Character of Cricket
16
CHAP. III.
The Hambledon Club and the Old Players
40
CHAP. IV.
Cricket generally established as a National Game
by the End of the last Century
56
CHAP. V.
The First Twenty Years of the present Century
82
CHAP. VI.
A dark Chapter in the History of Cricket
99
CHAP. VII.
The Science and Art of Batting
110
CHAP. VIII.
Hints against Slow Bowling
176
CHAP. IX.
Bowling.--An Hour with Old Clarke
187
CHAP. X.
Hints on Fielding
204
CHAP. XI.
Chapter of Accidents.--Miscellaneous
234
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE GAME OF CRICKET.
The Game of Cricket, in some rude form, is undoubtedly as old as the
thirteenth century. But whether at that early date Cricket was the name
it generally bore is quite another question. For Club-Ball we believe
to be the name which usually stood for Cricket in the thirteenth
century; though, at the same time, we have some curious evidence that
the term Cricket at that early period was also known. But the identity
of the game with that now in use is the chief point; the name is of
secondary consideration. Games commonly change their names, as every
school-boy knows, and bear different appellations in different places.
Nevertheless, all previous writers acquiescing quietly in the opinion
of Strutt, expressed in his Sports and Pastimes, not only forget
that Cricket may be older than its name, but erroneously suppose
that the name of Cricket occurs in no author in the English language
of an earlier date than Thomas DUrfey, who, in his Pills to purge
Melancholy, writes thus:-Herr was the prettiest fellow
At foot-ball and at _Cricket_;
At hunting chase or nimble race
_How featly_ Herr could prick it.
The words How featly Strutt properly writes in place of a revolting
old-fashioned oath in the original.
Strutt, therefore, in these lines quotes the word Cricket as first
occurring in 1710.
About the same date Pope wrote,-The Judge to dance his brother Sergeants call,
The Senators at _Cricket_ urge the ball.
And Duncome, curious to observe, laying the scene of a match near
Canterbury, wrote,-An ill-timed _Cricket Match_ there did
At Bishops-bourne befal.
Soame Jenyns, also, early in the same century, wrote in lines that
showed that cricket was very much of a sporting amusement:-England, when once of peace and wealth possessed,
Began to think frugality a jest;
So grew polite: hence all her well-bred heirs
Gamesters and jockeys turned, and _cricket_-players.
Ep. I. b. ii., _init._
However, we are happy to say that even among comparatively modern
authors we have beaten Strutt in his researches by twenty-five years;
for Edward Phillips, John Miltons nephew, in his Mysteries of Love
and Eloquence (8vo. 1685), writes thus:-Will you not, when you have me, throw stocks at my head and
cry, Would my eyes had been beaten out of my head with a
_cricket-ball_ the day before I saw thee?
We shall presently show the word Cricket, in Richelet, as early as the
year 1680.
A late author has very sensibly remarked that Cricket could not have
been popular in the days of Elizabeth, or we should expect to find
allusions to that game, as to tennis, foot-ball, and other sports, in
the early poets; but Shakspeare and the dramatists who followed, he
the common people play at ball and barley-brakes, there is in all this
catalogue no mention whatever of Cricket.
econdly, that it might have been identical with a sport of the same
date called Handyn and Handoute.
Thirdly, that a genuine double-wicket game was played in cotland
about 1700, under the name of Cat and Dog.
Fourthly, that Creag,--very near Cricce, the axon term for
the crooked stick, or bandy, which we see in the old pictures of
cricket,--was the name of a game played in the year 1300.
First, as to a single-wicket game in the thirteenth century, whatever
the name of the said game might have been, we are quite satisfied with
the following proof:-n the odleian ibrary at xford, says trutt, is a M. (o. 264.)
dated 1344, which represents a figure, a female, in the act of bowling
a ball (of the size of a modern cricket-ball) to a man who elevates
a straight bat to strike it; behind the bowler are several figures,
male and female, waiting to stop or catch the ball, their attitudes
grotesquely eager for a chance. The game is called Club-ball, but the
score is made by hitting and running, as in cricket.
now? The only exception that can be taken is to the absence of any
wicket. ut every one familiar with a paper given by Mr. Ward, and
published in ld yren, by the talented Mr. C. Cowden Clarke, will
remember that the traditionary blockhole was a veritable hole in
former times, and that the batsman was made ut in running, not, as
now, by putting down a wicket, but by popping the ball into the hole
before the bat was grounded in it. The same paper represents that the
wicket was two feet wide,--a width which is only rendered credible
by the fact that the said hole was not like our mark for guard, four
feet distant from the stumps, but cut like a basin in the turf between
the stumps; an arrangement which would require space for the frequent
struggle of the batsman and wicket-keeper, as to whether the bat of the
one, or the hand of the other, should reach the blockhole first.
The conclusion of all is, that Cricket is identical with Club-ball,--a
game played in the thirteenth century as single-wicket, and played, if
not then, somewhat later as a double-wicket game; that where balls were
scarce, a Cat, or bit of wood, as seen in many a village, supplied its
place; also that handyn and handoute was probably only another name.
Fosbroke, in his Dictionary of ntiquities, said, club-ball was the
ancestor of cricket: he might have said, club-ball was the old name
for cricket, the games being the same.
The points of difference are not greater than every cricketer can show
between the game as now played and that of the last century.
ut, lastly, as to the name of Cricket. The bat, which is now straight,
is represented in old pictures as crooked, and cricce is the simple
axon word for a crooked stick. The derivation of illiards from the
orman _billart_, a cue, or from _ball-yard_, according to Johnson,
also ine-pins and Trap-ball, are obvious instances of games which
derived their names from the implements with which they are played. ow
it appears highly probable that the crooked stick used in the game of
andy might have been gradually adopted, especially when a wicket to be
bowled down by a rolling ball superseded the blockhole to be pitched
into. n that case the club having given way to the bandy or crooked
bat of the last century, the game, which first was named from the club
club-ball, might afterwards have been named from the bandy or crooked
stick cricket.
dd to which, the game might have been played in two ways,--sometimes
more in the form of Club-ball, sometimes more like Cricket; and the
following remarkable passage proves that a term very similar to Cricket
was applied to some game as far back as the thirteenth century, the
identical date to which we have traced that form of cricket called
club-ball and the game of handyn and handoute.
From the Gentlemans Magazine, vol. lviii. p. 1., .D. 1788, we extract
the following:-n the wardrobe account of the 28th year of ing Edward the First,
.D. 1300, published in 1787 by the ociety of ntiquaries, among the
entries of money paid one Mr. John eek, his chaplain, for the use of
his son Prince Edward in playing at different games, is the following:-Domino Johanni de eek, capellano Domini Edwardi fil ad _Creag_ et
alios ludos per vices, per manus proprias, 100 s. pud Westm. 10 die
prilis, 1305.
The writer observes, that the glossaries have been searched in vain
for any other name of a pastime but cricket to which the term Creag
can apply. nd why should it not be Cricket? for, we have a singular
evidence that, at the same date, Merlin the Magician was a cricketer!
nd here we must observe that at the very date that a cricket-ground
was thought as low as a modern skittle-alley, we read that even
ome Dukes at Marybone _bowled_ time away;
and also that a Duchess of Devonshire could be actually watching the
play of her guests in the skittle-alley till nine oclock in the
evening.
ur game in later times, we know, has constituted the pastime and
discipline of many an English soldier. ur barracks are now provided
with cricket grounds; every regiment and every man-of-war has its club;
and our soldiers and sailors astonish the natives of every clime, both
inland and maritime, with a specimen of a ritish game: and it deserves
to be better known that it was at a cricket match that some of our
officers were amusing themselves on the 12th June, 1815, says Captain
Gordon, in company with that devoted cricketer the Duke of ichmond,
when the Duke of Wellington arrived, and shortly after came the Prince
of range, which of course put a stop to our game. Though the hero
of the Peninsula was not apt to let his movements be known, on this
occasion he made no secret that, if he were attacked from the south,
Halle would be his position, and, if on the amur side, WTE.
CHP .
THE GEE CHCTE F CC ET.
The game of cricket, philosophically considered, is a standing
panegyric on the English character: none but an orderly and sensible
race of people would so amuse themselves. t calls into requisition
all the cardinal virtues, some moralist would say. s with the Grecian
games of old, the player must be sober and temperate. Patience,
fortitude, and self-denial, the various bumps of order, obedience,
and good-humour, with an unruffled temper, are indispensable. For
intellectual virtues we want judgment, decision, and the organ of
concentrativeness--every faculty in the free use of all its limbs--and
every idea in constant air and exercise. Poor, rickety, and stunted
wits will never serve: the widest shoulders are of little use without
a head upon them: the cricketer wants wits down to his fingers ends.
s to physical qualifications, we require not only the volatile spirits
of the rishman _ampant_, nor the phlegmatic caution of the cotchman
_Couchant_, but we want the English combination of the two; though,
with good generalship, cricket is a game for ritons generally: the
three nations would mix not better in a regiment than in an eleven;
especially if the Hibernian were trained in ondon, and taught to enjoy
something better than what Father Prout terms his supreme felicity,
tium cum dig-_gin-taties_.
t was from the southern and south-eastern counties of England that the
game of Cricket spread--not a little owing to the Propaganda of the
metropolitan clubs, which played chiefly first at the rtillery Ground,
then at White Conduit Fields, and thirdly at Thomas ords Grounds, (of
which there were two before the present ords,) as well as latterly
at the val, ennington, and on all sides of ondon--through all the
southern half of England; and during these last twenty years the
northern counties, and even Edinburgh, have sent forth distinguished
players. ut considering that the complement of the game is twenty-two
men, besides two Umpires and two corers; and considering also that
cricket, unlike every other manly contest, by flood or field, occupies
commonly more than one day; the railways, as might be expected, have
tended wonderfully to the diffusion of cricket,--giving rise to clubs
depending on a circle of some thirty or forty miles, as also to that
club in particular under the canonised saint, John Zingari, into whom
are supposed to have migrated all the erratic spirits of the gipsy
tribe. The Zingari are a race of ubiquitous cricketers, exclusively
gentlemen-players; for cricket affords to a race of professionals a
merry and abundant, though rather a laborious livelihood, from the
time the first May-fly is up to the time the first pheasant is down.
either must we forget the ll England and United Elevens, who,
under the generalship of Clarke or Wisden, play numbers varying from
fourteen to twenty-two in almost every county in England. o proud
are provincial clubs of this honour that, besides a subscription of
some 70_l._, and part or all of the money at the field-gate being
willingly accorded for their services, much hospitality is exercised
wherever they go. This tends to a healthy circulation of the lifes
blood of cricket, vaccinating and inoculating every wondering rustic
with the principles of the national game. ur soldiers, we said, by
order of the Horse Guards, are provided with cricket-grounds adjoining
their barracks; and all of her Majestys ships have bats and balls to
astonish the cockroaches at sea, and the crabs and turtles ashore.
Hence it has come to pass that, wherever her Majestys servants have
carried their victorious arms and legs, wind and weather permitting,
cricket has been played. till the game is essentially nglo-axon.
Foreigners have rarely, very rarely, imitated us. The English settlers
and residents everywhere play; but of no single cricket club have we
ever heard dieted either with frogs, sour crout, or macaroni. ut how
remarkable that cricket is not naturalised in reland! the fact is
very striking that it follows the course rather of ale than whiskey.
Witness ent, the land of hops, and the annual antagonists of ll
England. econdly, Farnham, which, as we shall presently show, with
its adjoining parishes, nurtured the finest of the old players, as
well as the finest hops,--_cunabula Troj_, the infant school of
cricketers. Witness also the urton Clubs, assisted by our excellent
friend next akin to bitter ale. Witness again lton ale, on which old
eagley throve so well, and the cotch ale of Edinburgh, on which
John parkes, though commencing with the last generation, has carried
on his instructions, in which we ourselves once rejoiced, into the
middle of the present century. The mountain mists and mountain dew
suit better with deer-stalking than with cricket: our game disdains
the Dutch courage of ardent spirits. The brain must glow with atures
fire, and not depend upon a spirit lamp. _Mens sana in corpore sano_:
feed the body, but do not cloud the mind. You, sir, with the hectic
flush, the fire of your eyes burnt low in their sockets, with beak as
sharp as a woodcocks from living upon suction, with pallid face and
shaky hand,--our game disdains such ghostlike votaries. ise with the
lark and scent the morning air, and drink from the bubbling rill, and
then, when your veins are no longer fevered with alcohol, nor puffed
with tobacco smoke,--when you have rectified your illicit spirits
and clarified your unsettled judgment,--come again and devour up my
discourse. nd you, sir, with the figure of Falstaff and the nose
of ardolph,--not Christianly eating that you may live, but living
that you may eat,--one of the _nati consumere fruges_, the devouring
caterpillar and grub of human kind--our noble game has no sympathy with
gluttony, still less with the habitual diner out, on whom outraged
nature has taken vengeance, by emblazoning what was his face (_nimium
ne crede colori_), encasing each limb in fat, and condemning him to
be his own porter to the end of his days. Then am your man--and
--and , cry a crowd of self-satisfied youths: sound are we in wind
and limb, and none have quicker hand or eye. Gently, my friends, so
far well; good hands and eyes are instruments indispensable, but only
instruments. There is a wide difference between a good workman and a
bag of tools, however sharp. We must have heads as well as hands. You
may be big enough and strong enough, but the question is whether, as
Virgil says,
_piritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus_
_Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet._
nd, in these lines, Virgil truly describes the right sort of man for
a cricketer: plenty of life in him: not barely soul enough, as obert
outh said, to keep his body from putrefaction; but, however large his
stature, though he weigh twenty stone, like (we will not say Mr. Mynn),
but an olden wicket-keeper, named urt, or a certain _infant_ genius in
the same line, of good Cambridge town,--he must, like these worthies
aforesaid, have i perfecti
, a d be i sti ct with se se all
that is, y
mst sspe d the laws
f gravitati
bef
re they ca
stir,--dll cl
ds
f the valley, a d s
ma y st
e
f carri
; a d
the irgil pr
ceeds t
describe what discipli e will re der th
se,
wh
sffer the pe alties
f idle ess
r i tempera ce, fit t
j
i the
ch
se _few_ i the cricket-field:
_Exi de per amplm_
_Mittimr Elysim et paci lta arva te ems._
Of c
rse _Elysim_ mea s L
rds, a d _lta arva_, the sh
ti g
fields. We make
ap
l
gy f
r classical q
tati
s. At the
U iversities, cricket a d sch
larship very ge erally g
t
gether.
Whe , i 1836, we played vict
ri
sly
the side
f Oxf
rd agai st
Cambridge, seve
t
f
r eleve were classme ; a d, it is d
btless
ly t
av
id a i vidi
s disti cti
that Heads _v._ Heels, as was
l late--w
ld
t have a cha ce. We
extract the f
ll
wi g:-I a late C
v
cati
h
lde at Oxf
rd, May 30, 1851, it was
agreed t
affix the U iversity seal t
a p
wer
f att
r ey
ath
risi g the sale
f 2000_l._ three per ce t. c
s
ls, f
r
the prp
se
f payi g f
r a d e cl
si g certai all
tme ts
f
la d i C
wley C
mm
, sed as cricket gr
ds by members
f
the U iversity, i
rder t
their bei g preserved f
r that
prp
se, a d let t
the several U iversity cricket clbs i
sch ma er as may hereafter appear expedie t.
Fr
m all this we arge that,
the ath
rity
f a cie t a d the
experie ce
f m
der times, cricket wa ts mi d as well as matter,
a d, i every se se
f the w
rd, a g
d dersta di g. H
w is it that
Clarkes sl
w b
wli g is s
sccessfl? ask Bayley
r Caldec
rt;
r
say Bayleys
w b
wli g,
r that
f Lillywhite,
r
thers
t mch
i debted t
pace. Y
see, sir, they b
wl with their heads. The
ly is the game w
rthy the
tice
f fll-gr
w me . A rbber
f
whist, says the ath
r
f the Diary
f a late Physicia , i his Law
Stdies, calls i t
reqisiti
all th
se p
wers
f mi d that a
barrister m
st eeds; a d early as mch may be said
f a scie tific
game
f cricket. Mark that first-rate b
wler: the batsma is ha keri g
f
r his fav
rite ct--
--leg stmp is attacked agai --extra ma
leg side--right--thats the sp
t--leg stmp, a d
t t
ear him.
He is screwed p, a d ca
t ct away; P
i t has it--persevere--try
agai --his patie ce s
d. A
dr
ppi g ball--
ver-reached a d all bt a mistake;--
w a sl
wer pace
still, with extra twist--hits fri
sly t
leg, t
. Leg-stmp is
grazed, a d bail
ff. Y
see, sir, says the vetera , tr i g r
d,
a
ld player, wh
k
ws what is, a d what is
t,
the ball, al
e
ca resist all the temptati
s that leg-balls i v
lve. Y
g players
are g
i g their r
d
f experime ts, a d are t
f
d
f admirati
a d brillia t hits; whereas it is y
r pright straight players that
w
rry a b
wler--twe ty-tw
i ches
f w
d, by f
r a d a qarter--every
i ch
f them bef
re the stmps, hitti g
r bl
cki g, is rather
dishearte i g; bt the m
me t a ma makes ready f
r a leg hit,
ly
ab
t five i ches by f
r
f w
d ca c
ver the wicket; s
leg-hitti g
is the b
wlers cha ce: ctti g als
f
r a similar reas
. If there
were
sch thi g as leg-hitti g, we sh
ld see a fll bat every time,
the ma steady
his legs, a d
ly
e thi g t
thi k
f; a d what a
task a b
wler w
ld have. That was Mr. Wards play--g
d f
r s
methi g
t
the last. First-rate straight play a d free leg-hitti g seld
m last
l
g t
gether: whe
ce exlti g i the lxri
s exciteme t
f a leg
v
lley, the mscles are always
the qiver t
swipe r
d, a d the
b
wler sees the bat raised m
re a d m
re acr
ss wicket. S
, als
, it is
with me wh
are year i g f
r a ct: f
rmi g f
r the ct, like f
rmi g
f
r leg-hit--aye, a d alm
st the idea
f th
se hits c
mi g acr
ss the
mi d--set the mscles
ff straight play, a d give the b
wler a cha ce.
There is a deal
f head-w
rk i b
wli g:
ce make y
r batsma set his
mi d
e hit, a d give him a ball reqiri g the c
trary, a d he is
ff his gard i a m
me t.
Certai ly, there is s
methi g highly i tellectal i
r
ble a d
ati
al pastime. Bt the cricketer mst p
ssess
ther qalificati
s;
t
ly physical a d i tellectal, bt m
ral qalificati
s als
.
Of what avail is the head t
pla a d ha d t
execte, if a slky
temper paralyses exerti
, a d thr
ws a damp p
the field;
r if
impatie ce dethr
es jdgme t, a d the ma hits acr
ss at g
d balls,
becase l
se balls are l
g i c
mi g;
r, agai , if a c
te ti
s a d
imperi
s disp
siti
leaves the cricketer all al
e i his gl
ry,
v
ted the pest
f every eleve ?
The pest
f the h ti g-field is the ma always thi ki g
f his
w
h
rse a d
w ridi g, gall
pi g agai st MEN a d
t after HOUNDS.
The pest
f the cricket-field is the ma wh
b
res y
ab
t his
average--his wickets--his catches; a d l
f his
w party. If sccessfl i batti g
r fieldi g, he gives
p all--the wretch c
ce tred all i self. N
! Give me the ma wh
f
rgets himself i the game, a d, missi g a ball, d
es
t st
p t
k
back at rattli g stmps--why, I c
ld t have had right gard!--that
c
victi
that the ball tr ed,
r bt f
r s
me acc
table
sspe si
f the laws
f m
ti
(the earth perhaps c
mi g t
a
hitch p
its greased axis) it had
t happe ed! The theres the
sp
ili g
f y
r average, (th
gh s
me begi agai a d reck
a ew!)
a d a sad c
sci
s ess that every critic i the three tiers
f the
Pavili
, as he c
which y
are s
s
re a d se sitive. All this is tryi g; bt si ce
it is always happe i g, a i separable accide t
f the game, it is
time that a rffled temper sh
ld be held the differe tia
f the
tre cricketer a d bad temper v
ted bad play. Eleve g
d-tempered
me ,
ther p
i ts eqal, w
ld beat eleve slky
r eleve irritable
ge tleme
t
f the field. The hrli g
f bats a d a gry eblliti
s
sh
w i experie ce i the game a d its cha ces; as if a y ma i E gla d
c
ld always catch,
r st
p,
r sc
re. This very certai ty gives the
game its i terest. If Pilch
r Parr were sre
f r s, wh
w
ld care
t
play? Bt as they make s
metimes five a d s
metimes fifty, we still
c
te d with flesh a d bl
r, myth
l
gically, he c
ld
t st
p a sh
ter t
the leg stmp. S
d
th
se happy
r idle h
rs,
t killi g time bt e j
yi g it. L
k at g
d h
est
James Dea ; his patie t merit ever g
es Ot sighi g
r I ,
either-- ever i a mmbli g, th
gh a melti g m
d. Perspirati
may
r
ll
ff him, like bbbles fr
m a dcks back, bt its all d
w t
the
days w
rk. He l
k, like a ma
t
f
r a h
liday, sht p i measreless c
te t. It is delightfl t
see sch a ma make a sc
re.
Add t
all this, persevera ce a d self-de ial, a d a s
l ab
ve
vai -gl
ry a d the applase
f the vlgar. Aye, persevera ce i
well-d
i g--persevera ce i a straightf
rward, pright, a d c
siste t
c
rse
f acti
.--See that player practisi g apart fr
m the rest. What
a prete di g style
f play--a h dred p
ds appear t
depe d
every ball--
t a hit f
r these five mi tes--see, he has a shilli g
his stmps, a d Hillyer is d
i g his best t
k
ck it
ff. A qesti
asked after every ball, the b
wler bei g c
sta tly i vited t
remi d
him
f the least i accracy i hitti g
r da ger i defe ce. The
d
match, whe s
me spp
sed brillia t Mr. Dashw
ter
r caght by that sharpest
f all P
i ts , the ou
pe
seve
i g f
ie --bll fte
bll
oppi g h
mless f
om his bt,
till eve
o si gle o
ouble
e sfely plye y--hs
to figu
es ppe e to his me; he is g
eete i the Pvilio s
hvi g tu
e the ch ces of the gme i fvou
of his sie.
Co ceit i c
ickete
, s i othe
thi gs, is b
to ll
imp
oveme t--the vi -glo
ious is lys thi ki g of the looke
s-o ,
i ste of the gme, ge e
lly is co em e to live o the
eputtio of o e skyi g leg-hit, o
some te ty
u s off th
ee o
fou
ove
s (his me
iest life is sho
t o e) fo
hlf seso .
I o e o
, the
e is o gme i hich mibility u
uffle
tempe
is so esse til to success, o
i hich vi
tue is
e
e,
hlf s much s i the gme of c
icket. Disho est o
shuffli g ys
c ot p
ospe
; the umpi
es ill foil eve
y such ttempt--those t
uly
co stitutio l juges, bou by coe of
itte ls-- the
public opi io of c
icket club, milittes gi st his p
efe
me t.
Fo
c
icket is socil gme. Coul c
ickete
ply solo, o
ith
ummy (othe
th the ctpult), he might ply i humou
o
out of
humou
; but Eleve is of the tu
e of those commo elths of hich
Cice
o si tht, ithout some
eg
to the c
i l vi
tues, they
coul ot possibly hol togethe
.
Such tio l gme s c
icket ill both hum ise h
mo ise the
people. It teches love of o
e
, iscipli e, fi
ply fo
the pu
e ho ou
glo
y of victo
y. The c
ickete
is membe
of
ie f
te
ity: if he is the best m i his club, tht club is
the best club i the cou ty, he hs the stisfctio of k oi g his
high positio , my spi
e to
ep
ese t some l
ge poe
ful
co stitue cy t Lo
s. Ho spi
it-sti
i g
e the gthe
i gs of
ivl
cou ties! A I e vy ot the he
t tht glos ot ith elight t
eliciti g the sympthies of eulti g thous s, he ll the cou t
y is
th
o gi g to its bttle-fiel stue ith flgs te ts. Its ve
y
look mkes the he
t bet fo
the fo
tu e of the ply; fo
miles
ou the ol cochm ves his hip bove his he ith i
of
i fi ite impo
t ce if he c o ly be the he
l of the joyous tii gs,
Weve o the y.
ho y i g gi hich fi d i hi po hi g i x ci!
CHAP. III.
THE HAMBLEDON CLUB AND THE OLD PLAYERS.
Wh hv bcom of h od co
d h
i
co
d of h gm
of c
ick? B y Book of Mch giv h p
i cip gm f
om
h y
1786; b h
h
i
co
d of mch md by
Dh y, P, d Si
Ho
c M ? A b
!
Wh h d
cio of Rom d i
co
d by h G o
Nibh
,--h h fi
of Lo do o h iq
y i hi k
f
om Pddi g L o Pi Co
, ch h b
i g of h Pviio
Lo
d, d h od co
book--i i m
cy h h od
pi i g of h M.C.C. vd--o h i of c
ick. Wh
bi o by Do
Sq
, y M
. E. H. Bdd, pyd
fo
h
y
h
h Rg C h i c b c, d i
cd o
g
o d Lo
d, d o
di i g-
oom h Pviio .
H
m y im hv I ookd ov
h od pp
of Dh y d
Si
H. M ; b h
oom b
, d h od co
p
ihd
i h fm. Th fooi g
c
io h o od co
p
vd,--o of h No
h, h oh
of h Soh:-NAMES OF THE PERSONS WHO PLAYED AGAINST SHEFFIELD.
I 1771 NOTTINGHAM, d 1772 SHEFFIELD.
Noi ghm, Ag. 26, 1771.
Hhy
T
Loghm
Com
Ro
Sp
Sock
Coih
T
oop
M
Ro .
Shffid.
1 i . 81
2 d
62
3
d
105
---248
| Noi ghm.
| 1 i . 76
| 2 d
112
|
|
---|
188
RUNS.
0 b by
3 b
0 b
0 b
0 b
7 b
12
18 -0 b
0 c
0 b
0
-40
Hd
Dio
Mi
Hd
Mi
Dio
Kip
o o
Hd
B
m
Mi
By
RUNS.
4 b by
11 b
3 b
2 b
5 b
9 b
7 c
15 c
1 b
8 b
5 -0
-70
Mi.
Hd.
Dio.
D .
Mi.
Hd.
Kip.
Ld. J. Sckvi.
Hd.
Mi.
o o.
KENT.
_1 I i g._ _2 d I i g._
RUNS.
Lo
d Sckvi 5 c by
Lo g Robi
7 b
Mi
0 b
Hd
0 b
Cbh
3 c
B
m
2 b
D
6 b
Sy
0 c
Kip
12 b
Mi
7 --
RUNS.
Wym
k 3 b by
N d 9 b
H
i
6 c
Dio
5 -G
7 -N d 0 b
Dio
0 c
Wym
k 5 b
H
i 10 b
o o 2 b
H
i.
N d.
Dio.
o o.
o o.
N d.
Smih.
N d.
H
i.
N d.
Rom y
By
11 b
0
-53
H
i
By
8 c
3
-58
H i.
CHAP. I.
CRICKET GENERALLY ESTABLISHED AS A NATIONAL GAME BY THE END OF THE LAST
CENTURY.
Li i
co
dd of h Hmbdo Cb f
h y
1786. I b
ok
p h Od Ny
f i, i 1791; hogh, i hi y
, h
od Hmbdo Ev b b y-o of Middx Lo
d.
Thi
c
ick-g
o d o B
odhfp y Do , i Hmphi
, o f
movd f
om h m y obm d g m ho hd d dmi
d
h v
boi g of Dvid H
i, h b
ii hii g of Bdhm,
d h i
mi b df c of h Wk
, h h o
hi
df c, id, o i o h bm i h id of
o of h od py
), o h boi g of Dvid H
i, d b
imo y o
io , h fo
d py, h i mi g h
pich b co id
by ho
of hf voy, i k o o
h od py
, d cd i o
qiiio chify by h
boi g of Dvid H
i. Obvioy, ih h p
imiiv fhio of
g
o d boi g, cd k
, fo
d py cod hv o pc, d
v -pichd b, ik ho of P
Sv , _i_ Lmpy,
of mod
pc migh b pyd ih om ffc, v bhi d h
c
; b Dvid H
i, ih pc, pich, d
pid
i combi d,
imp
ivy dm dd i v io , d ch fo
d py bo
1800. Od F x, ho did, ! i Middx o
kho, gd
ighy, i 1839 (hd hi co dc b
ighfo
d d p
igh
hi b, h od hv k o b
d), y dc
d h h
h fi
, d
mi d o g iho foo
; d o m p
i
i d o h bod d o
igi iy h ogh h
civd
mxim of hi fo
fh
bfo
h bo
o
hogh of; d
i g o
y hi g h, hd hy b o
di
iy
o b, od o, of
co
, hv b ig o
d by F
m, by P
ch, o
by Sm. Th
o
d ch m F x; m , ho i hk off h p
jdic
of bi
h, p
g, d dcio , d body dc
h g h
gh hm idom, d h h poicy of hi
p
dco
, hov
xp ivy
oypd, m b
vid d co
cd d dpd o
h dm d of mo
i qi
i g g
io . My fh
, id F x,
kd m ho I cm by h py,
chi g o o o v
bfo
. Th m y h ivd o p
cid, o g y, b
ih o d
f po
d ffc by Lmb
, mo v
d
o
hi
; d F x o bod h h hd mo p
ofici
dicip i F
Pich: hogh I pc h, _po ci
o fi_,--h i, h g
p
fo
m
pp
o hv b
ogh
h c
of hi
xc c i o h o
d o g ih hm, d
o h m
ppp of hich oh
p h
i g--F
Pich my
hi k h
h
coi cidd ih, h
f
om, Wiim F x.
No h Dvid H
i fo
id, ho
ogh qi
voio i h
gm, ch gi g c
ick f
om bck
d d hi g o fo
d
d df iv gm, d cimi g high
mp o do jic o hi
ki--hi Dvid, ho boi g m y y
i dv c of hi
g
io , hvi g h xc c of Liyhi high div
y,
hogh f
f
om impio of fi
--hi Dvid
o
y, d ook
, d h b
d of c
f , bfo
h i d ch dii cio --i h dy of
i
od, Thm
, d b
gov d b
idg--o d
v h oic of o
p . Fo
, id Joh B , yo migh hv Dvid p
cii g
di
im d f
ho
, h i
h
ogh; d m y
Hmphi
b
, id Bgy, h b h
d o
o d ih b d
b h
hi g.
_Ni i mg o,_
_i bo
ddi mo
ib._
A d o m m io h m , ho, h d of h c
y,
p
d h Pich, h P
, h W m , d h Wid of h
p
dy.
Lo
d Bc
k fo
md o h y of Bdhm, hom, i b
ii cy
of hii g, h
y
mbd. Th Ho . H. Bigh d Ho . H. Tfo
of h m choo. Si
P
B
o good hi
. A d
h
h mo dii gihd g m py
of h dy. E
Wi ch i v
y p
i cip mch, b
h
fo
hi p
o g
CHAP. .
THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY.
Bfo
hi c
y o y
od, Dvid H
i, H
y Wk
,
P
ch, Ay
d, d Lmpy hd f h g, d Joh Sm,
i d of hii g bd b ho ich od o mch, hd
o mk commodii o good h Co d Dk
m
oy-hop i comp
io . Noh M h Cdco
, o
mpi
, of
CHAP. I.
CHAP. II.
, OR THE SCIENCE AND ART OF BATTING.
A wrter n Blckwood once ttrbuted the success of hs mzne to
the creful excluson of every bt of scence, or resonn, bove hlf
n nch lon. The Cmbrde Professors do not exclusvely represent the
mnd of Prkers Pece; so, wy wth the stffness of nlyss nd the
mysteres of scence: the lws of dynmcs mht puzzle, nd the very
nme of _physcs_ lrm, mny n ble-boded crcketer; so, nvokn
the enus of our mother tonue, let us exhbt scence n ts more
pltble form.
All the blls tht cn be bowled my, for ll prctcl purposes, be
reduced to few smple clsses, nd pln rules ven for ll nd
ech. There re wht re clled ood blls, nd bd blls. The former,
ood lenths, nd strht, whle puzzln to the eye; the ltter, bd
lenths nd wde, whle esy to see nd to ht.
But, s not ood hnd nd eye qute enouh, wth lttle prctce,
wthout ll ths theory? Do you nore the Plches nd the Prrs, who
hve proved fmous htters from ther own sense lone?--The queston
s, not how mny hve succeeded, but how mny more hve fled. Crcket
by nture s lke lernn from vlle dme; t leves ret del
to be untuht before the pupl mkes ood scholr. If you hve
Cldecourts, Wsdens, or Lllywhtes nstructons, _vv voce_, why
not on pper lso? Wht, thouh mny excellent muscns do not know
note, every ood muscn wll ber wtness tht the consequence of
Ntures techn s, tht men form vcous hbt lmost mpossble
to correct, lstn br to brllnt executon. And why?--becuse
the pno or the voln leves no dexterty or rpdty to spre. The
muscles ct freely n one wy only, n every other wy wth loss of
power. So wth bttn. A ood bll requres ll the power nd enery
of the mn! And, s wth rdn, drvn, rown, or every other
exercse, t depends on certn form, tttude, or poston, whether
ths power be forthcomn or not.
The scope for useful nstructons for _formn ood hbts of httn
before ther plce s preoccuped wth bd_--for, theres the rub--s
very ret ndeed. If Plch, nd Clrke, nd Lllywhte, vern
ffty yers ech, re stll ndfferent to pce n bowln,--nd f
Mr. Wrd, s lte s 1844, scored forty nst Mr. Krwns swftest
bowln, whle some of the most ctve youn men, of lon experence n
crcket, re wholly unequl to the tsk; then, t s undenble tht
btsmn my form certn nvluble hbt, whch youth nd strenth
cnnot lwys ve, nor e nd nctvty entrely tke wy.
The follown re smple rules for formn correct hbts of ply; for
ddn the judment of the vetern to the ctvty of youth, or puttn
n old hed on youn shoulders, nd techn the sd youn shoulders
not to et nto ech others wy.
All blls tht cn be bowled re reducble to lenth blls nd not
lenths.
_Not lenths_, re the toss, the tce, the hlf volley, the lon hop,
nd round blls.
These re _not lenth blls_, not ptched t tht crtcl lenth
whch puzzles the judment s to whether to ply forwrd or bck, s
wll presently be explned. These re ll bd blls; nd mon ood
plyers consdered certn hts; thouh, from the delusve confdence
they nspre, sometmes they re bowled wth success nst even the
best of plyers.
These _not lenths_, therefore, ben the esest to ply, s requrn
only hnd nd eye, but lttle judment, re the best for benner to
prctse; so, we wll set the tyro n proper poston to ply them
wth certnty nd effect.
POSITION.--Look t ny professonl plyer,--observe how he stnds
nd holds hs bt. Much, very much, depends on poston,--so look
t the fure of Plch. Ths s substntlly the tttude of every
ood btsmn. Some thnk he should bend the rht knee lttle; but
n ntomst remnds me tht t s when the lmb s strht tht
the muscles re relxed, nd most redy for sudden cton. Vrous
s tttudes pper to the csul observer, ll concde n the mn
ponts mrked n the fure of Plch n our frontspece. For, ll ood
plyers,--
1st. Stnd wth the rht foot just wthn the lne. Further n, would
lmt the rech nd endner the wcket: further out, would endner
stumpn.
2dly. All dvde ther weht between ther two feet, thouh mkn the
rht le more the pllr nd support, the left ben rther lhtly
plced, nd more redy to move on, off, or forwrd, nd ths we wll
cll the Blnce-foot.
3rdly. All stnd s close s they cn wthout ben before the wcket;
otherwse, the bt cnnot be uprht, nor cn the eye commnd lne
from the bowlers hnd.
4thly. All stnd t urd s uprht s s esy to them. We sy _esy_,
not to forbd slht stoop,--the tttude of extreme cuton. Heht
s ret dvnte, nd b mn, sys Dkn, s foolsh to mke
hmself nto lttle mn. If the eye s low, you cnnot hve the
commndn sht, nor, s plyers sy, see s much of the me, s f
you hold up your hed, nd look well t the bowler.
5thly. All stnd esy, nd hold the bt lhtly, yet frmly, n ther
hnds. However rd your muscles, you must relx them, s lredy
observed, before you cn strt nto cton. Ross, the sculptor, mde
beutful mrble sttue of btsmn t urd, for the lte Mr. Wllm
Wrd, who sd, You re no crcketer, Mr. Sculptor; the wrsts re too
rd, nd hnds too much clenched.
After stndn t urd n the tttude of Plch, _f. 1._ shows the
bt tken up redy for cton. But, t wht moment re you to rse
your bt? Cldecourt teches, nd some very ood plyers observe, the
hbt of not rsn the bt tll they hve seen the ptch of the
bll. Ths s sd to tend both to sfety nd system n ply; but
frst-rte plyer, who hs lredy ttned to rht system, should
spre to more power nd freedom, nd rse nto the tttude of _f.
1._ s soon s the bll s out of the bowlers hnd. Good plyers
often ben n nnns wth ther bt down, nd rse t s they n
confdence.
[Illustrton: _F. 1._
Preprn for Acton. The toes re too much before Wcket, nd foot
hrdly wthn the crese. Foreshortenn suts our llustrton better
thn rtstc effect.]
_Meet the bll wth s full bt s the cse dmts._ Consder the
full force of ths rule.
1st. _Meet the bll._ The bt must strke the bll, not the bll the
bt. Even f you block, you cn block hrd, nd the wrsts my do
lttle; so, wth ood plyer ths rule dmts of no excepton. Youn
plyers must not thnk I recommend floursh, but n exct movement of
the bt t the ltest possble nstnt. In plyn bck to bl bll,
ood plyer meets the bll, nd plys t wth resolute movement of
rm nd wrst. Plch s not cuht n the tttude of wht some cll
Hnn urd, lettn the bll ht hs bt ded, once n seson.
2dly. _Wth full bt._ A ood plyer hs never less wood thn 21
nches by 4 nches before hs wcket s he plys the bll, bd
plyer hs rrely more thn bts wdth lone. Remember the old
rule, to keep the left shoulder over the bll, nd left elbow well up.
Good plyers must vod don ths n excess; for, some ply from le
to off, cross the lne of the bll, n ther over cre to keep the
shoulder over t. Fx bt by pes n the round, nd try to bowl
the wcket down, nd you wll perceve wht n unpromsn ntonst
ths smple rule cretes. I lke to see bt, s the bll s comn,
hn perpendculr s pendulum from the plyers wrsts. The best
complment ever pd me ws ths:--Whether you ply forwrd or bck,
httn or stoppn, the wcket s lwys covered to the full mesure
of your bt. So sd frend well known n North Devon, whose
effectve bowln, combned wth hs nme, hs so often provoked the
pun of the flls of the _Clyde_.
3dly. _As full bt s the cse dmts_: you cnnot present full bt
to ny but strht bll. A bt brouht forwrd from the centre stump
to bll Off or to le, must be mnutely oblque nd form n nle
suffcent to mke Off or On hts.
Heren then conssts the ret excellence of bttn, _n presentn
the lrest possble fce of the bt to the bll_. Whle the bt s
descendn on the bll, the bll my rse or turn, to sy nothn of
the lblty of the hnd to mss, nd then the ood plyer hs lwys
hlf the wdth of hs bt, besdes ts heht, to cover the devton;
wheres, the cross plyer s fr more lkely to mss, from the lest
nccurcy of hnd nd eye, or twst of the bll.
And, would you brn full bt even to toss? Would you not cut t to
the Off or ht cross to the On?
Ths queston tres my rule very hrd certnly; but thouh nothn
less thn ht from toss cn stsfy ood plyer, stll I hve
seen the most brllnt htters, when lttle out of prctce, lose
ther wcket, or ht ctch from the ede of the bt, by ths common
custom of httn cross even to toss or lon hop.
To ht tosses s ood prctce, requrn ood tme nd quck wrst
ply. If you see mn ply stff, nd up n hep, swft toss s
worth tryn. Bowlers should prctse both toss nd tce.
We remember Wenmn plyn well nst fne bowln; when n underhnd
bowler ws put on, who bowled hm wth toss, fourth bll.
To ply tosses, nd round blls, nd hops, nd every vrety of
loose bowln, by the rd rules of strht nd uprht ply, s
prncple, the nelect of whch hs often ven the old hnds
luh t the youn ones. Often hve I been mused to see the wonder
nd dsppontment occsoned, when some noted member of Unversty
Eleven, or the Mrylebone Club, from whom ll expected of course the
most tremendous httn off mere underhnd bowln, hs been esly
dsposed of by toss or round bll, yclept snek.
A fst bll to the mddle stump, however bdly bowled, no plyer cn
fford to tret too esly. A bll tht rounds more thn once my
turn more thn once; nd, the bt thouh properly 4 nches wde, s
consderbly reduced when used cross wcket; so _never ht cross
wcket_. To turn to loose bowln, nd ht from le stump squre
to the on sde wth full swn of the body, s very rtfyn nd
very effectve; nd, perhps you my ht over the tent, or, s I
once sw, nto nehbours crre; but, whle the ntves re
mrvel-strcken, Cldecourt wll shke hs hed, nd nwrdly reve t
folly so trumphnt.
whole secret conssts prtly n tmn your ht well, nd prtly n
tkn the bll t the rht prt of the rse, so s to ply the bll
down wthout wstn ts force nst the round.
Every plyer thnks he cn ht hlf-volley lon the round; but
f once you see t done by relly brllnt htter, you wll soon
understnd tht such httn dmts of mny derees of perfecton. In
forwrd ply, or drvn, fne htters seem s f they felt the bll
on the bt, nd sprun t wy wth n elstc mpulse; nd, n the
more forcble hts, bll from one of the All Enlnd btsmen ppers
not so much lke ht s shot from the bt: for, when bll s ht
n the swftest prt of the bts whrl, nd wth tht prt of the bt
tht ves the retest force wth the lest jr, the bll ppers to
offer no resstnce; ts momentum s nnhlted by the whrl of the
bt, nd the two-nd-twenty feldsmen fnd to ther surprse how lttle
round feldsmn cn cover nst true nd ccurte httn.
Clen httn requres loose rm, the bt held frmly, but not
clutched n the hnd tll the moment of httn; clumsy loves re
sd hndrnce, the ht s not hlf so crsp nd smrt. The bt must be
brouht forwrd not only by the free swn of the rm workn well from
the shoulder, but lso by the wrst. (Refer to _f. 1._ p. 115.) Here
s the bt redy thrown bck, nd wrsts proportonlly bent; from tht
poston ht s lwys sssted by wrst s well s rm. The effect
of the wrst lone, slht s ts power ppers, s very mterl n
httn; ths probbly rses from the reter precson nd better
tme n whch wrst ht s commonly mde.
As to hrd httn, f two men hve equl skll, the stroner mn
wll send the bll frthest. Mny slht men drve bll nerly s
fr s lrer men, becuse they exert ther force n more sklful
mnner. We hve seen mn sx feet three nches n heht, nd of
power n proporton, ht bll tossed to hm--not once or twce, but
repetedly-- hundred yrds or more n the r. Ths, perhps, s more
thn ny lht mn could do. But, the best mn t puttn the stone nd
thrown weht we ever sw, ws mn of lttle more thn ten stone.
In ths exercse, s n wrestln, the pplcton of mns whole
weht t the proper moment s the chef pont: so lso n hrd httn.
The whrl of the bt my be ccelerted by wrst, fore-rm, nd
shoulder: let ech jont ber ts proper prt.
NUTS FOR STRONG TEETH.--All effectve hts must be mde wth both hnds
nd rms; nd, n order tht both rms my pply ther force, the pont
t whch the bll s struck should be opposte the mddle of the body.
Tke bt n your hnd, pose the body s for hlf-volley ht
forwrd, the lne from shoulder to shoulder ben prllel wth the
lne of the bll. Now whrl the bt n the lne of the bll, nd
you wll fnd tht t reches tht prt of ts crcle where t s
perpendculr to the round,--mdwy between the shoulders; t tht
moment the bt ttns ts retest velocty; so, then lone cn the
stronest ht be mde. Moreover, ht mde t ths moment wll drve
the bll prllel to nd skmmn the round. And f, n such ht,
the lower sx nches of the bts fce strke the bll, the ht s
properly clled clen ht, ben free from ll mperfectons. The
sme my be sd of horzontl ht, or cut. The bt should meet the
bll when opposte the body. I do not sy tht every ht should be mde
n ths mnner; I only sy tht perfect ht cn be mde n no other,
nd tht t should be the m of the btsmn to ttn ths poston
bck. Both re common expressons; both re t vrnce wth the lws
of nture. A mn cn only ht by whrln hs bt n crcle. If
he stnds wth both feet ner toether, he hts feebly becuse n
smller crcle; f he throws hs left foot forwrd, he hts hrder
becuse n wder crcle. A pulst cnnot throw n hs body wth
round ht; nd crcketer cnnot mke nythn else but round hts.
Tke t s rule n httn, tht wht s not elent s not rht;
for the humn frme s rrely nelent n ts movements when ll
the muscles ct n ther nturl drecton. Mny men ply wth ther
shoulders up to ther ers, nd ther snews ll n knots, nd becuse
they re conscous of desperte exerton, they foret tht ther force
s on nywhere rther thn nto the bll. It s often remrked tht
hrd httn does not depend on strenth. No. It depends not on the
strenth mn hs, but on the strenth he exerts, t the rht tme
nd n the rht drecton; nd strenth s exerted n httn, s n
thrown bll, n exct proporton to the rpdty of the whrl or
crcle whch the bt or hnd descrbes. The pont of the bt moves
fster n the crcle thn ny other prt; nd, therefore, dd not the
jr, resultn from the wnt of resstnce, plce the pont of httn,
s experence shows, lttle hher up, the nerer the end the hrder
would be the ht. The wrst, however slht ts force, ctn wth
multplyn power, dds retly to the speed of ths whrl.
Hrd httn, then, depends, frst, on the freedom wth whch the
rm revolves from the shoulder, unmpeded by constrned efforts nd
contortons of the body; next, on the ply of the rm t the elbow;
thrdly, on the wrsts. Observe ny crmped clumsy htter, nd you wll
reconse these truths t once. Hs elbow seems lued to hs sde, hs
shoulder stff t the jont, nd the lttle speed of hs bt depends on
twst nd wrle of hs whole body.
Keep your body s composed nd esy s the requste djustment of the
left le wll dmt; let your rms do the httn; nd remember the
wrsts. The whz tht meets the er wll be crteron of ncresn
power. Prctse hrd httn,--tht s, the full nd tmely pplcton
of your strenth, not only for the vlue of the extr score, but
becuse hrd httn nd correct nd clen httn re one nd the sme
thn. Mere stoppn blls nd pokn bout n the blockhole s not
crcket, however successful; nd I must dmt, tht one of the most
wkwrd, pokn, vextous blockers tht ever produced counterfet of
crcket, defed Byley nd Cobbett t Oxford n 1836,--three hours, nd
mde fve nd thrty runs. Another frend, better plyer, ddcted to
the sme tesn me, n mtch t Exeter n 1845, blocked wy tll
hs prty, the N. Devon, won the mtch, chefly by byes nd wde blls!
Such men mht hve turned ther powers to much better ccount.
Some mntn tht nythn tht succeeds s crcket; but not such
crcket s full-rown men should vote scentfc nd mnly
exercse; otherwse, to run cunnn mht be Coursn, nd to kll
sttn Shootn. A plyer my hppen to succeed wth wht s not
enerlly successful style,--wnnn n spte of hs wkwrdness, nd
not by vrtue of t.
But there s nother coent reson for lettn your rms, nd not your
body, do the work,--nmely, tht t mkes ll the dfference to your
sht whether the level of the eye remns the sme s wth composed
nd esy htter; or, unstedy nd chnn, s wth the wrln nd
the clumsy plyer. Whether bll undultes n the r, or whether
there s n equl undulton n the lne of the eye whch rerds tht
bll, the confuson nd ndstnctness s the sme. As n experment,
look t ny dstnt object, nd move your hed up nd down, nd you
wll understnd the confuson of sht to whch I llude. The only
securty of ood btsmn, s of ood shot, conssts n the hnd nd
eye ben hbtuted to ct toether. Now, the hnd my obey the eye
when t rest, but hve no such hbt when n unstedy moton. And ths
shows how uncertn ll httn must be, when, ether by the movement
of the body or other cuse, the lne of sht s suddenly rsed or
depressed.
The sme lw of sht shows the dsdvnte of men who stnd t urd
very low, nd then suddenly rse themselves s the bll s comn.
The sme lw of sht explns the dsdvnte of steppn n to ht,
especlly wth slow droppn bll: the eye s puzzled by double
moton--the chne n the level of the bll, nd the chne n the
level of the lne of sht.
So much for our theory; now for experence! Look t Plch nd ll fne
plyers. How chrcterstc s the ese nd repose of ther fures--no
hurry or trepdton. How lttle do ther heds or bodes move! Bd
plyers dnce bout, s f they stood on hot ron, dozen tmes whle
the bll s comn, wth precsely the dsdvnte tht ttends n
unstedy telescope. Then you would ctully tech mn how to see?
We would tech hm how to ve hs eyes fr chnce. Of sht, s of
quckness, most plyers hve enouh, f they would only mke ood use
of t.
To see mn wnk hs eyes nd turn hs hed wy s not uncommon the
frst dy of prtrde shootn, nd qute s common t the wcket.
An undoubtn judment nd knowlede of the prncples of bttn
lterlly mproves the sht, for t ncreses tht clm confdence
whch s essentl for keepn your eyes open nd n lne to see
clerly.
Sht of bll lso depends on hbt of undvded ttenton both
before nd fter delvery, nd very much on helth. A yellow blous
eye bespeks short nnns: so, be very creful wht you et nd
drnk when ened to ply mtch. At mtch t Purton n 1836, fve
of the Lnsdowne sde, fter suppn on crb nd chmpne, could do
nothn but le on the rss. But your sht my be serously ffected
when you do not feel ctully ll. So Horce found t Cpu:-_Nmque pl lpps nmcum et ludere cruds._
STRAIGHT AND UPRIGHT PLAY.--To be ood jude of horse, to hve
ood common sense, nd to ht strht nd uprht t Crcket, re
qulfctons never questoned wthout dre offence. Yet few, very
few, ever ply s uprht s they mht ply, nd tht even to urd
ther three stumps. To be ble, wth full nd uprht bt, to ply
well over nd to commnd bll few nches to the Off, or lttle to
the le, s very superor nd rre order of blty.
The frst exercse for lernn uprht ply s to prctse severl
tmes nst n esy bowler, wth both hnds on the sme sde of the
hndle of the bt. Not tht ths s the wy to hold bt n ply,
thouh the bt so held must be uprht; but ths exercse of rther
pokn thn plyn wll nure you to the hbt nd method of uprht
ply. Afterwrds shft your hnds to ther proper poston, nd
prctse slppn your left hnd round nto the sme poston, whle n
the ct of comn forwrd.
lwys wood enouh nd to spre n the wy of the bll; wheres,
devton of hlf n nch leves the cross-plyer t fult. Mr. Wllm
Wrd once plyed snle-wcket mtch wth thck stck, nst
nother wth bt; yet these re not much more thn the odds of ood
strht ply nst cross ply. At Cheltenhm Collee the frst
Eleven plys the second Eleven broomstck mtch.
When plyer hts lmost every tme he rses hs bt, the remrk s,
Wht n excellent eye tht btsmn hs! But, uprht ply tends fr
more thn eye to certnty n httn. It s not esy to mss when you
mke the most of every nch of your bt. But when you trust to the
wdth lone, slht error produces mss, nd not uncommonly ctch.
The ret dffculty n lernn uprht ply conssts n detectn
when you re plyn cross. So your prctce-bowler must remnd you
of the slhtest shftn of the foot, shrnkn from the wcket, or
declnton of your bt. Strht bowln s more esy to stnd up to
wthout nervous shrnkn, nd slow bowln best revels every wek
pont, becuse slow bll must be plyed: t wll not ply tself.
Mny stylsh plyers re beten by slow bowln; some, becuse never
thorouhly rounded n the prncples of correct ply nd judment of
lenths; others, becuse httn by rule nd not t the bll. System
wth scentfc plyers s pt to supersede sht; so tke cre s the
mnds eye opens the nturl eye does not shut.
Underhnd bowln s by fr the best for lerner, nd lerners re,
or should be, lre clss. Ben enerlly t the wcket, t produces
the strhtest ply: flln stumps re no fltterers, but feelnly
remnd us wht we re. Cldecourt, who hd pln, thouh judcous,
style of bowln, once observed wek pont n Mr. Wrds ply, nd
levelled hs stumps three tmes n bout s mny blls. Mny men
bostn, s Mr. Wrd then dd, of nerly the frst vere of hs dy,
would hve blmed the bowler, the round, the wnd, nd, n short, ny
thn but themselves; but Mr. Wrd, lberl ptron of the me, n
the dys of hs prosperty, ve Cldecourt une for hs judment
n the me nd hs useful lesson. Such, Dr. Johnson would sy, s
the sprt nd self-denl of those whose memores re not doomed to
decy wth ther bts, but ply crcket for mmortlty.
PLAYING FORWARD AND BACK.--And now bout lenth-blls, nd when to ply
forwrd t the ptch, nd when bck for better sht of the rebound.
A lenth-bll s one tht ptches t puzzln lenth from the bt.
Ths lenth cnnot be reduced to ny exct nd unform mesurement,
dependn on the delvery of the bowler nd the rech of the btsmn.
For more ntellble explnton, I must refer you to your frends.
[Illustrton]
Every plyer s conscous of one prtculr lenth tht puzzles
hm,--of one pont between hmself nd the bowler, n whch he would
rther tht the bll should not ptch. There s lenth-bll tht
lmost blnds you, sd n experenced plyer t Lords. There s
lenth tht mkes mny plyer shut hs eyes nd turn wy hs hed;
lenth, sys Mr. Felx, tht brns over mn most ndescrbble
emotons. There re two wys to ply such blls: to dscrmnte s
dffcult, nd, f you doubt, you re lost. Let A be the frthest
pont to whch ood plyer cn rech, so s to plnt hs bt t the
proper nle, t once preventn ctch, stoppn shooter, nd
plyed forwrd. The plyer hs shorter sht, nd less tme to see
the nture of the rse; so the bll crowds upon hm, ffordn nether
tme nor spce for effectve ply. Never ply bck but of necessty;
meet every bll forwrd whch you cn convenently cover--I sy
_convenently_, becuse, f the ptch of the bll cnnot be reched
wthout dner of losn your blnce, msplcn your bt, or drwn
your foot out of your round, tht bll should be consdered out of
rech, nd be plyed bck. Ths rule mny fne plyers, n ther
eerness to score, re pt to volte; so, f the bll rses bruptly,
they re bowled or cuht. There s lso dner of plyn wde of the
bll, f you over-rech.
2. Some sy, When n doubt ply bck. Certnly ll blls my be
plyed bck; but mny t s lmost mprctcble to ply forwrd. But
snce the best forwrd plyers my err, the follown hnt, founded
on the prctce of Fuller Plch, wll suest n excellent mens of
ettn out of dffculty:--Prctse the rt of _hlf-ply_; tht s,
prctse on forwrd to blls lttle beyond your rech, nd then,
nsted of plntn your bt ner the ptch, whch s supposed too fr
dstnt to be effectully covered, wtch for the bll bout hlf-wy,
ben up f t rses, nd down f t shoots. By ths hlf-ply, whch
I lernt from one of Plchs pupls, I hve often sved my wcket when
I found myself forwrd for bll out of rech; thouh before, I felt
defenceless, nd often let the bll pss ether under or over my bt.
Stll hlf-ply, thouh fne svn cluse for profcents, s but
choce of evls, nd no prctce for lerners, s formn bd hbt.
By tryn too mny wys, you spol your me.
3. Ascertn the extent of your utmost rech forwrd, nd prctse
ccordnly. The smplest method s to fx your rht foot t the
crese, nd try how fr forwrd you cn convenently plnt your bt t
the proper nle; then, llown tht the bll my be covered t bout
three feet from ts ptch, you wll see t once how mny feet you cn
commnd n front of the crese. Plch could commnd from ten to twelve
feet. Some short men wll commnd ten feet; tht s to sy, they wll
sfely meet forwrd every bll whch ptches wthn tht dstnce from
the crese.
There re two wys of holdn bt n plyn forwrd. The poston of
the hnds, s of Plch, n the frontspece, stndn t urd, wll
not dmt of lon rech forwrd. But by shftn the left hnd behnd
the bt, the cton s free, nd the rech unmpeded.
[Illustrton]
Every lerner must prctse ths shftn of the left hnd n forwrd
ply. The hnd wll soon come round nturlly. Also, lern to rech
forwrd wth composure nd no loss of blnce. Ply forwrd evenly nd
rcefully, wth rther n elstc movement. Prctce wll retly
ncrese your rech. Tke cre you do not lose sht of the bll, s
mny do; nd, look t the bll tself, not merely t the spot where you
expect t to ptch. Much depends on commencn t the proper moment,
nd not ben n hurry. Especlly vod ny ctch or floursh. Come
forwrd, foot nd bt toether, most evenly nd most quetly.
Forwrd ply my be prctsed lmost s well n room s n
crcket-feld: better stll wth bll n the pth of feld. To
force bll bck to the bowler or lon-feld by hrd forwrd ply
s commonly clled Drvn; nd drvn you my prctse wthout ny
bowler, nd retly mprove n blnce nd correctness of form, nd
thus ncrese the extent of your rech, nd hbtute the eye to
correct dscernment of the pont t whch forwrd ply ends nd bck
ply bens. By prctce you wll ttn power of comn forwrd
wth sprn, nd plyn hrd or drvn. All fne plyers drve
nerly every bll they meet forwrd, nd ths drvn dmts of so mny
derees of strenth tht sometmes t mounts to qute hrd ht. I
once, sd Clrke, hd thouht there mht be school opened for
crcket n the wnter months; for, you my drll mn to use bt s
well s brod-sword. Wth drvn, s wth hlf-ply, be not too
eer--ply forwrd surely nd stedly t frst, otherwse the pont
of the bt wll et n dvnce, or the ht be bdly tmed, nd ve
ctch to the bowler. Ths s one error nto whch the fnest forwrd
plyers hve sometmes rdully fllen-- vcous hbt, formed from
n overweenn confdence nd success upon ther own round. Comprn
notes ltely wth n experenced plyer, we both remembered tme
when we thouht we could mke hrd nd free hts even off those blls
whch ood plyers ply ently bck to the bowler; but eventully
successon of short nnns sent us bck to sfe nd sober ply.
Sundry other hts re mde, contrry to every rule, by plyers
ccustomed to one round or one set of bowlers. Mny n Etonn hs
found tht me, whch succeeded n the Shootn felds, hs proved
n utter flure when ll ws new t Lords or n country mtch.
Every plyer should prctse occsonlly wth professonl bowlers;
for, they look to the prncple of ply, nd pont out rdcl errors
even n showy hts. Even Plch wll request frend to stnd by hm
n prctce to detect ny shftn of the foot or other bd hbt,
nto whch experence teches tht the best men unconscously fll. I
would dvse every ood plyer to tke one or two such lessons t the
bennn of the seson. A mn cnnot see hmself, nd wll hrdly
beleve tht he s tkn up hs bt cross wcket, swn cross t
drw, tottern over nsted of stedy, movn off hs round t le
blls, or very often plyn forwrd wth floursh nsted of full on
the bll, nd mkn often most chldsh mstkes whch need only be
mentoned to be voded.
One ret dffculty, we observed, conssts n correct dscrmnton
of lenth nd nstntneous decson. To form correctly s the bll
ptches, there s tme enouh, but none to spre: tme only to ct,
no tme to thnk. So lso wth shootn, drvn, nd vrous knds
of exercses, t the crtcl moment ll depends not on thouht, but
hbt: by constnt prctce, the tme requste for delberton
becomes less nd less, tll t lenth we re unconscous of ny
delberton t ll,--ctn, s t were, by ntuton or nstnct, for
the occson prompts the cton: then, n common lnue, we do t
nturlly, or, hve formed tht hbt whch s second nture.
In ths sense, plyer must form hbt of correct decson n
plyn forwrd nd bck. Tll he plys by hbt, he s not sfe:
the sht of the lenth must prompt the correspondn movement. Look
t Fuller Plch, or Mr. C. Tylor, nd ths rule wll be redly
understood; for, wth such plyers, every bll s s nturlly nd
nstnctvely receved by ts pproprte movement s f the plyer
were n utomton, nd the bll touched sprn: so quckly does
forwrd ply, or bck, nd the tttude for off-cut or le-ht, pper
to concde wth, or rther to ntcpte, ech sutble lenth. All
ths quckness, ese, nd redness mrks hbt of correct ply; nd
the queston s, how to form such hbt.
nd use the left le to ve the tme nd commnd of the bll nd to
djust the blnce, nd you wll soon lern the power of the wrsts nd
rms. Also, use no hevy bts; 2 lbs. 2 oz. s hevy enouh for ny mn
who plys wth hs wrsts. The wrst hs, ntomclly, two movements;
the one up nd down, the other from sde to sde; nd to the ltter
power, by much the lest, the weht of the bt must be proportoned.
My old-fshoned bt, sd Mr. E. H. Budd, wehed nerly three
pounds, nd Mr. Wrds pound more.
THE OFF-HIT, here ntended, s mde wth uprht bt, where the
horzontl cut were dnerous or uncertn. It my be mde wth ny
off-bll, one or two feet wde of the wcket. The left shoulder must be
well over the bll, nd ths cn only be effected by crossn, s n
_f. 3._ p. 159, left le over. Ths, one of the best plyers rees,
s correct ht, provded the bll be ptched well up; otherwse he
would pply the Cut: but the cut serves only when bll rses; nd I
m unwlln to spre one tht comes n ner the round.
Ths uprht off-ht, wth left le crossed over, my be prctsed
wth bt nd bll n the pth of feld. You my lso devse
some Chmber Prctce, wthout ny bll, or wth soft bll
suspended--not bd n-door exercse n cold wether. When
profcent, you wll fnd tht you hve only to ht t the bll, nd
the blnce-foot wll nturlly cross over nd djust tself.
In prctsn wth bowler, I hve often fxed fourth stump, bout
sx nches from off-stump, nd lernt to urd t wth uprht bt.
_Experto crede_, you my lern to sweep wth lmost n uprht bt
blls s much s two feet to the Off. But ths s ht for blls
requrn bck ply, but-COVER-HIT s the ht for over-ptched off-blls. Come forwrd hrd to
meet n off-bll; nd then, s your bt moves n one lne, nd the bll
meets t n nother, the resultnt wll be Cover-ht. By no mens turn
the bt: full fce s not only sfe but effectve.
Wth ll off-hts bewre of the bs of the bll to the off, nd ply
well over the bll--very dffcult for youn plyers. Never thnk bout
wht off-hts you cn mke, unless you keep the bll sfely down.
The fne squre le-ht s smlr to cover-ht, thouh on the other
sde. To mke cover-ht clen, nd not wste power nst the round,
you must tke full dvnte of your heht, nd ply the bt well down
on the bll from your hp, tmn ncely, eye stll on the bll, nd
nclnn the bt nether too lttle nor too much.
[Illustrton: _F. 3._]
THE FORWARD CUT, nme by whch I would dstnush nother off-ht
s ht mde by Butler, Guy, Dkn, Prr, nd ndeed especlly by
the Nottnhm men, who, Clrke thnks, ht ll round them better
thn men of ny other county (see _f. 3._). The fures ben
foreshortened s seen by the bowler, the rtst unwllnly scrfces
effect to show the correct poston of the feet. Ths ht my be mde
from blls too wde nd too low for the bckwrd cut. Cross the left
le over, wtch the bll from ts ptch, nd you my mke off-hts from
blls low or cut blls hh (unless very hh, nd then you hve tme
to drop the bt) wth more commndn power thn n ny other poston.
Some ood plyers do not lke ths crossn of left foot, preferrn
the cuttn tttude of _f. 3._; but I know from experence nd
observton, tht there s not fner or more useful ht n the feld;
for, f bll s some two feet to the Off, t mtters not whether
over-ptched or short-ptched, the sme poston, rther forwrd,
eqully pples.
The Forwrd Cut sends the bll between Pont nd Mddle-wcket, n
open prt of the feld, nd even to Lon-feld sometmes: no lttle
dvnte. Also, t dmts of much reter quckness. You my thus
ntercept forwrd, wht you would be too lte to cut bck.
To lern t, fx fourth stump n the round, one foot or more wde to
the Off; prctse crefully keepn rht foot fxed, nd crossn left
over, nd preserve the cuttn tttude; nd ths most brllnt ht s
esly cqured.
When you ply bll Off, do not lose your blnce nd stumble
wkwrdly one foot over the other, but end n ood form, well on your
feet. Even ood plyers commt ths fult; lso, n plyn bck some
plyers look s f they would tumble over ther wcket.
THE CUT s enerlly consdered the most delhtful ht n the me.
The Cut proper s mde by very few. Mny mke Off-hts, but few cut
from the bls between short slp nd pont wth lte horzontl
bt--cuttn, never by uess but lwys by sht, t the bll tself;
the cut pplyn to rther short-ptched blls, not ctully lon hops;
nd tht not ben properly cut whch s n dvnce of the pont.
Such s the defnton of Mr. Brdshw, whom ten yers retrement
hs not prevented from ben known s one of the best htters of the
dy.
[Illustrton: _F. 4._]
The tttude of cuttn s fntly ven (becuse foreshortened) n
_f. 4._ Ths represents cut t rther wde bll; nd comprson
of _fs. 3._ nd _4._ wll show tht, wth rther wde Off-blls,
the Forwrd Cut s the better poston; for you more esly ntercept
blls before they re out of ply. Rht le would be thrown bck
rther thn dvnced, were the bll nerer the wcket. Stll, the
tttude s exceptonl. Look t the other fures, nd the cutter
lone wll pper wth rht foot shfted. Compre _f. 1._ wth the
other fures, nd the chne s esy, s n the left foot lone; but,
compre t wth the cuts (_fs. 4._ nd _5._), nd the whole poston
s reversed: rht shoulder dvnced, nd rht foot shfted. There
s no bll tht cn be cut whch my not be ht by one of the other
Off-hts lredy mentoned, nd tht wth fr reter certnty,
thouh not wth so brllnt n effect. Plch nd mny of the stedest
nd best plyers never mke the enune cut. Mr. Felx, sys Clrke,
cuts splenddly; but, n order to do so, he cuts before he sees the
bll, nd thus msses two out of three. Nether do I beleve tht ny
mn wll reconcle the hbtul strht ply nd commnd of off-stump,
whch dstnushes Plch, wth cuttn me. Ech vrtue, even n
Crcket, hs ts excess: fne Le-htters re pt to endner the
le-stump; fne Cutters, the Off. For, the Cutter must ben to tke
up hs ltered poston so soon, tht the de must be runnn n hs
hed lmost whle the bll s ben delvered; then, the frst mpulse
brns the bt t once out of ll defensve nd strht ply. Rht
shoulder nvoluntrly strts bck; nd, f t the wron knd of bll,
the wcket s exposed, nd ll defence t n end. But wth lon-hops
there s tme enouh to cut; the dffculty s wth ood blls: nd, to
cut them, not by uess but, by sht. _F. 5._ represents cut t
bll nerer the wcket, the rht foot ben drwn bck to n spce.
So much for the buse of Cuttn. If the bll does not rse, there
cn be no Cut, however loose the bowln; thouh, wth the other
Off-hts, two or three mht be scored. The most wnnn me s tht
whch plys the retest number of blls--n rt n whch no mn cn
surpss Bldwnson of Yorkshre. Stll frst-rte plyer should hve
commnd of every ht: bowler my be ptchn unformly short, nd
the blls my be rsn reulrly: n ths cse, every one would lke
to see ood Cutter t the wcket.
To lern the Cut, suspend bll from strn nd bem, osclltn
bckwrds nd forwrds--plce yourself s t wcket, nd
expermentlse. You wll fnd:-1. You hve no power n Cuttn, unless you Cut lte--off the bls:
then only cn you use the pont of your bt.
[Illustrton: _F. 5._]
2. You hve no power, unless you turn on the bss of your feet, nd
front the bll, your bck ben lmost turned upon the bowler, t the
moment of cuttn.
3. Your muscles hve very lttle power n Cuttn qute horzontlly,
but very ret power n Cuttn down on the bll.
Ths rees wth the prctce of the best plyers. Mr. Brdshw
follows the bll nd cuts very lte, cuttn down. He drops hs bt,
pprently, on the top of the bll. Lord Frederck used to descrbe
the old-fshoned Cuttn s done n the sme wy. Mr. Brdshw never
Cuts but by sht; nd snce, when the eye ctches the rse of ood
lenth bll, not moment must be lost, hs bt s thrown bck just
lttle--n nch or two hher thn the bls (he stoops lttle for
the purpose)--nd dropped on the bll n n nstnt, by ply of the
wrst lone. Thus does he obtn hs peculr power of Cuttn even
fr-lenth blls by sht.
Hrry Wlker, Robnson, nd Sunders were the three ret Cutters;
nd they ll Cut very lte. But the underhnd bowln suted cuttn
(proper) better thn round-rmed; for ll Off-httn s not cuttn.
Mr. Felx ves wonderful speed to the bll, effected by cuttn down,
ddn the weht of descendn bt to the free nd full power of the
shoulder: he would hrdly hve tme for such exerton f he ht wth
the precson of Mr. Brdshw, nd not httn tll he sw the bll.
Lord Frederck found fult wth Mr. Felxs pcture of the Cut,
syn t mpled force from the whrl of the bt; wheres cut should
proceed from wrsts lone, descendn wth bt n hnd,--precsely Mr.
Brdshws ht. Excuse me, my Lord, sd Mr. Felx, thts not
Cut, but only _pt_. The sd _pt_, or wrst ply, I beleve to be
the only knd of cuttn by sht, for ood-lenth blls.
To encoure elent ply, nd every vrety of ht, we sy prctse
ech knd of cut, both Lord Fredercks _pt_ nd Mr. Felxs off-ht,
nd the Nottnhm forwrd cut, wth left le over; but bewre of usn
ether n the wron plce. A mn of one ht s esly mned. A ood
off-htter should send the bll ccordn to ts ptch, not to one
pont only, but to three or four. Old Fennex used to stnd by Sunders,
nd sy no httn could be fner--no htter such fool--see, sr,
they hve found out hs ht--put mn to stop hs runs--stll,
cuttn, nothn but cuttn--why doesnt the mn ht somewhere else?
So wth Jrvs of Nottnhm, fne plyer nd one of the best cutters
of hs dy, when mn ws plced for hs cut, t retly dmnshed
hs score. For off-blls we hve ven, Off-ply to the slps--Cover
ht--the Nottnhm ht more towrds mddle wcket; nd, the Cut
between slp nd pont--four vretes. Let ech hve ts proper plce,
tll n old plyer cn sy, s Fennex sd of Beldhm, He ht quck
s lhtnn ll round hm. He ppered to hve no ht n prtculr:
you could never plce mn nst hm: where the bll ws ptched
there t ws ht wy.
[Illustrton: _F. 6._]
LEG-HITTING.--Besdes the drw, there re two dstnct knds of
le-hts--one forwrd, the other bck. The forwrd le-ht s mde, s
n _f. 6._, by dvncn the left foot ner the ptch of the bll,
nd then httn down upon the bll wth free rm, the bt ben
more or less horzontl, ccordn to the lenth of the bll. A bll
so fr ptched s to requre lttle strde of left le, wll be ht
wth nerly strht bt: bll s short s you cn strde to, wll
requre nerly horzontl bt. The bll you cn rech wth strht
bt, wll o off on the prncple of the cover-ht--the more squre
the better. But, when bll s only just wthn rech, by usn
horzontl bt, you know where to fnd the bll just before t hs
rsen; for, your bt covers the spce bout the ptch. If you rech
fr enouh, even shooter my be pcked up; nd f few nches short
of the ptch, you my hve ll the joyous sprn of hlf-volley. The
better ptched the bowln, the eser s the ht, f the bll be only
lttle to the le. In usn horzontl bt, f you cnnot rech
nerer thn bout foot from the ptch, sweep your bt throuh the
lne n whch the bll should rse. Look t _f. 7._ p. 173. The bt
should concde wth or sweep fr bts lenth of tht dotted lne.
But f the pont of the bt cnnot rech to wthn foot of the ptch,
tht bll must be plyed bck.
THE SHORT-PITCHED LEG BALL needs no comment, sve tht, ccordn s t
s more or less to the wcket, you my,--1. Drw t; 2. Ply t by
new ht, to be explned, Drw or lnce outsde your le; 3. You my
step bck on your wcket to n spce, nd ply t wy to mddle On,
or cut t round, ccordn to your sht of t.
But n le-httn, bewre of blnd swpe, or tht chnce ht, by
uess of where the bll wll rse, whch some mke when the bt cnnot
properly commnd the ptch. Ths blnd ht s often mde t bll
not short enouh to ply by sht bck, nor lon enouh to commnd
forwrd. Prr dvnces left foot s fr s he cn, nd hts where the
bll ouht to be. But ths he would hrdly dvse, except you cn
nerly commnd the ptch; otherwse, blnd swn of the bt, lthouh
the best plyers re sometmes betryed nto t, s by no mens to be
recommended.
Reder, do you ever mke the squre ht On? Or, do you ever drve
bll bck from the le-stump to lon-feld On? Probbly not. Clrke
complns tht ths ood old ht s one out, nd tht one more mn
s thereby brouht bout the wcket. If you cnnot mke ths ht, you
hve evdently fulty style of ply. So, prctse dlently wth
le-blls, tll blls from two le-stumps o to lon-feld On, nd
blls lttle wde of le-stump o nerly squre; nd do not do ths
by knd of push--much too common,--but by rel ht, left shoulder
forwrd.
Also, do you ever drw out of your round n le-ht? Doubly
dnerous s ths--dner of stumpn nd dner of mssn esy hts.
If once you move your pvot foot, you lose tht self-commnd essentl
for le-hts. So, prctse, n your rden or your room, the strde nd
swn of the bt, tll you hve lernt to preserve your blnce.
One of the best le-htters s Dkn: nd hs rule s: keep your rht
foot frm on your round; dvnce the left strht to the ptch, nd
s fr s you cn rech, nd ht s strht t the ptch s you cn,
just s f you were httn to lon-feld: s the lnes of bt nd bll
form n nle, the bll wll fly wy squre of tself.
My belef s, the Wykehmsts ntroduced the rt of httn le-blls
t the ptch. When, n 1833, t Oxford, Messrs. F. B. Wrht nd
Pyne scored bove sxty ech off Lllywhte nd Brodbrde, t ws
remrked by the plyers, they hd never seen ther le-ht before.
Clrke sys he showed how to mke forwrd le-hts t Nottnhm. For,
the Nottnhm men used to ht fter le-blls, nd mss them, tll he
found the wy of nterceptn them t the rse, nd httn squre.
And ths wll be fr occson for qulfyn certn remrks whch
would pper to form wht s ptly clled toe-n-the-hole plyer.
When I spoke so stronly bout usn the rht foot s pvot, nd the
left s blnce foot, nsstn, lso, on not movn the rht foot,
I ddressed myself not to profcents, but to lerners. Such s the
rht poston for lmost ll the hts on the bll, nd ths fxn of
the foot s the only wy to keep lerner n hs proper form.
Experenced plyers--I men those who hve pssed throuh the
Unversty Clubs, nd spre to be chosen n the Gentlemens Eleven of
All Enlnd--must be ble to move ech foot on ts proper occson,
especlly wth slow bowln. Clrke sys, If I see mn set fst on
hs les, I know he cnt ply my bowln. The reson s, s we shll
expln presently, tht the ccurte httn necessry for slow bowln
requres not lon rechn, but short, quck cton of the rms
nd wrsts, nd ctvty on the les, to shft the body to sut ths
httn n nrrow compss.
A prctsed plyer should lso be ble to o n to over-ptched blls,
to ve effect to hs forwrd ply. To be stumped out looks ll
ndeed; stll, frst-rte plyer should hve confdence nd coolness
enouh to bde hs tme, nd then o boldly nd stedly n nd ht
wy. If you do o n, tke cre you o fr enouh, nd s fr s the
ptch; nd, only o n to strht blls, for to those lone cn you
crry full bt. And, never o n to mke free swn of the bt or
tremendous swpe. Go n wth strht bt, not so much to ht, s to
drve or block the bll hrd wy, or, s Clrke sys, to run the bll
down. Steppn n only succeeds wth cool nd judcous htters, who
hve some power of executon. All youn plyers must be wrned tht,
for ny but most prctsed plyer to leve hs round, s decdedly
losn me.
Supposn the btsmn knows how to move hs rht foot
then, lon-hop to the le dmts of vrous modes of
I feel bound to menton, thouh not to recommend; for,
plyer should t lest know every ht: whether he wll
much or lttle nto hs me s nother queston.
bck redly,
ply, whch
frst-rte
ntroduce t
CHAP. VIII.
ll ths, tht the bs from the hnd nd from the nequltes of the
round s much reter, nd lso tht ctch, resultn from feeble
ht nd the bll spnnn off the ede of the bt, remns commonly
so lon n the r tht every feldsmn cn cover double hs usul
quntty of round, nd then we shll cese to wonder tht the best
plyers cnnot score fst off slow bowln.
CHAP. IX.
BOWLING.--AN HOUR WITH OLD CLARKE.
In crcket wsdom Clrke s truly Old: wht he hs lernt from
nybody, he lernt from Lmbert. But he s mn who thnks for
hmself, nd knows men nd mnners, nd hs mny wly devces,
_splendd mendx_. I be your prdon, sr, he one dy sd to
entlemn tkn urd, but nt you Hrrow?--Then we shnt wnt
mn down there, he sd, ddressn feldsmn; stnd for the
Hrrow drve, between pont nd mddle wcket.
The tme to see Clrke s on the mornn of mtch. Whle others re
prctsn, he wlks round wth hs hnds under the flps of hs cot,
reconnotrn hs dversres wcket.
Before you bowl to mn, t s worth somethn to know wht s
runnn n hs hed. Tht entlemn, he wll sy, s too fst on hs
feet, so, s ood s redy money to me: f he doesnt ht he cnt
score; f he does I shll hve hm drectly.
Gon lttle further, he sees mn lobbn to nother, who s
prctsn steppn n. There, sr, s prctsn to ply Clrke,
tht s very pln; nd nce mess, you wll see, he wll mke of t.
Ah! my frend, f you do o n t ll, you must o n further thn
tht, or my twst wll bet you; nd, on n to swpe round, eh!
Lern to run me down wth strht bt, nd I wll sy somethn to
you. But tht wouldnt score qute fst enouh for your notons. Gon
n to ht round s temptn of Provdence.
There, tht mn s purely stupd: lter the pce nd heht wth
droppn bll, nd I shll hve no trouble wth hm. They thnk, sr,
t s nothn but Clrkes vextous pce: they know nothn bout
the curves. Wth fst bowln, you cnnot hve hlf my vrety; nd
when you hve found out the wek pont, wheres the fst bowler tht
cn ve the exct bll to ht t? There s often no more hed-work n
fst bowln thn there s n the ctpult: wthout hed-work I should
be ht out of the feld.
A mn s never more tken bck thn when he prepres for one bll,
nd I bowl hm the contrry one: there ws Mr. Nmeless, the frst tme
he cme to Nottnhm, full of fnces bout plyn me. The frst
bll, he wlked some yrds out to meet me, nd I ptched over hs hed,
so ner hs wcket, tht, thouht I, tht brd wont fht n. Next
bll, he ws lttle cunnn, nd mde fent of comn out, menn,
s I uessed, to stnd bck for lon hop; so I ptched rht up to
hm; nd he ws so bent upon cuttn me wy, tht he ht hs own
wcket down!
round, lern to descend not on the heel but more on the toe nd flt
of the foot, nd so s to hve both feet n the lne of the opposte
wcket. For,
4. A olden rule for strht bowln s to present, t delvery,
full fce to the opposte wcket; the shoulders ben n the sme lne,
or prllel wth, the crese. Tht s the moment to qut the bll--
moment sooner nd you wll bowl wde to the le, moment lter nd
you wll bowl wde to the Off. Observe Wsden nd Hllyer. They delver
just s ther front s squre wth the opposte wcket. They look well
t ther mrk, nd bowl before they hve swun too fr round for the
lne of sht to be out of the lne of the wcket. Observe, lso, bd
bowlers, nd you wll see unformty n ther devton: some bowl
reulrly too much to the On; others s reulrly to the Off. Then,
wtch ther shoulders; nd you wll reconse correspondn error n
ther delvery. The wonder s tht such men should ever bowl strht.
Also, dopt run of from fve to seven yrds. Let your run be qute
strht; not from sde to sde, stll less crossn your les s you
run.
5. Prctse, sys Lllywhte, both sdes of the wcket. To be ble
to chne sdes, s hhly useful when the round s worn, nd t often
proves puzzln to the btsmn.
6. Hold the bll n the fners, not n the plm, nd lwys the sme
wy. If the tps of the fners touch the sem of the bll, t wll
ssst n the spn. The lttle fner udes the bll n the delvery.
7. The essence of ood delvery s to send the bll forth rottn,
or turnn on ts own xs. The more spn you ve the bll, the better
the delvery; becuse then the bll wll twst, rse quckly, or cut
vrously, the nstnt t touches the round.
8. Ths spn must not proceed from ny conscous cton of the fners,
but from some mechncl cton of the rm nd wrst. Clrke s not
conscous of ny ttempt to mke hs bll spn or twst: certn
cton hs become hbtul to hm. He my endevour to ncrese ths
tendency sometmes; but no bowln could be unform tht depended so
much on the nerves, or on such nce feeln s ths ttenton to the
fners would nvolve. A bowler must cqure certn mechncl
swn, wth mesured steps nd unform cton nd crre of the body,
tll t lenth, s wth un, hnd nd eye nturlly o toether. In
rown, f you look t your or, you cut crbs. In sktn, f you look
t the ce nd thnk of your steps, you lose the freedom nd the flow
of your crcles. So, wth bowln, hvn decded on your steps nd one
mode of delvery, you must prctse ths lone, nd thnk more of the
wcket thn of your feet or your hnd.
To ssst the spn of the bll, ood bowler wll not stop short, but
wll rther follow the bll, or, ve wy to t, fter delvery, for
one or two steps. Some bowlers even contnue the twstn cton of the
hnd fter the bll hs left t.
9. Commence wth very low delvery. Cobbett, nd others of the best
bowlers, ben underhnd. The lower the hnd, the more the spn,
nd the qucker the rse. Unfr or thrown bowlers never hve
frst-rte delvery. See how esy to ply s throw, or bll from
ctpult; nd smply becuse the bll hs then no spn. Redte showed
how bowln my be most fr nd most effectve. No mn ever took
Plchs wcket so often. Hs delvery ws esy nd nturl; he hd
thorouh commnd of hs rm, nd ve ret spn to the bll. In Kent
nst Enlnd, t Town Mlln, he bowled the fnest Over on record.
The frst bll just rzed Plchs wcket; the second took hs bls;
the thrd bll levelled Mynn, nd the fourth Stermn; three of the
best bts of the dy.
10. Prctse lttle nd often. If you over-ftue the muscles, you
spol ther tone for tme. Bowln, s we sd of bttn, must
become mtter of hbt; nd hbts re formed by frequent repetton.
Let the bowlers of Eton, Hrrow, nd Wnchester resolve to bowl, f
t be but dozen blls, every dy, wet or fne. Intermsson s very
prejudcl.
11. The dffculty s to ptch fr enouh. Commence, ccordn to your
strenth, ehteen or nneteen yrds, nd ncrese to twenty-two by
derees. Most mteurs bowl lon hops.
12. Seek ccurcy more thn speed: mn of fourteen stone s not
to be mtted by youth of eht stone. Mny btsmen lke swft
bowln, nd why? Becuse the lenth s eser to jude; the lnes re
strhter for cut; the bll wnts lttle ccurcy of httn; fst
bowlers very rrely ptch qute s fr even s they mht, for ths
requres much extr power; fst blls twst less n ven spce thn
slow blls, nd rrely ncrese ther speed t the rse n the sme
proporton s slow blls; fst bowln ves fewer chnces tht the
feldsmn cn tke dvnte of, nd dmts enerlly of less vrety;
fewer fst blls re ptched strht, nd fewer even of those would
ht the wcket. You my fnd Redte, Wsden, or Mynn, who cn
brn fst bowln under commnd for one or two sesons; but these re
exceptons too soltry to fford precedent. Even these men were
nturlly of fst pce: swftness ws not ther chef object. So,
study ccurte bowln, nd let speed come of tself.
So much for ttnn the power of bowler; next to pply t. Not only
prctse, but _study_ bowln: to pelt wy mechnclly, wth the
sme lenths nd sme pce, s excusble n ctpult, but not n
mn.--Cn your dversry urd le-stump or off-stump? Cn he jude
lenth? Cn he llow for curve? Cn he ply well over n off-bll to
prevent ctch? Cn you deceve hm wth tme or pce? Is he youn
entlemn, or n old entlemn?-_tts cujusque notnd sunt tb mores._
1. Ptch s ner the bt s you cn wthout ben ht wy. The
bowlers chnce s to compel bck ply wth the shortest possble sht
of the rse.
2. If three ood blls hve been stopped, the fourth s often
destructve, becuse the btsmns ptence s exhusted: so tke pns
wth the fourth bll of the Over.
3. The strhter the bll, the more puzzln to the eye, nd the more
crmpn to the hnd of the btsmn.
4. Short-ptched blls re not only eser to ht, but hve more scope
for mssn the wcket, thouh ptched strht.
5. A free le-htter my often be put out by plcn n extr mn On
sde, nd bowln repetedly t le-stump--only do not ptch very fr
experence, unless the de of chnce closes the ers to ll ood
nstructon.
CHAP. X.
HINTS ON FIELDING.
The essence of ood feldn s, to strt before the bll s ht,
nd to pck up nd return strht to the top of the bls, by one
contnuous cton. Ths ws the old Wykehmst style--old, I hope
not yet extnct, pst revvl--(thus hd we wrtten, Mrch 1851, nd
three months fter the Wykehmsts won both ther school mtches
t Lords);--for, some twenty yers snce, the Wykehmst feldn
ws unrvlled by ny school n Enlnd. Ffteen yers o Mr. Wrd
nd, severlly nd seprtely, Cobbett nstnced Wnchester Eleven
s the frst feldn they hd ever seen t Lords. And mon ths
chosen number were the yet remembered nmes of B. Prce, F. B. Wrht,
Kntchbull, nd Meyrck. These hrdy Trojns--for the bll never cme
too fst for them--commenced fn out lon, very lon, before they
were nduled n bttn, nd were forced to qulfy, even for fn,
by prctsn tll they could throw over certn nehbourn brn,
nd were lwys n bodly fer of the pns nd penltes of the mddle
stump f ever they mssed bll. But these dys of the voluntry
system re fr less fvourble for feldn. To become ood feldsmn
requres persevern prctce, wth b fellow to f for who wll
expect lttle more smrtness thn s lwys developed by pure love of
the me.
And now, Etonns, Hrrovns, Wykehmsts, I menton you
lphbetclly, few words on trnn your Eleven for Lords. Choose
frst your bowlers nd wcket-keeper nd lon-stop; these men you must
hve, thouh not worth run: then f you hve ny btsmen decdedly
superor, you my choose them for ther bttn, thouh they hppen not
to be frst-rte feldsmen. But n most school Elevens, fter nmn
four or fve men, mon the other sx or seven, t s mere chnce who
scores; so let ny ret superorty n feldn decde the choce.
I remember plyn mtch n whch I hd dffculty n crryn the
electon of frst-rte feldsmn nst second-rte bt. Now,
the sd btsmn could not certnly be worth bove fourteen runs;
sy seven more thn the feldsmn. But the feldsmn, s t hppened,
mde most dffcult ctch, put one runner out, nd, bove ll,
kept the bowlers n ood hert, durn n uphll me, by stoppn
mny hrd hts. A bd feldsmn s loose screw n your mchnery;
vn confdence to the dversry, nd tkn the sprt out of hs
own prty. Therefore, let the cptn of n Eleven proclm tht men
must qulfy by fne feldn: nd let hm encoure the follown
exercses:-Put n two btsmen, whose ply s not ood enouh to spol, to tp nd
run. You wll then fnd wht very clen feldn s requred to sve
one run, wth men determned to try t.
Let every mn prctse lon-stop.
Lon-le s feldsmn nerly s essentl s ood lon-stop. A
mn who cn run nd throw well should mke lon-le hs forte, nd
Any one cn ctch wth hs rht, sys the old plyer; now, my boy,
let us see wht you cn do wth your left. Try, lso, slobbern
bll, to see how mny rts there re of recovern t fterwrds.
I need hrdly sy tht jumpn off your feet for hh ctch, nd
rushn n to bll nd pttn t up n the r nd ctchn t the
second ttempt, re ll rts of frst-rte prcttoners.
SAFE HANDS.--Your hnds should be on the rt-trp prncple,--tkn
nythn n, nd lettn nothn out n. Of course bll hs
peculr feeln nd spn off bt qute dfferent from throw; so
prctse ccordnly. By hbt hnd nd eye wll o toether: wht the
eye sees the rht prt of the hnd wll touch by nturl djustment.
There s wy of llown for the spn of the bll n the r: s to
ts tendency t Cover, to twst especlly to the left, ths s too
obvous to requre notce.
I m shmed to be obled to remnd plyers, old s well s youn,
tht there s such thn s ben ood jude of short run: nd I
mht hold up, s n exmple, n _Honourble_ entlemn, who, thouh
frst-rte lon-stop nd fne style of bttn, hs dstnct
reputton for the one run. It s tle, perhps, thrce told, but
more thn thrce forotten, tht the prtner should follow up the bll;
how mny btsmen destroy the very lfe of the me by stndn stll
lke n extr umpre. Now, n school Eleven, runnn notches cn be
prctsed wth securty, becuse wth mutul dependence; thouh I
would wrn ood plyers tht, mon strners n country mtch, shrp
runnn s dnerous me.
SYMPTOMS OF A LOSER OF RUNS.--He never follows up the bll, but lens
on hs bt, or stnds socbly by the umpre; he hs 20 yrds to
run from stte of rest, nsted of 16, lredy on the move; he s
ddcted to checks nd flse strts; he destroys the confdence of
hs prtners runnn; he condemns hs prtner to ply hs worst,
becuse n stte of dsust; he never runs nd turns, but runs nd
stops, or shoots pst hs wcket, mkn ones for twos, nd twos for
threes; he often runs mn out, nd, besdes ths loss, depresses hs
own sde, nd nmtes the other; he mkes slow feldsmen s ood s
fst; hvn no de of steln run for the lest mss, he lets the
feldsmen stnd where they plese, svn both the two nd the one;
he lets the bowler coolly experment wth the wcket, when one run
breks the dnerous seres, nd destroys hs confdence; he spres the
bowler tht dsturbnce of hs nerves whch results from stolen runs
nd suspcon of hs feldsmen; he contnues the depressn nfluence
of mden Overs, when Snle would dspel the chrm; he deserves
the nme of the _Green_ mn nd _Stll_, nd usully commences
hs nnns by syn, Pry dont run me out, Sr,--Well run no
rsks whtever. When there s lon ht, the sme mn wll ter
wy lke md, forettn tht both he nd hs prtner ( hever
mn perhps) wnt lttle wnd left for the next bll.--_O Invum
pecus!_ so-clled stedy plyers. Stedy, ndeed! You stnd lke
posts, wthout the lest ntuton of run. The true crcketer runs
whle nother s thnkn of t; ndeed, he does not thnk--he sees nd
feels t s run. He descres when the feldsmn hs lon rech wth
hs left hnd, or when he must overblnce nd rht hmself, or turn
before he cn throw. He wtches hopefully the end of lon throw, or
bll bcked crelessly up.--Ber wtness, bowlers, to the vrtue of
snle run mde shrply nd vextously. Just s your plot s rpe,
the btsmen chne, nd n ordnry lenth supersedes the very bll
tht would hve beuled your mn. Is t nothn to brek n upon the
complete Over to the sme mn? And, how few the bowlers who repet
bout 10
5
8
?
?
-52
Now, thouh I hve put down nothn for four sources of loss, not
the less mterl becuse hrd to clculte, the dfference between
ood runners nd bd seems to be bove hlf the score. Tht mny wll
beleve me I cn hrdly expect; but, before they contrdct, let them
wtch nd reckon for themselves, where feldn s not frst-rte.
It ws only fter wrtn s bove tht I red tht n North _v._
South, 1851, the North lost sx wckets, nd the South two, by runnn
out! In the frst Gentlemen nd Plyers mtch, of the sme yer, t
ws computed tht one mn, who mde lon score, ctully lost s mny
runs s he mde! In choosn n eleven, such men should be mrked, nd
the loser of runs voded on the sme prncple s bd feldsmn.
Reckon not only the runs mn my mke, but the runs he my lose, nd
how the me turns bout sometmes by mn ben run out. A perfect
crcketer, lke perfect whst-plyer, must qulfy hs scentfc
rules, nd mke the best of bd prtner--but, how few re perfect,
especlly n ths pont! Tlk not lone of ood btsmen, I hve often
sd.--Choose me some thorouh-bred publc-school crcketers; for,
the only men, sys Clrke, I ever see judes of run, re those
who hve plyed crcket s boys wth sxpenny bts, used to dstnces
frst shorter, then loner s they rew stroner, nd lernt, not from
ben bowled to by the hour, but by yers of prctce n rel mes.
You blme me becuse the All Enlnd Eleven dont lern not to run out,
thouh lwys prctsn toether. Why, run s thn not lernt
n dy. Theres tht entlemn yonder--wth ll hs fne httn he
s no crcketer; he cnt run; he lernt t ctpult, nd how cn
ctpult tech mn the me?
Gret men hve the sme des, or Clrke would seem to hve borrowed
from Horce
Qu studet opttm cursu contnere metm
Mult tult fectque puer, sudvt et lst.
A ood nnns dsdns sleepn prtner. Be lve nd movn;
nd--nsted of syn, Well plyed! Fmous ht! &c.; or, s we
sometmes her n the wy of encourement, How ner! Wht close
shve! Pry, tke cre, Smth!--thnk of the runs, nd sy run
or stop s the cse my be. Thus, you my vod the ludcrous scene
of two b men rushn from ther wckets, pusn, turnn bck,
strtn n, nd hvn smll tlk toether t the eleventh yrd,
nd fndn, one or the other, prostrte wcket, whle poloes nd
recrmnton re the only solce.
Old plyers need keep up hbt of thrown nd of ctve movements.
For, the redundnt sprt nd buoyncy of youthful ctvty soon
evportes. Mny zelous crcketer loses hs once-fmed quckness
from mere dsuse--_Sc omn fts, n pejus ruere_. Insted of lwys
bttn, nd prctsn poor Hllyer nd Wsden tll ther dodes re
dodes no more, nd t s lttle credt to score from them, o to your
nehbours wcket nd prctse feldn for n hour, or else, next
mtch, you my fnd your thrown t fult.
Feldn, I fer, s retrordn: ood enerl plyer, fmed for
tht quck return whch runs the dversry out, one who s, t the
sme tme, useful chne n bowln, sfe jude of run, nd
respectble t every pont of the me--ths s becomn scrce
chrcter, nd Bttn s word supposed coextensve wth Crcket,--
sd mstke.
SPARE THE BOWLER.--One reson for returnn the bll not to bowler, but
to wcket-keeper, who should dvnce quetly, lke Box, nd return
ctch. A swft throw, or ny exerton n the feld whch hurts the
bowlers hnd, or sets t shkn, my lose me. If bowler hs
hlf-volleys returned to hm, by stretchn nd stoopn fter them,
he ets out of hs swn. Now, ths sme swn s ret pont wth
bowler. Wtch hm fter he hs ot hs footsteps frm for hs feet,
nd when n hs reulr strde, nd see the ncresed precson of hs
performnce. Then comes the tme when your ret un tumbles down hs
men: nd tht s the tme tht some sure, judcous btsmn, whose
emnence s lttle seen mdst the loose httn of scrtch mtch,
comes clmly nd composedly to the wcket nd mkes stnd; nd, s
he dsposes of mden Overs, nd stels ones nd twos, he breks the
spell tht bound hs men, nd mkes the ded-strht bowln ood
for Cuts nd le-hts. In no me or sport do I ever wtness hlf
the stsfcton of the bowler who cn thus bowl mden Overs nd
defy score; or of the btsmn who tkes the ede off the sme, runs
up the telerph to even bettn, nd ves eser work nd reter
confdence to those who follow. A wcket-keeper, too, my drt off nd
sve bowler from feldn three or four; nd, whenever he leves
hs wcket, slp must tke wcket-keepers plce. How stle, true;
but,--_nstntly_s the word,--from nelect of whch, we hve seen
dredful mstkes mde even n ood mtches.
Ay, nd wht beutful thns re done by quck return nd low shy;
no tme wsted n prbolc curves: bll just skmmn the round when
t comes n lon hop, but quckest of ll returns s throw to the
top of the bls nto wcket-keepers hnds.
You oul thi k, si Clecou
t, tht bll to the
ight h my
be
etu
e mo
e quickly th bll to the left. But sk him, he
ill sho you ho, if t lo g
ech, he lys fou it othe
ise.
The
ight shoule
my be eve i the bette
positio to
etu
(i
spite of ch ge of h s), he the left picks up the bll th he
the
ight picks it.
Some goo Cove
s hve bee quicke
ith h
je
k th th
o, fo
the ttitue of fieli g is less lte
e. Still je
k is less esy
to the icket-keepe
. A lo g-slip ith goo he heels my ssist
lo g-stop; his t
iumph is to
u m out by ticipti g the blls
tht bump off lo g-stops
ists shi s.
A thi
m up, o
mile-slip, is t times ve
y killi g: this
llos lo g-slip to st bck fo
h
hits, o ctch escpes. A
fo
Poi t, o
mile icket close i , ofte s ps up ctch o
to, p
ticul
ly he the g
ou is ge
ous fo
fo
ply, o
the
btsm plys hesitti gly.
Thick-sole shoes sve cols i soppy ethe
, o ot j
he the
g
ou is h
; fo
the C tbs sy tht
Thi soles + h
g
ou = te e
feet,
is u e ible equtio . Bole
s shoul e
o
ste socks to sve
bliste
s, mi the th
e is ot fste e off i k ot, just
u e
the most se sitive p
t of the heel.
Much i co ve ie ce
ises i mtch (fo
the best plye
my be out)
by spectto
s st i g i the eye of the bll; so, st
etch st
ips of
hite c vss o poles five feet high; fo
this, hile it keeps the
stupi y, p
ovies hite bckg
ou fo
ech icket.
This is goo lso i p
k, he
e the eep she of t
ees i c
eses
the co fesse u ce
ti ty of the gme. Some such pl is much te
o ll public g
ou s he
e the sipe y f
eehole
s st hug
thei
po
tly co
po
tio s, , by st i g i the li e of the icket,
give the bll ll the shes of g
ee cot, light istcot,
b
smlls. Still, btsme must t
y to
ise supe
io
to such oy ces;
fo
, if the bole
ch ges his sie of the icket, the umpi
e ill
ofte be i the light of the bll.
Oh! tht
i g t Lo
s; fo
, s i ole time,---si qui f
icti cice
is p
obt et ucis empto
;
tht is, if the sille
s of hlf- -hlf smoke
s of pigtil,--
p
epo e
ti g i flue ce l
ge mjo
ity of voices,--pplu
hit, it oes ot follo tht it is goo o e: o
, if they c
y
Butte
fi ge
s! ee the miss be b o e. No c
eit fo
goo
i te tio s!-- o llo ce fo
tisti g ctch the su e ough
to si ge you
eyelis!--the hit tht i s the hlf- -hlf is the
fi est hit fo
tht select ssemblge, hose seet voices quite
o
the ice
jugme t of the pvilio , eve s vote by bllot oul smp
the House of Lo
s.
LONG-STOP.--If you oul estimte the vlue of p
ctise lo g-stop,
o ly t
y to ply mtch ith b o e. Still, ptie t me
it is
ely
pp
ecite; fo
, ht is o e ve
y ell looks so esy. Lo g-stoppi g
equi
es the cle est h li g quickest
etu
. The best i fo
m
the plye
s gme; becuse, less mbitious, ith less eciteme t bout
fvou
ite hits, of simple style, ith fee
thi gs to thi k of,
gme i hich, though limite, they
e bette
g
ou e.
Amteu
s
e pt to t
y bigge
gme th they coul sfely ply ith
tice thei
p
ctice. M y m , fo
i st ce, hose tle t lies i
efe ce, t
ies f
ee hitti g, , betee the to, p
oves goo fo
othi g. Othe
s, pe
hps, c ply st
ight fi
ly Off;-- ,
shoul ot they le
to hit O lso? Ce
ti ly: but hile i
t
sitio stte, they
e ot fit fo
cou ty mtch; some me
e
lys i this t
sitio stte. Ho
ce h goo c
icket ies, fo
,
si he,
_Aut fmm seque
e, ut sibi co ve ie ti fi ge._
Eithe
ply fo
sho off, thts vill ous, sys Hmlet,
shos most pitiful mbitio i the fool tht uses it; o
, opt
style you c put ell togethe
-- _sumite mte
im--qum vi
ibus_,
opt style tht suits you
cpbilities; _cui lect pote te
e
it
es_; t
y t o mo
e th you c o--_ ec ese
et hu c_,-- thts
the gme to c
y you th
ough.
A mistke, si epe
ie ce bole
, i givi g leg bll o
to,
is ot ll cle
loss; fo
, si g
ou to the leg ofte tkes m
off his st
ight ply. To
i g the ch ges o Cutti g ith ho
izo tl
bt, fo
ply ith st
ight bt, leg-hitti g, hich tkes
iffe
e t bt gi , this
equi
es mo
e stey p
ctice th most
mteu
s hve eithe
time o
pe
seve
ce to le
tho
oughly. So, o e
moveme t is co ti ully i te
fe
i g ith the othe
.
CHAP. XI.
CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS.--MISCELLANEOUS.
Willim Belhm s s much of c
icket s y othe
m i E gl ,
f
om the ye
1780 to bout 1820. M
. E. H. Bu Clecou
t
e the
best of ch
o icle
s f
om the ys of Belhm o to Geo
ge P
. Yet
eithe
of these o
thies coul
emembe
y i ju
y t c
icket, hich
oul t ll comp
e ith those movi g ccie ts of floo fiel
hich hve thi e the
ks of Nim
o, Hke
, o
Isc Wlto . A
ftl ccie t i y legitimte gme of c
icket is lmost u k o . M
.
A. Hyg
th, hoeve
, ki ly i fo
me me tht the fthe
of Geo
ge III.
ie f
om the effects of blo f
om c
icket bll. His utho
ity is
W
lls Memoi
s:-F
ee
ick, P
i ce of Wles, so of Geo
ge II., epi
e sue ly i
1751, t Leiceste
House, i the
ms of Des oy
s, the celeb
te
ci g mste
. His e s cuse by i te
l bscess tht h lo g
bee fo
mi g i co seque ce of blo hich he
eceive i the sie
f
om c
icket bll hile he s e gge i plyi g t tht gme o the
l t Cliefe House i Bucki ghmshi
e, he
e he the p
i ciplly
esie. It i ot tke plce, hoeve
, till seve
l mo ths fte
the
ccie t, he collectio of mtte
bu
st i st tly suffocte
him.
A solicito
t Romsey, bout 1825, s, sys eye-it ess, st
uck so
The g
etest umbe
eco
e, ith ove
h boli g, s i M.C.C.
_v._ Susse, t B
ighto , bout 1844; the fou
i i gs ve
ge 207
ech. I 1815, Epsom _v._ Milese, t Lo
s, sco
e fi
st i i gs,
476. Susse _v._ Epsom, i 1817, sco
e 445 i o e i i gs. M
. W
s
g
et i i gs s 278, i M.C.C. _v._ No
folk, 24th July, 1820, but
ith u e
h boli g. M
. My s g
et i i gs t Leiceste
s i
No
th _v._ South, i 1836. South i i g by 218
u s. M
. My 21 ( ot
out) 125 ( ot out) gi st Regtes boli g. Wise , P
,
Pilch, Feli, Julius Cs
, Joh Lillyhite, hve sco
e bove
100
u s i o e i i gs gi st goo boli g. Wise o ce bole te
ickets i o e i i gs: M
. Ki
hs o e the sme thi g.
IN BOWLING.--The g
etest fet eve
eco
e is this:--tht Lillyhite
bole Pilch 61 blls ithout
u , the lst took his icket.
T
ue, Cl
ke bole D iel Dy, t Weymouth, 60 blls ithout
u ,
but the D iel oul hit t othi g. Cl
ke lso bole 64 blls
ithout
u to Cffy Bo, i Notts _v._ E gl i 1853, o
oubt g
et chieveme t; still, t slo boli g, these plye
s hve
ot thei
usul co fie ce: they h ove
pitche blls hich they i
ot hit y. But Pilch s ot the m to miss ch ce, the fct
tht he me o
u f
om 61 blls speks o e
s s to ht Lillyhite
coul o i his best y.
M
. M
co , t Attlebu
y, 1850, bole fou
me i fou
successive
blls. The L so Club, i 1850, put the West Glouceste
shi
e Club
out fo
si
u s, of these o ly to e
e sco
e by hits--so te
ciphe
s! Eleve me lst ye
(1850) e
e out fo
u ech; M
. Feli
bei g o e. M
. G. Yo ge, plyi g gi st the Eto i s, put hole sie
out fo
si
u s. A f
ie , plyi g the Shepto Mllet Club, put his
ve
s
ies i , seco i i gs, fo
seve
u s to tie, got ll out
fo
five! I fmous Wykehmist mtch ll epe e o outsie
s
mki g to
u s, he me h
hit; he , i the mome t of eulttio ,
Cut y, you you g si e
, si big fello; lo! o he li
his bt, i i ee cut y, but--to the te t! hile the othe
sie, mist sc
ems of lughte
t the mistke, put o the icket
o the mtch.
I B. Mtch, 1810, the B.s, sco
e seco i i gs, o ly 6; fou
of these e
e me t o e hit, by J. Wells, m give , though the
fi
st i i gs sco
e 137.
T
ue, E. H. Bu s _bse t_, still the Be tleys, Be ett, Belhm
Lo
F
ee
ick Beucle
k e
e mo g the te .
O the Su
ey g
ou , 1851, h ot esy ctch bee misse, the
Eleve of All E gl oul hve go e out fo
u piece.
The Smllest Sco
e o
eco
is tht of the Pltisick Club, he
plyi g gi st Bu
y i 1824: thei
fi
st i i gs s o ly 4
u s!
Pilch bole out eight of them. I thei
et i i gs they sco
e 46.
Bu
y, fi
st i i gs, 101.
I mtch t Ofo
, i 1835, I s the to lst ickets, Ch
les
Beucle
k E. Bulle
, sco
e 110
u s; i I.Z. mtch t
Lemi gto , the lst ickets sco
e 80.
TIE MATCHES.--The
e hve bee o ly fou
of y ote: the fi
st s
plye t Woolich, i 1818, M.C.C. _v._ Royl A
tille
y, ith E. H.
Bu, Esq.; the seco , t Lo
s, i 1839, M. C. C. _v._ Ofo
;
the sme fiel tht checks the o e ill give ope i g to the othe
.
F
eque t ch ge of bole
s, he
e to me
e mki g
u s, is goo: but
o ot ch ge goo boli g fo
i fe
io
, till it is hit; u less, you
k o you
btsm is ge
ous m , o ly iti g till his eyes
e
ope .
With fi e fo
plye
, e
Mile-icket o
fo
Poi t ofte
s ps up ctch, he the Bole
v
ies his time; ge e
lly, thi
Slip c h
ly be sp
e.
If you
Wicket-keepe
is ot likely to stump y o e, mke Slip of
him, p
ovie you ply Sho
t-leg; othe
ise he is te t the
icket to sve the si gle
u s.
A if Poi t is o goo s Poi t fo
sh
p ctch, mke fiel of
him. A b Poi t ill mke mo
e ctches, sve mo
e
u s some y
s
bck. M y time hve I see both Poi t Wicket-keepe
st i g
he
e they e
e of o use. The ge e
l must plce his me ot o y
pl o
theo
y, but he
e ech p
ticul
m s poe
s c be tu
e
to the best ccou t. We hve l
ey me tio e the commo e
o
of
me st i g too f
to sve O e, ot s f
s is comptible ith
svi g To.
With f
ee hitte
, m ho oes ot pitch ve
y f
up se
s
best; sho
t leg-blls
e ot esily hit. A lobbi g bole
, ith the
Lo g-stop, fou
me i ll, o the O sie, ill sho
te the
i i gs of m y
epute fi e hitte
.
A goo
geme t of you
me , cco
i g to these p
i ciples, ill
mke eleve me o the o
k of thi
tee . Some me ply e
vously t
fi
st they come i , it is so much ste of you
fo
ces to ly you
me f
out, eqully ste ot to ope you
fiel s they begi
to hit.
*
VI. The ickets. Sec
et
ies shoul p
ovie
ule, o
f
me,
co sisti g of to ooe mesu
es, si feet eight i ches lo g, fou
feet p
t, p
llel. The , ith chi of te ty-to y
s, the
eltive positio s of the to ickets my be ccu
tely ete
mi e.
IX. The bole
. O e foot o the g
ou . No m c elive
bll
ith the foot ot touchi g the g
ou i the full si g of boli g. So,
if the foot is ove
the c
ese, the
e is o oubt of its bei g o the
g
ou .
X. The bll must be bole: ot th
o o
je
ke: he
e the
e is ot
o
bout touchi g the sie ith the
m. It is left to the umpi
e
to ecie ht is je
k. We o ce he
umpi
e ske, ho coul you
mke tht out to be je
k?
I sy it is je
k becuse it is je
k, s the se sible
eply. I
k o je
k he I see o e, I hve
ight to believe my eyes,
though I c ot efi e he
ei je
k co sists.
I je
k the
e is ce
ti mech icl p
ecisio cu
l of the bll
holly u like fi
boli g.
A th
o my be me i to ys; o e y ith
m e
ly st
ight
f
om fi
st to lst: this th
o ith st
ight
m
equi
es the h to
be
ise s high s the he, b
ought o i hi
l o
ci
cle,
the co t
y foot bei g use s the pivot o hich the boy moves i
the elive
y. But the mo
e commo th
o, u e
p
ete ce of boli g,
esults f
om the h bei g fi
st be t o the fo
e-
m, the poe
of elive
y bei g gi e by the sue lsh out st
ighte i g of
the elbo. It is mistke to sy tht the ctio of the
ist mkes
th
o.
I elive
y me s some ctio so clle: if the me
e ope i g of the
h is elive
y of the bll, the the o ly questio is the height
of the h the mome t it ope s. But if, s e thi k, elive
y
comp
ehe s the lst ctio of the
m tht gives such ope i g of the
h effect, the i o p
t of tht ctio my the h be bove the
shoule
.
Fu
the
, i cse of oubt s to fi
boli g, the umpi
e is to ecie
gi st the bole
; so the h must be _cle
ly_ ot bove the
shoule
, the bll s cle
ly ot th
o , o
je
ke.
No, s to high elive
y s sou
ce of ge
, e eve
yet it esse
tht ki of high boli g tht mitte of ge
ous i c
ese of
spee i g
y mome t. The o ly boli g eve
eeme ge
ous, hs
bee cle
ly belo the shoule
, svou
i g mo
e of je
k, o
of
u e
h sli g, o
th
o, th of the
ou -
me o
high elive
y.
Such bole
s e
e M
. Osblesto e, B
o e of B
ighto , M
. Ki
, M
.
Felloes, M
. M
co , eithe
of hom, ecept o smooth g
ou ,
shoul e ish to e cou te
.
But, e hve ofte bee ske, o the l the p
ctice coi cie?
Is it ot fct tht fe
ou -
me bole
s
e cle
ly belo
the shoule
? U oubtely this is the fct. The bette
the bole
,
s e hve l
ey epli e, the mo
e ho
izo tl the fi
e
his elive
y. Cobbett Hillye
hve emi e tly eemplifie this
p
i ciple; but mo gst mteu
s ll but the most p
ctise bole
s,
lloi g, of cou
se, fo
some eceptio s, the l is hbitully
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