T HE W I C K ET KE E PE R I N PO S I TI O N .

BA WL
FO R

AM ER I CANCR CKET
I
D ED CA T ED TO

A M E R I CA N l
YO UT —
I I .

B Y %ONES W I ST ER .

I L L US T R A T
’
ED .

y
PH L I AD ELPH I A PA
q
, t

1 893 . g z o i
 I n t r o d u c to r y .

T h as b een o u r good fo rtu ne to find th e fo untain o f

yo uth l u rk ing in the o ut doo r p leasu res of S kating
-
,

S wimming R owing H orse b ack R iding Tennis Base

, , , ,

Ball and Cricket The grown u p folk are now e n

.
“
-

gaged i n utilizing the discovery made by yo uth thou sands

of yea r s ago that health and ha ppiness depend upon
,

their i nnocent am usements College Fac ulties h ave

.

realized that the m orals of youth as well as success i n

after life depen d upon the good h ealth engendered by
,

competitive pastimes The strength of a natio n lies i n

.

the correct training o f the you ng Englan d s great .

“ ’

victories on lan d a n d sea were won by t h e men who

'

when boys wielded a c ic k e t bat pulle d an o ar or kicke d ,

s

the foot ball America too has ha d her conflicts an d ,

may have others .

These l ine s are o ffered to the yo uth o f this fair land ,

i n the hope that thei r innocent play may prepare them

mentally phys i c ally and m orally fo r whatever b attles
,

life may have i n s tore for them We believe there are .

many who would gladly learn to play cricket if the Opp o r ,

t u n ity presented itsel f Only the favo red few live near
.

es tab li s hed grounds Whi le the many are u nab l e to find

,

even a b ook upon the game The enj oyment of cri cket
.
,

followe d by the good healt h w h i ch it brings is within ,

6 I NT R O D UCT O RY .

the easy grasp of all nor does it d epend upon the

'
,

stan d ard of the p lay b u t turns rather upon its equali ty

, .

The memor i es of the past though dear to many , ,

will not b e used to b o re those who l ook rather to the

futu re B ut a few words about the o rigin of the game
.

we l ove may prove i nteresting Early i n the c entu ry

, .

Englishmen were fo u n d p lay in g their national game upon

’

the b eautiful meadows of Germantown Yo u ng America . ,

as quick then as now to i mitate a good thing o rgani zed

, ,

a Germantown Cricket Cl ub and play e d Upon a field o f

,

the B e lfi e ld farm from 1 840 to 1 846 Those were the .

glorio us days of u nderhan d bowli ng forward hits and ,

single wi cket A stone roller borro w e d from a neigh b or

.

i ng g arden smoothe d the pastu re and almost t h e only ,

recollection we retain of this pri mitive crease is of two ,

spot s b are of grass indicative of constant u s e

,
Thi s .

cl u b was the pioneer of c ricket b y Ameri cans a nd the ,

-

forerunner of the present Germ a ntown Cri cket Clu b ,

which used the imp lim e n t s left b y the ol d clu b to play ,

its first g ames an d be c a me the direct h e lr o f b oth its

,

name an d property But the Philadelphia Club w

f

. hich ,

organi zed a year be fore the Germantown g rew o ut ,

of an organization known as the Union Crick et Cl u b ,

whi c h upheld the honor of Philadelphia Englishme n

again s t New York En gli s hmen during the Fo rtie s
D uring this decade so me Univer s ity men organi z ed
a c ri cket c l u b known as the j uniors and played Upon ,

the Unio n grou nd Matches were played an d pr i z e b ats

.

were offered by D r Mitch ell the father of D r S Wei r

W
. . .
,

M it c hell on e of which is now i n the possessi o n of

,
m .

R ot c h Wister generally spoken of as the fat h er of Amer

,

ican Cri cket w ho w o n it by the han d some score of 44

, ,
 I NT R O D UCTO RY .
7

in the year 1 84 5 All o f these cl ubs d i sb a n d e d a nd

.

c ri c ket s l u m b ered t ill 1 8 5 3 when th e Phila d elphia Clu b

,

o r g ani ze d C am den h ad b e en the scene of the Union

.

an d j unior Cl u b s matches and it was a g ain selected as

’

the b e s t site for the new gro und .

The names of Englishmen were n u mero us upon

the rolls of this clu b and thei r professio nal To m Se in o r
,

was the typical fast ro und arm b owl e r o f the period .

H e trained the elevens to meet the S t George and New .

York Clubs an d was regarded with awe and won d er by

,

th e young American cri cketer The boy o r even the .

man who could block the cannon balls of the m i ghty

,

Yorkshireman was the hero of the ho u r The i d ea o f .

hitting his t e r r e fi c balls scarcely entere d the heads o f

the b oys Only Englishmen were s u pposed to be ab l e
.

to score against such speedy bowlin g .

The Ge rmantown boys who had organized their

clu b in 1 8 5 4 played only one or two local team s du rin g
,

its first season c hief o f which was against the D elphi a n

,

Cir c u m fe r an eo us who se enthusia s m for cricket was often

-

evinced before break fa s t A year later when p ractice .

had i mproved their play they challenge d the Ph ilad el ,

h a h
’

p i n s w ,
o they ha d heretofo re considered too p ower fu l ,

but they pai d the highest compliment to Tom Sein o r ,

by barring him ; for even in those early d ays they had

a keen eye to the ad v antages of victo ry But they were .

not afraid ol d Bradshaw with his high buttoned vest

,

and stiff high hat n or of dea r old M r s Bra d s haw with

, .
,

h er kind words and her coop o f tay

From a cri cketing standpoint the Engli s h o f that ,

d ay regarded the Ameri c an almost with contempt ;

sixteen eighteen an d o fte n t w enty two if the latter
,
-
,
8 I NT R O DUCT OR Y .

n umber co ul d be m ustere d were matche d against eleven ,

E nglishmen R ecor d s o f many s uch matches may be

.

foun d du ring the Fo r ties and Fi fties The last we .

b elieve w as playe d w hen George Parrs eleven playe d a

‘

t w enty two compose d o f the best English an d American

-
,

cricketers fro m Ne w York Newark an d Phila d elphia , , ,

i n th e Fall of 1 8 5 9 Lockyer the great wicket keeper

.
,

Jackson the fast bowler H ayward an d Carpenter the

, ,

magnificent batsmen with J uli us Ce a ,

sar Lillywhite ,

Caffy n and the rest won a well fou ght victory

,
Before .

Carpenter ha d ma d e half a dozen runs he elevated a ,

” ”
mi s called wide into t h e hands of m i d o ff w h o
-
“

caught it the u mpi re decli ne d to re c tify his palpab le

,

”
error s o t h e b at te r was n ot o ut on a cat c h
,
‘
Hayward “

was in with Carpenter when this culpab le d e s els io n was

m a de an d be fore a separation o c curre d more than one
, ,

h undre d r uns h a d been score d Many who saw this .

match declared that b ut fo r the erro r the Professionals ,

might have not won the game .

All E ng land elevens composed entirely of p r o fes

s io n als still play twe n ty t w os in the country districts o f
,
-

England an d often win even against s uch enormo us

, ,

odds . Amer i can p atriot i sm no lo n g e r p e r m it s s uch fi

di fferences ln Op p osing teams b ut prefers to equali ze the ,

merits o f p layer s in or d er to sec u re wel l contested

,

matc h es .
 B O WL E R OF DEL i V Eh i N G
’

N T HE CT
‘

A
T HE I
 M ee t thb al l w i t h a
e s fu l l a b at as t h e c as e
a d m i t s b u t m ee t it
,
T h e ba t s m an s h o u l d n o t
w ai t f ort h e ba l l t o s t rik e b at T hi s app lie s
b l o c k i g as w el l as t o t app i n g
n

Pa t ie c e
n
,
r i d e a n d g d t e m p er
fo t t u oo ,

c h a r a c t e ri e
z the b a l l p l ay er w he t her u p on
“
d i am n d
o or
“
c re a s e
.
 C H A PTE R I .

C OM PA R I NG BA S E BALL WI T H CR I CK ET .

H E pop ular d em an d fo r per fect ball playi n g h a s ,

d eveloped s u ch marked di fferences in Englan d

and America that a short co m parison b etween b ase ball
,

and cricket may b e of interest to some readers and m ay ,

ten d to greater toleratio n Here the professional has

.

b een brought i nto u nd ue prominence b ecause o f his ,

recognized skill while the people ignore the efforts o f the

,

amateu rs and cannot b e in d uced to part with t hei r

,

quarter to s ee a comedy of ba s e ball errors o r

witness the e fforts of the undiscipline d cricketer to ,

am us e himsel f at their expense .

I n England the superi ority o f the professional

cricketer is quite as m arke d as that of the professional
base ball player but h is s k ill is emp loyed i n h is regular
'

b u siness wh ich consists i n teachin g the a

,

,
mateu rs who ,

ab ound in countless n u mbers They are called .

gentlemen crick e ters as d istinguished from their pre

,

c e pt o r s
,
the p rofes sionals an d play thei r National game
,

as w ell or perhaps better The exhibition of base

, .

b all pro fessionals i n every city o f America has given the ,

youth of thi s gene r ation o p portunities to learn the game

,

and their magnificent ball playing upon the diamond is

“

a worthy example fo r American cricketers an d the p Op u - ,

s

lar ity of the National Game

“
is largel y d ue to the skil l
 I O O
C M P A R I NG BA SE BALL WI T H CR I CKET .

o f th es e professional experts T h e o r g anizations ar e .

s ustained by capitalists who s e inve s tment s depend upon

,

the character of the game s an d t h e sys tem h as g i ven it ,

an impetus whi c h h as plac ed it i n the front r ank o f

American sport and b ro u ght the play up to the highest
,

standar d Cri cket on the contrary i s played in Am erica

.

almost excl u s ively by amateu rs who deserve th e highest ,

praise fo r the manner in whi c h they have upheld Ameri

can Cricket especially when it is remem bered that t n e ir
,

English adversaries inherit t hei r n ational game from

”
,

their fathers gran d fathers and great grand fathers and

,
-
,
- -
,

that each gene r ation of cricketers take s up and 1mp r o v e s

upon the play of its predeces s o r Many cl ubs employ .

professionals as teachers who not withstanding thei r ,

”
s uperior cricket are alway s ex c ld u e d from trophy “

m atches .

This compar i son we bel i eve Wlll i nterest enquirer s

after facts whi le those who s e vision is o b scu red b y a
, _

total eclipse of either game will skip to something ,

”
m o re interestin g The b ase in the National gam e
.
“

correspon ds with the run in cricket and 1S n i nety fe e t ,

long the distance betwee n wickets is sixty s ix feet b ut -

,

b etween creases which is the length of a run the dista n ce ,

is fi fty eight feet o r thirty two feet shorter than a ba s e

-
,
—
.

”
The average runner o f a base m ust consume enough
additi o nal time to co ver the ad ded distance S upposing .

that two and one half secon ds is requi red b y the runner
-

o f the base only one and one half se c onds is c onsumed

,
-

by the crickete r in m aking his ru n This differen ce in .

”
“
time means a preponderating advantage to the fielder
upon the diam ond and a correspondi n g one to the bats
,

m an in cricket The pu b lic c h iefly for this reason has

.
, ,

p rono u nced upon the sl o th o f c r icketers and the rapidity ,

 O
C M PA R I NG BA S E B ALL WIT H CR I CK ET I I

o f those who play b ase ball The u nthinking Spe c t at o r .

con c lud es that cri c keters are sleepy while fi e ld e r s upon ,

the diamond are c o n s ian t ly performing feats of won d er .

T h e cri c keter make s h is ru n o f only fi fty ei g ht feet w ith

ease and almost certainty if h e uses fai r di s cret i on while ,

”
the striker of a b a s e b all m ust attempt his run though “

b itter experien c e tells him that it is an impo s s i b i lity It .

will at once be seen that the runner of the c o m p u ls ar y

”
long base is alm ost handi c apped o ut of the race b y
“

”
the cricketer who make s a di s c retionary short ru n “

The b ase b all fielder has b een given t r e m e n d io u s

”
ti m e advantages over the cricket fielder b y the long b ase
,
”
as well as b y the forced run These advantage s are
“
.

i ncreased b y the construction of the diamond which ,

fo uls off th ree quarters of the field there b y permitting

-
,

eight fi e ld e r s to b e place d almo s t el b ow to el b ow i n front

of the doom ed b atter S ide o ut has b ecome s u ch a
.

forgone concl usion that changes in the ru les m u s t fo llow ,

if interest i n the game is expected from the pu b li c .

Many feat ur e s o f the game of single wicket cricket

_

correspond with b ase b all The effo rts of the batter are.
,

limited to hits forward of the wicket while the ru n is ,

one hund red and twenty fo u r feet b ut this style of cri c ket
-
,

has b ecome o b solete owing to t h e same o bj ectio ns

,

whi c h exist i n base ball an d h as given place to ,

dou b le wicket c ri c ket There the i mpartial o b ser v er

.

will find no u ndue advantage gi v en either to b atter fielder ,

or b owler B ut if a game is p lay e d b et w een c ri c keters

.

of like standard every department is in stri ct e qu ib lir u m

, ,

while Opportunities are o ffered to s killfu l performers

u nknown in base ball S ome mi s guided lovers o f Ameri
.

can cri cket have trie d to pop ularize the game thr o ug h
12 C OM PAR I NG BA SE BALL \V I TH CR I CK ET .

b ase ball mo d ifications but t heir failu re was a forgone

,

co n c lu sion owing to es s ential differences in the theori es

,

o f the two games I f th ey will reflect a m oment we think

.
,

they will s e e that base b all has reach ed a stage only

-

somewha t%b eyond single wi c ket cri cket which gave place ,

to the d ouble wicket game ab out the year 1 80 0 b ut it i s

, ,

s o many years behind mo d ern c ricket that the year 1 00

9 ,

is likely to arriv e before such chan ges are made as wil l ,

place the d ifferent d epartments of the game i n balance .

Yet the an o m o ly of the inferior gam e producin g the

b est exponents exists in Amer i ca and is the production ,

of that antagoni s m b etween amateu rism and p r o fe s

s io n alis m which seems to be never endi ng
,
The dif .

ference tho ugh social and ed ucational is eno rmo u s ly

en c h a n ce d b y b usi n ess reasons which have done ba s e
,

ball little if any good Cricketers have kept thei r gam e

.

ab ove reproach an d tho ugh o ften taunted because they

,

hav e imported an English game it will be a d mitted even

”
b y the admi rers of A m erica s national game ’
that
E n gli s h c ricket has overcome the corruption of th e
gam b ler and blackleg , o f past generati o ns and
”

b e c om e the keystone o f English sport and this resu lt ,

has been b rought ab out b y skilful play u na ide d by tri cks

‘

upon players or partiality of umpires .

I t is ou r intention to give so m e hints to those,w h o ,

seek pleas u re and health from cricket pu re an d simple ,

for we are m o s t firm in the b elief that goo d fieldin g good ,

bowling an d ab ove all good wicket keepin g now almo s t

, ,

alost art in Ameri ca will popularize cricket .

No . l
—
T h e c r o ss b at ”
il l u s t r at e d b y acro ss b o y .
 C ri c k t r qu ire s c n t a n t p r a c t i c e ; a n d
e e o s

t o b e a g o d c ri ke t er is t b e w a r y y t b l d
o c ,
o
,
e o

s t ron g y t g en t l e ; s e lf p s e s s e d a n d c a t i
e o u ous

fi m an d m an l y
r There is n o g a m e in t h e
.

w orl d t h a t s o t e a c he a b v t o rel y p n h i
s o u o s

re s o r c e a n d t o b e e v er re ady t t a k e ad a
u s o v n

t age o f pp r t ni t ie s a c ri c ke t w h en p r p e l y
o o u ,
s o r

p l ay e d.
”
ll isd en ’
 14 DA RK DAYS or C R I CK ET .

’ ’
a rogue an d also of the legs at Marylebone w h o tr ie d
,
‘

, ,

for once i n vain to corr u pt some primitive spe c imens of

,

Ham b ledon i n nocence H e says also the gran d .

, ,

matches of his day were always made fo r 5 o o Z a s ide . .

A d d to this the fact that the b ets w ere i n proporti on

W
,

that J im and Joe Bland of turf notoriety D i ck h it lo m , , ,

of Covent Garden S imps on a gaming hou se keepe r , , ,

and Toll of I s her as regu larly attended at a m atch as

, ,

Crockfo rd an d Gully at Epson and Ascot ; and the idea

that all the S u rrey an d Hampshire rustics sho u l d ei t her
want or resi s t strong temptations to sell is not to b e
entertained for a m om ent The c o nstant hab it of bettin g .

will take the honesty o ut of any in a n A half cro w n .

-

s w eepstakes or betting s uch odds as lady s long kids t o

,
’

gentleman s short ditto i s all very fai r sport ; b n t if a

’

man a fter years of high betting can still preserve th e

fine e d ge and tone of ho nest feel i ng he 15 i ndeed a ,
“

wonder To bet on a certainty m ust be very bad m oral

.

practice .

‘
I f gentle men wante d to bet sai d B eld h am j u st ,
’
,
‘

u nder the p av ile o n s at men ready with m oney down to

give and take the c urrent o dd s and by far the best men ,

to b et with b ecause if they lost it w as all in the way o f

,
’
b usiness : they paid thei r m oney an d d i d not g rum b l e .

S till they had all sorts of tricks to make th ei r betting

s afe . On e artifice said M r
‘ ’
ard was t o keep a
,
. W ,
‘

player o ut of the way by a false report that h is wifewas

’
dead Then these men would come d own to the Green
.

M an and S ti ll and drink with u s and always said that

, ,
’
those w h o backe d u s o r the nobs as they calle d them ,
‘
, ,

sold the matches an d so s ir as you are going the roun d , ,

be ating up the quarters o f t h e ol d play ers y o u w ill fi n d '

,
 DA RK DAYS OF CR I CK ET . 15

o me to persuade you this is tru e But d o n t believe it

s .
’
.

That any gentlema n i n my d ay e ver put him s elf into , ,

the powe r of these b la ckl e g s b y selling matches I c an t ,

’

credit S till one d ay I thought I wo uld try h o w far

.
,

these tales were true S o going down into Kent with

W
.
,

‘
one of high d egree he said to m e ill i f this match
’ ‘

W
, ,
’ ’
is won I lose a hundred pou nds
,
ell sai d I my .
‘
,

Lord yo u and I co uld o rder that

, H e smiled as if ’
.

n othing were meant and talked of something el s e ; and , ,

as l uck wo uld ha v e it he and I were i n together and , ,

brought up the sco re b etween us thou gh every ru n ,

’ ’
seemed to me like a guinea o ut o f h is Lordship s pocket
‘
.

In those days foot races were very com mon Lord .

Fre d erick an d M r B udd were fi r s t rate runners an d bets

.
-
,

w ere freel y laid S o one day old F e n n ex laid a trap fo r

.
, ,

the gentlemen : h e brought up to a ct the part of some

silly conceite d y o ungster with his pockets full of m oney , ,

a fi r st-rate ru nner o ut of Hartfo r d shire This so ft yo u n g .

gentleman ran a match o r two with some known third

rate men an d seeme d to win by a neck and n o space to
, ,
’
spare Then he calls o ut I ll ru n any man on the
.
,
‘

gro und fo r money down A match w as quickly .

’

made an d money lai d on pretty th ick on Fe n n ex s

,
’

acco unt S ome sai d Too bad to wi n of s uch a green

.
,
‘

young fel low others said He s old en ou gh serve him

’
—
,
‘ ’

right S o the lau gh w as fi n ely against those who were

.
’

taken in ; the green one ran away like a hare %

‘ ’

Yo u s ee s ir said one fine ol d man with b rilliant eye

‘
,
’
, ,

and quickness of movement that sh o wed h is right ha nd ,

had not yet forgot it s cu nning matches were bought ,

‘
,

and matches were sold and gentlemen who meant ,

honestl y lost large ums of money till the rogues b eat

p ,
16 D A RK D AYS OF CR I CKET .

t h emselves at last They overd i d it ; they S p oilt thei r

,

own trade ; and as I tol d one of th em a knave and a

, ,

fool make s a ba d partnership so y o u an d y o u r s e lf will

never pro s per W
ell s u rely there was robe ry enough ;
.
,

an d not a few of the great players earne d m oney to their

o wn disgrace ; b ut if yo u ll believe me the re was not
,
’

hal f the selling there was sai d to be Yes I can guess .

,

si r m u ch a s yo u have been talki ng to all th e old players

,

over this goo d stu ff % pointing t o the b ra ndy an d water I

had p rovi ded% no do ubt you have heard that B
,
sol d
as bad as the re s t I ll tell the truth ; one match up the
.
’

cou ntry I di d sell a match made by M r Osb ald est o n e

-
,
,
.

at Nottingham I ha d been sol d o ut of a match j ust

.

b efore and lost I O l an d happening to hear it I j oined

, .
,

two others of o ur eleven to sell an d get back my m oney , ,

I wo n I o l exactly an d of this rog uery no one ever s u s

.
,

e c te d me but many was th e time I have been blame d

p ;
for selli ng when as innocent as a b abe In those days .

when s o m u ch money was on the matches every man ,

who lost h is money wo uld b lame some one Then if A

. .

m isse d ac at c h or B m a d e no runs and where s the

,
—
,
’

player whose hand is alway s in P the man w as ealle d a

—

rogue di rectl y S o when a man was d oo m

. e d to lose h is
character an d bear all the smart there w as th e m ore
, ,
’
t emptati on to d o like o t h e r s an d aft er the kicks to come
‘
,
’
i n fo r the half pence
‘
B ut I am an old man now and
-
.
,

heartily sorry I have been e v er _ s in c e because but fo r that , ,

Nottin gham match I co uld have said with a clear con

, ,

science to a gentle man like yo u that all that was sai d w as

, ,
’
false and I never sold a match in my life ; but now I can t
, .

B u t if I had fifty sons I woul d never p ut one o f them , ,

for all the games in the worl d in the way of the roguery ,
NO . 2 — P R E P A R ED T O DR IV E O FF
.
 I t is t h e ne x p e c t e d w hi h c c rs i
u c o u n

as w el l as in c ri c ke t t h ere f ore d
,
t a n t i c i pat e
o no

th e m ove m en t s f y o r a n t a g n i t b u t l t y ou r
o u o s e

ac t ion s b e g erne d by d e el p m en t s
ov v o .
 D A RK DA YS OF CR I CKET .

that I have witnessed The temptation really was very .

great too great b y far fo r any poor man to b e exposed

,
—

to — no richer than ten Shillings a week let alo n e harvest

, ,

time I n ev e r told yo u the way I fi rst was br o ught to

.

London I was a lad of eighteen at this Hamp sih ir e

.

village an d Lo rd Winchelsea had seen us play am o n g

,

o u rselves an d watche d the match with the H am b ledon

,

Cl ub on Broa d halfpenny when I score d forty three -

,
-

against D avi d Harris and ever so many of the runs ,

against D avid s bowling an d no one ever cou ld manage

’

D avi d befo re S o next year in the month of March I

.
, , ,

was d own in the mea d ows when a gentle man cam e ,

across the fiel d with Farme r Hilton an d tho ught I all , ,

i n a minute now this is something about Cricket Well

,
.
,

at last it was settled I was to play Hampshi re against

W
,

England at Lo n d on in ,
hite Conduit Fields groun d I n ,
—
,

the month o f J une Fo r three months I did n o th in g b u t .

'

think abo ut that match Tom Walker w as to travel up .

from this co untry an d I agree d to go with him an d , ,

foun d mysel f at last with a merry company of cri cketers , ,

all ol d men whose names I had ever hear d as foremost

,
“

in th e game — met together d rinking car d playing , ,

-
,

betting and singin g at the Green Man %

,
that was the great
cricketer s house % in Oxfo r k S treet n o man W itho ut
’

, ,
—

h is wine I assu re you and s uch suppers as three guinea s

, ,

a game to lose and five to win % that w as then the pay

,

fo r players %could never pay fo r long To go to Lon d on .

b y a wagon earn five guineas three o r fo ur tim es tol d

, ,

and come b a ck wi t h h alf the money in yo u r pocket to

the p lo u g again was all very well talking Yo u know ,
.

what young folks are si r when they get togethe r : , ,

mischief b rews str onger i n large quantiti es s o many

18 D ARK D A YS or R I CK ET
C .

Spent all t h ei r e arnings and were so o n glad to m ake

W
,

more money some other way H u n d reds of po unds ere .

b et upon the great mat c he s and other wagers laid o n the ,

s c ores of the finest players and that to o by men w ho h a d ,

a b ook fo r every race and every match in the sporting

,

w orld : men wh o lived by gambling and as to honesty ,

’
gambling and h o nesty don t often go to gether What .

was easier then than for su ch sharp gentlemen to mix

, ,

with the players take advantage of thei r diffi culties and

, ,

sa y, you r ba c kers my Lord this a n d the D uke of that

, , ,

s ell matches and overrule all yo u r goo d play s o why ,

’
s h o u ld n t y o u have a share o f the plu n d er % That was
.

their constant a rgument S erve them as they serve y Ou

. .

Yo u have hear d of Jim Bland the t u r fs m an and his , ,

brother Joe two n ice boys When Jemmy D awson was

—
.

hanged fo r poisonin g the hors e the Blan d s never felt ,

safe till the rope was rou nd D awson s neck and to keep ’

, ,

him quiet persua d ed him to the last h o u r t h at they dared

,

not hang him and a c ertain nobleman had a r ep r ie y e

in his pocke t Well one d ay I n April Joe Bla n d fo u nd
.
,
‘

m e o ut in this parish and tri e d his game on with me

, .

’
‘
Yo u may make a fortu ne he said if yo u will listen to , ,
‘

m e : so m uch fo r the match with S urrey and so m uch ,

m o re fo r the Kent match S top said I M r Bland ‘ ’

,
‘
.
,

yo u tal k too fast ; I am rather too old for t h I S't I I Ck ; you ‘

n ever buy the same m an b ut o n c e :if thei r lord s hips

ever sol d at all you wo uld peach upon them if ever after
,

they dared to Win Yo u ll try me once an d then yo u ll

.
’

,
’

have me in a li ne like him o f the mill last No s ir , ,

a man w as a slave when once he sol d to these folk fool

an d k nave aye go together
%
S till they fo un d fools .

eno ugh fo r their p u rpose ; b ut rogues can never tru st

20 D ARK D A YS OF CR I CKET .

I need not m ind if I h ir e a pai r o f ho rses extra next ,

town for I have lost money enough to pay fo r t w enty

W
,

pair o r m ore ell tho ught I as I rode along you

.
’

, ,

have rogues enough in yo ur carriage n o w i f the truth ,

’
were told I ll answer for it an d o ne of them let ou t the
,

’
s ecret some ten years a fter B ut s ir I can t help laugh .
, ,

ing whe n I tell yo u once there was a si n gle wicket -

W
,

match played at L ord s and a m an o n each si d e as ’

pai d to lose One was b owler an d the other batsman

.
, ,

when the game c ame t o a near point I knew thei r .

politics the rascals an d s aw in a minute how things

, ,

stoo d ; and how I di d laugh to b e s u re : fo r seven balls ,

together o n e wo uld n ot bowl straight an d the oth er

, ,

wo uld not h it ; b ut at last as t r aig h t ball m ust come and ,

’
d own went the wi cket .

Fro m other i nformation rec eived I coul d tell thi s

‘

veteran that even i n his m uch repent e d Nottingha m

,
-

matc h his was n ot th e only side that had men resolve d

,

t o lo s e The match w as s ol d for Nottingham to o an d

.
,
‘

that with les s su ccess for Nottingham won :an event ,

th e less d ifficult to accomplish as Lord Frederick Beau ,

clerk broke a finger in an attempt to stop a designed and

wilful overthrow % and play e d the second innings wit h
one hand .

It is t rue Clarke who playe d in the match tho ught

, , ,

all was fair still he a d mits he heard one Nottingham

, ,

man accused on the field b y h is o w n side of fo ul play , ,

.

This confirms the evi d ence of the R ev C \V no slight . . .

,

authority i n Nottingham matches wh o sai d he was ,

cautione d b efore the n n tc h that all w o ul d not be fair .

This practice of selling mat c hes said Be ld h am pro

‘
,
’
,
‘

d u c e d strange things sometimes Once I remem b er .

, ,
NO . 3 — T HE FO R WA R D BL O CK
.
 If a s u g ge s t ion is m ad e as t o y o u r st y l e or
m e t h o d %ho w
,
ev er w el l m e a n t %d o n o t a d o p t it
a m at c h u n t il y o u h av e t rie d it in p r a c t i c e
,

a n d fo u n d it a s at i s fa c t or y i m p ro v e m en t
.
 D ARK D AYS OF CR I CK ET . 2 I

Englan d was playing S u rrey a n d in my j udgment S urrey

, , ,

had the best side ; still I fo u nd the Legs w ere betting

seven to fou r against S u rrey % This time they were done ;
for they b etted o n the belie f that some S u rrey men ha d
sol d the match b ut S u rre y played to win
,
.

’
‘
Crock fo r d use d to be seen abo ut Lo r d s an d M r ,
.

Gully also occasionally but onl y fo r society of Sporting

.

men :they d id not understand the game and I never s aw

,

them b et M r Gul ly w as o ften talk ing to me ab o u t t h e

. .

game fo r one season ; b ut I never coul d p ut any sense

into him % He knew p lenty abo ut fig h ting an d afterw ar d s
,

of horse racing b u t a man cannot learn the od d s o f

-

cricket unless h e is somet h ing o f a p lay er .

’
22

C H A PTE R III .

FI EL D I NG .

M E R I C A N Cricket o w es ad eb t of gratitu d e to ba se
ball The u ndaunted pluck that stops and holds
.

the fierce gro u nder ; the strong arm wh ich returns it to

the b aseman the steady j udgement that guide s t h e Ou t
fi e ld e r to the fly ; all deserve the highe s t praise Cricket .

welcomes the base ball fielder to the cricket ground ,

gives hi m the post o f severest d uty depends upon h is ,

kee n eyesight s plen d i d throw i ng quick actio n and

, ,

stea d y nerve . S he soon calls him her own ; fo r t hese

qualities are j ust what s h e is always wanting Let base .

b all player s then not hesit ate fo r all their training is i n

,

the line of perfect fielding on the cricket gro und .

The mo st i mportant fielder is tho ught b y many

c r i c keters to be the bowler n or do we wish to disparage
,

the j udgement of anyone prej udiced in favo r of that

Opinion . But o u r b elief rea c hed after deli b erate tho ught
, ,

is t h at the wicket keeper who performs his ard uous

d uties s u ccessfu lly does greater service fo r h is side than
,

even the best bowler Like the catcher in b ase b all h is

.
,

po s iti on is one o f danger leg g uards and gloves m ust

,

b e added to his o utfit to prevent acci d ents Even with .

these only a man with a cool head a corre c t eye and

, , ,

a safe pair o f h a n d s should attempt wicket keeping

,
.
NO . 4 — T HE H AL F FO R WA R D B L OCK
.
 n on g t h ad a n t ag e o f c ri c k e t a re t h
A r e v s e

m e a n s it afi o r d fo p h y i a l i m p ro e m en t t h
s r s c v e

o pp r t n i t ie s fo b i g l g ri c h a d p r in t o
o u r r n n n oo

f ien d l y c m m n i c a t i n
r o u t h e in c l c a t i no f ,
u o -
o

g en t le m an l y f eel i g a d t h e p rin c ip le f m
n ,
n s o u

t a l c h a ri t y g o d w i ll a d m r a l h a r m n y
”
u o o o

W
,
n .
,

id s en .
24 FIEL D I NG .

cricket that w h en attentio n is calle d to the impor tance

,

”
of stumping and to the fact that the aggress i ve batter
“
,

glories i n a wi cket keeper whose position is twenty feet

b ehin d the wicket an d whose arms are o f no rmal
,

length that the wicket keeper will soon beco me a real

, ,

rather than an imag i nary personage upon the cricket

field ; a n d that he will again be seen close behin d h is

wicket fo rcing the batsman to display h is prowess withi n

,

h is crease o r s u ffer the penalty

,
Let u s predict that .

w hen this desi rable res ult is accomplished bowlers will ,

be fo un d to rely upon pitch and curve rather than upon ,

s peed and that skill will d epen d more upon b rain than
,

m uscle H i s position m ust always be s uch that the

.
,

wicket i s between himself an d the approaching ball fo r ,

”
he cannot run th e risk o f trying to down a wicket which “

he cannot s e e neither can he s p are the tim e to turn

,

aro un d fo r the ru n is sho rt a n d the runner may be a

,
”
“
sprinter .

The obj ect o f the bowler sho uld be either to bowl

the wick et ; to have a b atter give a chance fo r a catch ;
or to force the batter to leave his ground for a stump
,
.

Unless he can vary h is i ntention to thwart t h e b ats m an r

by the delivery of u n expecte d an d d i fficult balls he ,

cannot expect to rank among the best no r will he be ,

c alled a head bowler The only ball whi ch the bowler

.

can depen d upon fo r u n iform goo d results strikes the ,

tu rf outside the reach o f the batter Go od batsmen .

safely b lock o r hit any ball falling within Six feet o f the
crease s ome reach a b all which drops eight feet or more
,

from the c rease B ut every b atsman has a limit when the

.

wicket keeper is in place That spot a little nea rer th e

.
,
”
bo w ler t h an this limit is k n o w n as the p itc h o r l en g th “ “
.
 B O WLI NG . 25

’
T he bo w ler m ust d irect his e ffo rts to gau ge the b atter s
reach an d deliver b alls which wil l pre v ent scoring
W
.
,
”
hen a bowl e r discerns the length b all a b atsman can “

not play and h is skill enables him to deliver it at will , he

,

may b e relied upon It is the eager hope of every b eginner

.

to b ecome a superio r b owler We have endeavo red to .

indicate j ust what a good b all is and wherein it differs from

one w hich the batter fancies But t his is n ot eno ug h the .

mind o f the young bowler m u s t solve the pro b lem and ,

m ust have a wel l defined conception of the b all whi c h is

expected to baffle the batter Havin g rea c hed a satis .

facto ry concl us io n upon this all important su bj ect th e ,

physical e ffort t o e xecute his theories m ust now b e

regularly pr acticed until he h as mastered the art .

I st
.
—Almost every goo d bowler ho lds the ball i n
the fingers at ri ght angles to the seams fo r two reason s , ,

first a b etter grip can b e taken ; second if any twist o r ,

S pin is de s ired the roughne s s of the seams increases the

,

a ction of th e finger s .

Begi n delivering w h at ar e t e c h n ally known

’

zu d —
.

as Slow balls D o not attempt fas t b owli n g until you r

.

mechanical comman d o f the b all h as in a large degree ,

b een able to materialize from yo u r conception o f what a

goo d b all sho ul d be This mechani cal command of t h %
W
.

b all comes fro m practice only hen it is observed .

that every batsman has h is own pecu liar style some ,

right han d e d some le ft so me lo ng some short reach

, , , ,

so me forwar d so me back the begin n er wi ll at o nce

, ,

e r c iev e that success depends upon this absol ute com

p ,
’
.

man d o f the ball When the possible fast b owler h as

.

”
learned to bowl slo w s with precision h e m ay pu t up
“
,

an occ a sional fast ball I f he has properl y con c eive d t h e

.
 B OWLI NG .

art o f slows the chances are all in favor of h is also be

,

coming a goo d fast bowler No eleven is perfect with .

only slow bowlers Batters m ust be worried b y fa s t as

.

well as slow b alls But let every b owle r w hose ambition

.

is to attain speed re collect that accu rate slows are the

’

fo re -runners o f spee d y balls .

3 d .
— The slow bowler
h av 1n
g maste re d the pitch o r
length m ust practice t w ists o r spins b y which he endeavors
to deceive the batsma n These m ust be perfo rmed wi t h
-
.

s uch ease that mind an d body sim ultaneou s ly act the ,

b all rotating upon its own axrs with su ch force that when ,

it leaves the grou nd it no longer contin ues I n it s apparent

’
direction but rising abruptly according to the b owler s
,

d e s r r e pass es the astonished batsman into the wicket .

4t h A n easy elegant style of bowl i ng I S attaine d

— .

with less fatig ue than a slo uchy one S ome men will .

start ten yards b ehin d the b owler s cre a se rush at it as ’

thou gh preparing for a somersault co me to a halt to de

liver a d i s a
,

ppointin g ball The fault here lies in the mis

.

conception Of the b owler He has not stu d ied cause and

.

e ffect nor h as he studied h is own powers These m ust

,
.

not b e sq uandered upon an over or two but m ust be ,

’
h usbanded for a long day s work
th Place
—
the b all a near the batsman as possib l
e
5 . s

without its becoming a full b all should su c h a b all stri ke ,

slightly to leg all the Chances are in favo r of its workin g

,

between legs and bat into the wicket .

6 th The o bj ects of attack are the wickets o f the

.
—

enemy S traight b alls o nly can take w i ckets The

. .

b owler of su ch b all s is likely to b e in demand He is .

s ure to force a defensive Oppo s itio n of which a goo d ,

cap ta in can take ad vantage .

NO . 5 — T HE H A L F BA C K B L O C K
 If y p l ay f r y o u r s i d e a n d n o t f o r y o u r
ou o

s el f a
,
t t h e en d o f t h e m at c h y o u r a v er a ge w il l
b e b e t t er t h a n if y o u h a v e c o n s t a n t l y h ad u p o n
,

y o u r m i d t h e d i s t u r b i g el e m en t Of s el fi s hn e s s
n n .
 BOWLI NG . 27

7t h .
—
fo r hits has beco me a usual method
Bowli n g ,

w hen persistent b lockers guard the stumps a do zen run s ,

is a small addition to the latter s score i n exchange for a ’

wicket .

8 th .S tu d y the furthe s t point to w hich you r man

ca n play forward safe ly and pitch j ust out s ide t hat point
,

”
with every variety of pace and spin .

9 t h All
. other
—
p oints b eing equal the bowler who
rotates the ball mo s t rapidly upon its own axis will
captu re the greatest num b er o f wickets .

l o t h — Learn to bowl from either si d e o f the wicket .

or to change the delivery o r speed without the appearance

o f s o doing .

I I th I f a bowler I S le ft h arfd e d he should study

.
— -

bo w ling with extra ca r e H e m ay if he g ives h is mind

.
,

to it become great in that department The reason being

, .

found in the s imple fact tha t it is u nusual an d disconcertin g

to the b atsman nine men o f every ten being righthanded .

1 2 th -
A high delivery h as its advantages as well as
.

it s Obj ections I t m u St n o t be overlooked that what is

‘
‘

gained b y elevation is lost by the di fference Of angle .

The an gle which the course o f the b all describ e s is greater

when the arm is at ri ght angles with t h e b o d y than when .

elevated The d elivery from an elevated hand is made

.

w ith a view to catches more tha n to bowled wickets A .

delive r y which com b ines elevation an d angle h as been

adopted by the best b o wlers The b all strikes the ground .

with greater force causing a m ore s ud d en an d une xp ected

,

rise while the spin a

,
n d angle a d d to its d isturbi n g e ffect

upon the min d Of t h e b a tsm a n .

I 3 th — The b o wle r more than an y oth e r fi e l d er nee d s

.

patience p erseverance a n d p l uck He mu s t b e s t r o n g

,
.
,
 28 FI EL D I NG .

st ea dy an d s u re He m u st smile a n d loo k happy w h e n

.

c atc h es ar e misse d He m ust look c ontented a nd satisfied

.

w h en the u mpi re gives decisions ag a inst h is interest .

A ll will recognize the s u ccess ful bowl e r even without t h e

a i d o f these few rule s .

Po int is next in i mpo rtanc e he is alw ays expecte d ,

to h ave s a fe hands fo r when a fas t ball is cut to p oint a

, ,

r u n is s u r e to result if h e is not a lert ; in ancient cricket

h e stoo d m u ch nearer the bats m e n than a t this period .

His place is now s o far from th e striker that h is position

u p o n the field seems to have g iven w ay to si lly p o int a ,

p o s itio n s o d angerous that a fiel d er possessing great co u r

a ge generally volunteer s fo r it Fe w c aptains wou ld order
’
.

a m an to t h e positio n o f S illy point y et t h ere ar e still

'

fe w er who d o n o t d elight in the man w h o fills it ad v an

ta g e o u s ly
,
for ch ance s a b oun d near t h e w 1c ke t .

T h e slips short leg and mid wickets follow 1n 1mp o r

,

tance w h il e t h e o u tfi e ld e r s a n d covers sho uld n o t be

,

d eficient a s top p ers whi l e as throwers t hey frequently

s ,

have g r an d o pp o r t u n ities fo r the d isplay o f gr eat activity

°

The Australian an d E n glish teams w h o came to this

co u ntry were m o s t e ffec t iv e fi eld e r s and ou r native crick
, ,

e t e r s learned m uch from the ir p rowess They seemed .

ubiqu it o us The ball d id n o t seem ever to bore it s w ay

.

thro ugh them their anticipation of its di rection seemed

,

i n s tinctive But if a hard hit one passed through the

.

phal a nx an d d id get by the fiel d er an d w as rapidly wend

mg it s w ay to the bou ndary s the foreigne r c hased it with ,

a spee d an d determ ination which gradual ly overtook it

'

b efo re it reached the ropes thu s reducin g the score to a

,

minim u m Let the cricket fiel d er constantly bear I n m rn d

.

th at the time allotte d to h im to p ick up a n d retu rn the ba ll

30 ,
FIELD I NG .

h is field A catch mis s ed means a ga me l o s t w h ich

W
.

m ight hav e b een o n M ost fi e ld er s feel little o f the

.

great responsi b ility resting upon them an d even many ,

good ones fail to appreciate it .

When o u r American gentlemen were winnin g the

”
mat c h a gainst S u rrey o n t h e Oval the sympathy o f “
,

the London C ro w d w as with the Am eri c ans who they ,

tho ught fielded b etter than the En glish gentlemen On e .

of the crowd said to the writer o u r cricketers worship

”
the b at They play foreve r in the nets and forget the
.
,

i mportance of fine fieldin g thi s did not seem a j ust

,
‘

criticism fo r althou gh h e h as seen every foreign

,

eleven that h as ever playe d i n America he h as never ,

seen any Am erican fieldi n g compare in excellence wi t h

that o f the Engli s h an d Au stralians Almost every ,

American fiel d er fail s to realize that there are tw o w ickets .

He pi cks up well retu rns well ru ns well and the me

, , ,

ch a n ica l part is o ften b etter tha n that of h is English

brother b ut when head work is n eede d the English
,

fielder ret ur ns to the right wicket and the b atter little ,

expecting it is r un o ut The American b atter is expect

.

i ng the same loose methods to pre vail am o ng English

fi e ld e r s b ut disappointment awai ts him fo r m u ch to h is
, ,

astonishment the English fielder recollects the other .

wicket Nothing has impressed itself upo n the writer s

.
’

m ind in commenting upon the play of foreign elevens ,

like the constant watchfulness o f the fielder I t E n glish .

c rick eters worship the bat at home they Sho w n o ,

evidence o f it upon Ameri can cricket grou n ds They .

s e t an example to American cricketers w hic h the soone

r

they follow the sooner w ill they equ a l t h e ir a l e rt forei g n

,

com p etitors .
 FIELD I NG .
3 1

T h e la s t
fielder to b e s poken of b ut t h e m ost impo r
tant is the c aptai n of the % I Upon h is j udgement i n
,
.

p la c ing h is men depends t h e result H e is responsi b le

.

fo r the work of t h e field . He is looked to as t he one to -

pla c e his men i n good o r b ad lo c ali t ies If b ad j u d gment

.

is used he is m ost severely criti c ised b y the o n lookers -

.

I f he s hows good j udgement he gets little credit as the ,

fielder ls supposed to b e doing it all an d receives the ap

p la u se . B ut the c aptain m ust b e watchful helpful coura
, ,

geo n s an d sanguine H e m ust n ot loose nerve and

.

energy b e c ause his side is hun t i n g leather H e m u st .

work harder b ecause he has an up hill game In short .

,

he m ust lead all the time and i f he expects h is side to

,

follow he m ust set the example

,
.
3 2

C HAP TE R Iv

BA TT I NG .

N expert b atsman exper i ences u nspeakable pl eas u re

d u rin g h is in n i n gs C r ick eters glory i n him h is
.
,

friends d elight in him an d t h e sweetest smile o f h is best

,

g i rl emphasizes h is tri umph .

Nearly every yo ung American learns base bal l

be fo re cricket . W
hen he fi rst stands be fore a wicket he ,

is al most paralysed by the fear o f lo s r n g it Noth i ng

W
.

co rres p ondi ng to it appears upon the d iam on d hen.

h is wicket h as b een s ucces s fully attacke d a few times he

is d isheartened an d is li ke ly to a b andon cricket an d r e
,

turn to h is fi rst love Thi s is a critical pe r io d in t h e

.

history o f the beginner B ut a hi nt from a cricketer

,

able an d w illing to expl a i n that the straight b all can be

-

s uccess fully met b y the straight bat may open the gate
of cricket to him .

A straight bat is the technical term fo r an upright

“

bat as distinguished from a cross b at

,
“ ”
It should also
.

be e xplained to all aspi rants that the regulation Wl et

w as not constructe d for beginners b u t for expert batsme n ,

But let u s not digress from the b lunt straight bat ques “

”
ti on which staggers the man out as d i d th e str aight
“

W
, ,

ball h is wicket . h y can a b atsm a n w ho wiel d s a

”
s trai g h t b a t m a k e a l o n g s ta n d a n d w h y d oe s th e
,
NO . 6 — T HE L AT E B L O C K .
 Co u r a ge en er gy a n d d e c i s i n
,
o ,
m a rk t h e
s u cc e s sf u l ri c ke t er
c .

A g oo d e x c s e i s m re e a il y
u
’
o s m ad e t h a n a
good p l ay .
 BA T TI NG .
33

bo w le r del ight in the man who plays a cross bat %

The answer is simple A cross bat m ust o f necessity
.

be an imper fect de fens e fo r a pe rpendic ular wicket The .

m inds of many boys seem to be constructed upon the

cross b at plan b ut when they p lay the upright g a
”
,
me
of cricket with an upri ght bat an upright boy is the
,

likely father an upright man .

Eve r y begin ner aspires fo r the res ults o f batting

which are record e d b y the scorer conveniently 1g n o r 1n g
,

t h e har d work o f those who by many patient e fforts have

reached comparative p er fection B ut the repeated l oss
.

of his wi cket will force him to reason o ut why a straight

’
bat thwarts the bowler s e fforts an d why when playing
,

a cross bat he h as been u n co n c io u s ly re d ucing h is

“

d efen s e in a ratio of to u r to one To help this reasoning

.

’
process let u s d emonstrate by stating that the batsman s
wicket witho ut t h e bails presents to the bowler a s u r
face o f 2 1 6 square i nches The batsman who w iel d s a
.

straight bat covers about 1 2 0 sq u are inches o f the wicket ,

hands and gloves increas ing it to about I 30 inches The .

c ross bat p resents a d e fense of only 34 squ a re inche s ,

o r o ne fo u rth that o f a straight bat the han d s an d

- “
,
’
gloves ceasing to the p a rt o f the d e fense fo r a cr o ss bat“

W
.

hen the legs an d pads o f the batter are a d ded to the

d efense the b owler wou ld seem to have an almost im
,

poss ible task to o ut the w ielder o f the straight bat ”

.

Yet the m an o ut se ld om un d erstan d s it fo r h e h as

“
,

n o t profite d by the tre men d ous math e matical adva ntage

”
of a straight bat ove r a cross bat ”
hen thi s
. W
di fference is appreciated an d acte d upon t h e less o n of
,
”
b locking h as been learne d an d the bats m an m ay ex
pe et scores :fo r h e is ready to hit i n telligently .
34 BAT T I NG .

Eac h ball is a lesson to the eye of the b atsman who

”
h as learned to play a strai ght bat The forward b lock .

as shown i n illustration must obtain fo r well pitched

,

balls rising to th e b ails The b at m u st b e forwarded to

'

the b all with le ft shou lder we ll over it the bat c arrie d at ,

an an gle Of a b o ut the eye of t h e b atsman be i ng 1n

t en t ly fixed upon it in or d er to ins u re agai nst perso n al
accidents S u c h action if prompt fo rces the b all
.
, ,

forwards towards the b owler If the ball is m et by the .

b at it stri kes the grou nd at t h e angle of least resistan c e ,

b ounds quickly into the field and a ru n m ay re s ult , .

Havi ng given at length the necessity for th e blo c k as ”

well as the s c re n tifi c r easons fo r the play we w illfr e fe r ,

the r eader to ill ustrations Nos 3 4 5 and 6 whi c h s how .

, , ,

”
the forward b lock the half for w ard,
half
b ack b lock and the late b lo c k If the yo ung
“
.

cricketer will study the attitudes taken b y M r Geo rge .

Brom head whe n making the fo u r chara c teri s ti c blocks ,

he will s ee that each ball m u st be blocked in a manner

appropriat e to itsel f .

Thus far o nly th e defensiv e u s e of the b at h as b een

considered B ut it is a weapon as well as a shiel d The
. .

tendenc y of beg i nners is to ignore the shield and u s e the

weapon On e of the o bj ect s of the s e pages is to em p h a:
.
I

size the shield there b y perfecting the wield of the weapon

, ,

and m ultiplying the Oppo rtunities for its u s e Let u s Clo s e ,

this portion of the Chapter on b attin g with th e remark

that the defense of the wicket is an absolute necessity .

It m ust b e cultivated b y beg i nners and practiced b y ex

perts A fter it is thoroughly learned like swimming it
.
, ,

is never forgotten The b atter m ust also resem b le the

.

s w i mmer in another important point fo r the swimmer ,

3 6 BAT T I NG .

First he can d rive it to long field i f not far to leg

,
.

S econ d he can wait its arrival to a p oint betwee n the

,

umpi re and himsel f str ike it on the fly to the rea r o f that

,

lon g ro b ed i ndivi d ual bo unding to the ropes Third

,
.
,

while playi n g the w aitin g gam e an i nstant longer he may

tu rn h is perso n two thirds aro un d on h is le ft foot an d
-
,

s trike the ball from the rear to sharp le g .

A ll natu ral hits require deter minatio n an d energy

on the par t o f the batter if g ood res ults are expecte d .

Mode rn crick et does not prepare itsel f for natural hits .

On the contrary the beginner as well as the expert wi ll

have few balls delivere d to him opportune fo r these hits .

The m o d ern bowler is instru cted to force the Off o r “

unnatu ral upon the bateman But d u ring long matches .

even t h e best bowle rs send u p fl u ke s notwith standing ,

the elab orate instructions i n Chapter 3 Bats men m ust .

therefore un d erstand what is expected of them an d w e ,

do not hesitate to s ay th a t the batter w ho can deal with

,

goo d bo w1i ng c a n usually make the loose Sho w upon

” “

the score Many balls are d elivered upon the leg si d e

.
,

from which onl y the best batsmen c an sco re .

Illustrati o n No 8 sho w s M r B romhea d preparing

.
,
.

to d rive a n ear ly s trai g ht ball to the mid -wicket on .

The o n d rives will always excite the a dmira tion o f

c ricketers The shoul d ers arms and wrists tho ugh most
.
,

pro minent pro moters of these beauti ful hits are assisted
b y every m u s cle o f the b o d y They exemplify h u man .

e nergy a n d force . The u p right bat plays the prominen t

pla c e in this hit a n d w e m ust insist that the le a rn e r
,
”
ignores the cross bat if he hopes fo r s uccess .

The per fect batsman plays eve ry ball with a pu r

p ose I llu stration NO 9 s h o w s h o w to p lay a w el l
. .
,
 el e m en t f d a n ger I s a lm o t eli m in at e d
T he o s

by c on t a n t wat c h fu l n e s s
s .

Th e m in d a b ril l i a n t fi el d er e x t en d s t o
,

th e en d s of h is fi n g er s an d t o e s
f
.
 B ATT I NG .
37

pit c hed b all wending it s way towards the leg stump .

Thi s b all he ro b s of all its dangero u s tendency b y for

warding his b at toward the b owler carried at an angle of ,

8 5 and almost perpendicular

,
This position presents
.

almo s t a full b lade to the b all there b y defending his

,
.

wi c ket b ut al s o forces it t o glance to the sho rt legs

,
.

NO I O illustrates a safe and eas y method of scorin g

.
,

from a b all not far en ou gh o ff the wi cket to risk a leg

hit Guarding the wicket does not enter into the b atter s
.
’

cal c ulati o ns But he forces the b at c arried at an angle

.
,

of ab o ut 70 degrees against the ad v an c m g b all which ,

rapidly finds its way toward s sharp leg We cann ot leave .

this portion of o ur chapter u ntil we emphasize the part

the shoulders should play in making the natural hits It .

is in o u r j u dgement to b e regretted that the ex ig in c ies o f

the game ha v e largely remanded the sho ul d er hitter to
the b ack gro u n d ; but it mu st be acknowledge d that he
is no longer the power in the gam e he was prio r to the
’ ”
peri od o f s pecial off b owling B ut the b est trun dlers
i .
“

g ive chances to the shou lder hitter and when accepted

,

the Spectator feels gratified that the science of cricket h as

b een momentarily relaxed If the m uscu l ar power o f the
.

batsman b e not fully exe rte d upon the natu ral hits we ,
,

think all good cricketers will agree with u s that sa fety ,

”
demands that the ball sho uld be let alone .

The modern captain instr u cts h is bowlers to give pre f

” ”
erence to o ff rather than on b alls an d places his
“
,

field i n accor d ance If the b owlers do thei r full duty

.
,

the b atter m ust sco re from unnatural hits only if at a l l , .

I st . He may receive a short pitch o ff b all whi c h

—
” “
,

”
he can drive to mid Off o r co v er o r he may p u ll it to
, ,

leg b y ad vancin g h is ri g ht leg t o wa r ds p oi n t t h ereb y

”
,
3 8 BATTI NG .

assuming t h e n atu ral attitu d e an d acting as if it w e re a ,

leg ball .

2 n d — T h e over pitche d
. Off ball the b atsman
d rives to long fiel d or over the bowler s hea d These
,
’
.

o ff balls requ i re l ittle b eyon d a correct eye an d rea dy

“

han d B ut the modern b atsman w h o expects great s u c

.

”
c ess m ust learn to cu t for the large proportio n of balls
“
,

delivered are best s uited for cutting .

There are th ree distinct varieties o f cuts Fi rst the .

,

forward cut S econd the square Off cut Thi rd the

.
,
.
,

late cut Eac h play resultin g from the relative position

.

of the ball to the batsman while he is making the h it .

Al l the cuts are m ade from rising b alls disti nctly to the ‘

o ff . When an o ff ball falls outs i d e of the li ne of s a fety

for a forward play the b atsman I n s tantly prepare s him
,

s elf for the forward cut This he does b y elevatin g the .

b at as in No 1 1 at the same m o ment tu rning his fac e

.
,

to w ards point w ith his right foot somewhat advanced in

,

the same dire c tion using h is le ft as a pivot This move

, .

ment tow a r ds the advancin g b al l ena b le s h im to rea c h

the Spot it is soo n likely to occ upy Then while carry .

in g his b at at an an gle of ab o ut 70 he s uddenly b ri ng s ,

,

it dow n with a chopp ing moti on u ntil it comes in contact

with the b all which m o ves rapi dly towar ds the bo u ndary
,

i n a line b etween point and mid w ic ket This hit is il -

.

l u strated b y No 1 2 It is e ffective as it h as at e n d en cy
. .
,

to Spread the field fo r ward .

No I 3 illu s tr ates the positio n o f the batter while

.
,

m aking t h e s qu ar e cut This hit is made fro m a ball .

ri s i n g to the o ff but falli ng somewhat farthe r fro m the

l i n e o f the wi c ket than that fro m which the forward c ut
i s m ade . W
ere the batter to stan d firm i n his po s ition it
N . 8 PR E P
O — AR ED T O DR IV E ON .
 Th e ay s w i t h t r u t h : Yo u
Cri c ke t Fiel d s
“

won t Win by a hi t t in g g a m e if t here is no h it

’

in y o u a n d add s in s o m e w h a t d i ff eren t l a n
,
”

gu age t h e ga m e t o c a rr y y o u t hro u g h 15 t h e
.

g a m e y o u p l ay b e s t
40 BA TT I NG .

n ot d e s ire to con d emn the tip o r snick fo r it is a frequent

,

co u nter b ut only desire to warn b eginners not to flatter

, ,

themselves into the b elief that sni c ks are cuts .

The o ff bowler h as come to stay and if b atter s want

,

sco res they m ust cut Batters are j ustly pro ud of thei r
.

a b ili ty to cut tho ugh b ut comparatively fe w make a clean

,

har d hit o f it The tap is more us ual whi le fo r certain

.
,

bowling sa fe an d e ffective The tap is from the wrist

.

while the cut is a combination of arm wrist and shoulder

, .

Fo r clean hard cuts the S c o tts of Belmont Lord Hawke ,

an d Ge o rge P atterson may be c ited as exponents T h e .

pow d er behi n d t h eir cuts is p h e n o m in al The cutting of

.

any o f t h ese is a s tu d y fo r exp erts .

NO . 9 — Play i n g a W
e l l -Pit c h e d St r aig h t B a%l o n Le g St u m p .
 % o hn W i d en s ay s
s p ag e 2 5 o f 11 18 C
on r icl ct

an d Ho w to Play I t A t h o ro u ghl y g o o d ac ,

ti e
v ,
li v el y an d fe a rl e s s w i c ke t k ee p er d o e s
m re t o Win m a t c he t h a n a l m o s t a y m an o n
‘

o s n

t h e fi el d We w i s h he h ad m ad e h is re m a k s
.
”
r

m o re e m p h a t i c b y o m i t t i n g t h e w or d a l m o s t “ %

We t h ink if Wi sd e h ad s pe n t t h e l a s t fe w
.

'

n
,

y e a r s in A m eri c a a d h ad s e en t h d i s as t ro u s
,
n e

e ffec t s o f re d u c in g t h a t a l l i m p or t an t p o s i t ion
t o t h e r a n k o f a n o u t fi e ld e r he w o u l d h a v e
-
,

u s e d l a ng u ag e u i t e as e m p h a t i c as t h a t f o u n d
\

q
~

in t he s e p a ge s .
 C HAPTE R V

T HE MA NAGEM E NT OF A MA T CH

T should b e constantly b orne i n min d that when ar

rangements for a match are b eing made that the ,

pleasure to b e afforded b y the game sho uld be the first

de s ideratu m A fixture having b een arranged let u s
.
,

suppo s e that the ap p ointing power has named the elevens ;

The players should immediately meet and elect their
captain If t h e play of the opposing team s is even the
.
,

eleven with the b est captain will win t w o o ut of three

matc hes H e s ho uld b e chosen from among the superior
.

five I f in additio n to h is b eing captain he should b e

.

wicket keeper as well chances are in favor of that eleven

-
, ,

as fr o m that position he can silently direct the move

ment of any fielder witho ut b eing o b served by the b ats
man The captains should b e granted ab solute obedience
.

from fi eld e r s for upon discipline depends the result The

, .

captain should b e a natural leader of m ore than average ,

physical endurance H e should b e of sanguine disposi

.

tion always encouraging h is men to r enewed e fforts even

,

tho ugh disaster is imminent He sho u ld command r e

.

spect and Ob edience ra t he r than exact it H e s ho uld be

firm b ut not over bea
.

ring earnest b ut n ot an x r o u s serene

, ,

and not pompo u s in h is b eari ng Upon h is j udgement

.

in po s ting h is lit tle army depen d s the score of h is r ivals .

4 2 T HE MA NAGEMENT OF A M AT CH .

H e o ught to be a care ful stu d ent o f the capabil ities in his

own ranks as well as in those of h is adversary .

Upon the d ay of the proposed match th e captain o f

t h e hom e eleven sho u ld reach the gro und at least one
”
h ou r be fore play is to be called This timely arrival
.

gives hi m leisure to assu re himsel f that the wicket h as

been selecte d an d rolled places o f absentees fill ed by
,

su b stitutes that l unch has been prepared and that all th e

, ,

petty commissions incl u ding lemons and s aw d ust have

been execute d The visito rs having been welcomed
.
,

their capt ai n i nterviewed an d the toss won a consulta

, ,

tion with his eleven Sho uld prec e de the decisi on of in s “

o r outs according to condition of grou nd w ea ther

“
, ,

and players A soft turf presents great advantages to

.

”
the o uts whe r eas weather not foggy eno ugh to pre
“
,

ve nt play may gi ve tremendou s advantage s to the b ats

m an Whil e decidin g this important point the cap tain is
.

entitle d to the m ost I ntellige nt assistance from his fello w

players .

Befo re c alli ng play the u m pi res m ust be selecte d .

These in divi duals are us ually overlo o ked I n u n i mp o rtant

games but to thei r credit let it be recorded that almost
,
“

witho ut exception they become the I mpartial j udge ,

whose absol ute authority is acknowledge d by all To .

thei r further repute when j udging thei r own b atters % fo r ,

in lo cal matches the u mpi res are usually Chosen from

among the in s let it be said all ab i de by thei r deci
sions right o r wrong A flagrantly incorrect decision is
,
.

u s ually reversed by the u n ited wi s h of the players ; fo r

all pleasu re wo uld b e destroyed if su ch accidental res ult
shoul d o b tain Fo r trophy matches th e u mpires should
.

be specially chosen becau s e Of thei r thorough knowledge

No . I O
—
s co am c FR O M A W EL L —P I TC H E D L EG B AL L
.
 T he g oo d ba ll ta ke s t h e w i c ke t .

T here is a lengt h w hi c h M r Feli x s ay s

.

b rings o ver a m an m o s t in d e sc ri b able e m o

t ion s
”
.
44 T HE M A NAG EM ENT OF A M A T CH .

of the indivi d ual wh o can combine wicket keeper with

cap tain to the satis faction of his eleven need not be lim i
ted to one hemisphere The points to b e care fully .

w atched b y captains are :

’
I st —
.Bowler s lengths and speeds with a vie w to ,

p ointin g o ut bats m en s weak points ’

.

2d . Change o f bowlers to thwart batsmen who

—
,

sho w in d icati ons of making a stand

W
.

3 d .
—
atchful care of bowlers physical endu rance ,

with a view of changing fo r rest .

4 t h -
Easing
. fi e ld er s whose du t ie s require lo n g
j ou rneys between overs .

5 t h Ant
. icipating
—
and pr eventi n g overthrow s b y ,

keeping th e attention of the fi e ld e r s upon the b all .

6 th -
Preventing accidents from collisio n s b y
.
,

promptly naming the fielder wh o shall t r y to catch an

e levated b all likely to drop b et w een m en at even distances

from it s approach .

7 t h Willingness
.
-
to answer questions wi t ho ut
a n noyanc e .

8 th He sho ul d caution h is men against excessive

.
—

”
prac t ice j ust befo re play is called also again s t o ver ,

l oading the stomach before batting ah ab it which h as a ,

te ndenc y to obscure the sight as well as to du l l the ,

mental an d physical energy .

9 t h — H e
. sho ul d know that every man is properly
equ i p ped es p ecially as to cap spi kes and shoes
, ,

l o th —
Last but not least he should watch the tele
.
, ,

graph keepi n g rather better posted in every detai l of the

,

game than any o n e on the ground .

His duties though arduous and contin u ou s will b e a ,

delight to him s elf and a j oy to his men

No .
—
ll R E AD Y FO R T H E: FO R WA R D C UT .
B at fo r t h e sc ore in s te ad o f t h e g a ll er y .

Cri c k e t is a ga m e o f s kil l ag aln s t s kill .

A go d c ri c ke t er is apt
o to be a goo d c atc h .
 45

C HAPTE R VI .

GE NE R AL R EMA R KS .

OM E cricketers never seem to get b eyond the

b eginning period an d it is i n vain to expe c t any
,

one to delight in a thin g whi c h he cannot do fairly well .

If thes e lines can convey a hint o r two they will have

‘

accomplished a m o s t s atis factory pu rpose .

Let u s for a moment wat c h a b atsman p lant himsel f

b efo re the wicket as thou gh with the determination to
stay there the remainder of the day His mental purpo s e
.

becomes his weakness fo r no pre c onceived idea o f what

,

one s opponent will do is at al l likely to o c cu r The

’
.

cricketer is always a creatu re of c ircumstances over whi c h

he u s ually has little or no c ontro l b ut of w hi c h he m u s t
W
,

b e ever ready to take im mediate adva ntage e used

.

”
the words plant himself advis edly for n o other s u its
“
, .

Havi ng planted a vigoro us growth should follow b ut

, ,

the disappointed spectator sees only a machine cri c ke t er

trying to force hands and wrists to do the duty whi c h ,

they s ho uld b ut as s i s t the arms and Sho ulders in doin g

The b eauty of the game is sacrificed to th e ounce of pre
cauti o n w hich may have b een too mu c h emphasized by
,

an over careful captain While the game is in p rogress

.

cri c keters shoul d b e active mentally as wel l as physically ,

and they have only themselves to thank for the erron e o us
46 G E NE R AL R E M A R KS .

I mpression which h a s become prevalent that cri c ket is a

s leepy game It is waste o f time t o play a pu re d e fe n s rve
.

game an d if th e I nveterate b lO
, c k e r could waste only h is

own time no ne wo uld have any right to complain but ,

that of at least t w enty fi v e others is b eing sacrifi c ed at

-

the same moment u ntil fr om that and m any othe r delays

,

a game capab le of givi ng delight has bec om e s o little

u nd er s to o d even b
, y A merican c ri c keters themselves t h at
only fo reigners can draw a c rowd .

The blind ness of Americans to thei r own short

comings w as ill ustrate d by their attitude d u ring the t e
cent visit o f the Irish Team The u niversal confidence
.

in themselves w as only equalled b y the pity expressed

,

fo r their visitors who were expe c ted to fall an easy

prey to the representatives o f Uncle S am Ameri cans .

have s et up a standar d o f thei r own an d many have ,

persuade d themselves to b elieve i n methods which

occasionally su cceed but when the Englishman is at h is
,

bes t th e American has invariab ly b een de feate d excuses ,

taking the place Of good play w hich are s o generally

,

acce pted that Ameri can cricket h as temporarily

retrograded .
This retrogressi on has b een caused chi efly b y ig n o
ring the importance of the wi c ket keeper The s tar .

known as the a g g re s sive b atter o r perh aps he had b etter

,

be called a comet has tu rned the heads of American

,

cri cketers We are all sovereigns though many of u s

.
,

cannot sh ow that amount o f cash and why sho uld we not,

all be star batsmen The o bj ect is easily accomplished

i f th e wi cket keeper c an b e got ri d o f The attempt h as .

not only been made b ut h as b een actually imposed upon

,

the American public as cricket ; fo r though wear ing the

 G E NE R AL R E M A RKS .
47

armo r o f that great o ffi ce he is located ten to fi fteen feet

,

b ehind the batsman there b y b ecoming a fiel d er ; with

,

the t r e m e n d io u s consequen ce that fi r s t class w icket keep -

in is rarely seen i n America B ut we have m any ag

g .

r es s ive batters who settle down into fi r s t rate bat s -

W
g ,
’

whe n in the presence o f a standar d wicket keeper e .

s a most o f them advise d l y fo r a star will shine wicket

y , , ,

keeper o r no w icket keeper The true aggressive bats

,
.

man is a com b ination of cause and e ffect which no

a mount o f am b itio n can even hope t o imitate Brain .
,

g uiding m uscle with disciplin e resulting from long and

,

patient training He can take almos t any liberty with

.

the bowler he can play insi d e or outside h is crease fo r

, ,

t h e d angero u s ball neve r reache s the wicket keeper .

But it m u st b e remembered that he is a star H e is the .

per fect batsman referred to on several occasio ns who ,

hits every bal l which does not thre aten h is wicket and ,

m an y that do His powerful phy s ique eagle eye and

.
, ,

energetic min d have give n hi m a place beyond h is com

panions T hat instinctive k n owledge of the prese n ce of
.

a man immediately behi nd h im who will down h is wicket

with a smile of satis facti o n m u st be fo rever present in,

t h e mi n d o f th e batter America n cricketers may ign ore

.

him but whe n A meric a meets h er English com p etito r

,

an d hop e s fo r the lik e conve n ient ign o rance s h e is su re ,

t o h a ve her p ri d e inj ure d .

’
A match is never lo s t till I t is w on an d the n u ,
~

e xpected may at any time h appen which is a great ,

charm in the game The disappointment which follows

.

the fall o f wicket after wicket simply because the reli able ,
-

bat h as had the misfo rtun e to b e b owl e d is n o t easily ,

descri b ed b ut we have experienced the keene s t angu ish

,
48 GE NE R AL R EMA R KS .

when the c atas t r o ph y has happened to o u r s ide ; while

exce s sive b uoyancy seems to have taken posession of
and intoxicated o ur opponents The Ameri c an audience .

I S SO completely b ent upo n victory that goo d cricket is

momentarily lost sight o f If cricketers will remem b er

.
_

t hat s u p e r I Or play ought to b e the Obj ect and will forget ,

the re s u lt these exh i b itions of inferior cricket will be

,

fewer The courage and nerve which are s ure to follow

.

careful training and good discipline can an d will prepar e ,

ea c h b atter to d epend up o n himself rather than follow a ,

b ad e xample .

Fi elding is too m uch neglected for the more plea s ant

oc c upatio n of b atting The n et is a useful invention a
.
,

tremendous tim e s aver tho rou ghly in accord with other

,

economic device s of the age b ut it h a s not improved,

fielding Fielde rs s hould practice thei r art whe n the

.

game is n ot in progress if they expe c t success while the

eye s of spectator s are c oncentrated upo n a hard hit b all .

The s ile n ce w h ic h follows faulty fielding is quite as em

‘

” ”
phatic as t he c ry of mu ff or b utter fi n g e r s
“
The “
-

fielder is always on exhi b it i on I n the p roportion of eleven

to one batter s o that his opportunities for the disp lay
,

o f either good or b ad play are many I f c ri c keters will .

b ri n g to thei r game the excellen t qualities dis p lay ed upon

the d iam o n d it h e ir s will s oon b e re c ogni zed as t h e p o p u a

lar ga me G reater intere s t is felt in fine fielding than in

.

b ri lliant b atting b y the spectator though from a cri cket ,

er s standpoint a finished bat s man will always be the

favorite There seems n o excu se for poor fielding unless
.

to permit the second rate bat to score dou b le figu res It

-
.

is with m u ch re g ret that we feel the necessity of dwelling

upon this su bj ect at length b ut these hints wou ld b e ,
 Pl a y as ‘
ta ll ’
y ou c an .

G o od b o w l in g s u r pri se s t h e b a tt er by
t w i s t s by b a l l s o f d i fferen t l e n gt h s a n d b all s
.
,

O f v a rie d s p e e d .
 G ENER AL R EM A R KS 49

otherwi s e in c omplete Before closing we de s ire to thank

.

M r S V Merri c k S ecretary of the Germantown Cri c k e t

. . .
,

Clu b fo r his ki nd a s si s tan ce w hile these photograph s

.

were b eing taken at Manheim The atitudes of M r

. .

George Bromhead thei r p r o fes ss io n al cricketer whi c h

, ,

illustrates this e s say were made in s tan t e n eo u s ly and

’

, ,

whereve r possi b le while b at and b all were in m otion It .

may therefore b e a ssumed that fo r the pu rpose of either

” ”
“
b eginne r o r expert these positions are as close to
“

life as it is p o ssi b le to secure them .

5 0

C H AP T E R VII .

D E FI NITI O NS .

Bo wler
’
O a
s A lime line one inch to one an d
r e se —.
,

one hal f inches wi d e s ix feet eight i nches l ong the

-
, ,

centre stump being taken as the centre o f the measure ~

ment parallel wit h the popping crease

, .

OaI I I t is the d uty of the colleague batsman to

.
—

watch the opportunity fo r scori n g fo r two reasons Fi rst . ,

h is attention is not otherwise occupi ed S ec o n d a s light

.
,

loss o f time occurs if the batsman a fter striking a b all

t ur ns h is head to look whether an op p ortunity fo r a run
h as arrive d Captain s too o ften d o n ot give rigi d in
.

s t r uc t io n s u pon this m ost i mportant d uty % supposing that

cricketers know thei r business% and als o from a desi re
,

”
not to o ffend a batte r The u nnecessary run o ut
.
“
.

being the res ult T h e two men i n together shou ld have

.

an understandin g and when the call 13 g i ven th ere

,
“

sho ul d b e such perfect confidence in the caller t hat “

the ru n is attempted witho ut mi s gi v ing o r hesitation .

Cr ease —
. The portion o f the field s e t apart and pre
p ared by rolling upo n which to erect the wickets
, .

G ua r d o r Bo
l c k — The positi o n o f d e fense s elected
b y the batter to place the point o f h is bat Most batters .

request the umpire to stand upon the spot from which

t h e bo w ler w i ll d eliver I f the batter ho l d s h is bat erect
.
 A g ood fi el d er m a k e s a e ffor t t o s t o p e v er y
n

b a ll whi c h c o m e s h is w ay o t a l way s e x p e ct i g
n n

o r eve n h o p in g t o re a c h it b u t t o k ee p u p h is
o w n s p iri t s as w el l as t h at o f h is c o m pa n ion s.
 D E FI NI T IO NS .
5 1

the blade will conceal two stumps from the view of the
umpire This spot is c arefully dented i n the turf by the
.

bat Taking guard is optional with batters

. .

I nning s — I n singl e wicket th e whole num b er o f b o t h

.
,

s ides havin g gone to the b at and b een decided o ut b y

the umpi re I n do u b le wi c ket e leven m e n having gone
.
,

i n an d ten havin g b een given o u t o n each side .

Ou I f a line is extended from boundary to bo un d

.
—

ary passing through the m iddle of the C

,
entre stump of
ea c h wi cket all that po rtion of the fiel d to the le ft of
,
”
the line for a right han d batter is the leg o r on -
,
“
,
“

side of the wicket .

OIL— While all that portion o f the fi eld to the righ t

o f the line while a right hande d b atter is perform ing is -
,

”
the Off side of the wicket The reverse obtains fo r .

left handers Thes e term s are R ELATI V E to the batter

-
. .

”
They may chan ge with the b atsman every over or ,

with every bal l .

Po pping Cr ease A line m arked fo u r feet i n fro nt of

.
—

the wicket and pa rallel to it extendi n g from bo u ndary to ,

b oundary On ly abo ut s ix feet of this line is whitened

.

with lime to guide the umpire and to define the runs .

Sh o o ter A ball which from any cause does not

.
—

rise from the grou nd .

T ice — A b al l b o w led to tempt a b atte r to strik e

W
. .

ic ket The wicket seem s to have devel oped from

.
-

a hole in the grou nd into which the fi e ld e r s pla c ed the

b all to put o ut the batsman A single stick eighteen .

inches high displaced the hole Two upri ght sticks each .

a foot high pla c ed two feet apart with a b ail tw o feet lo n g

su c ceeded the single stick in t h e year 1 700 The years .

1 78 1 1 8 1 4 a n d 1 8 1 are all mem orable f cha ges in

, 7, o r n
5 2 D E FI NIT I ONS
.

W
the i cket which since the latter year h as remained the
,

same S ingle wicket c ri c ket o nly was played until 1 710

.
,

when the S c otch developed dou b le wicket under the

”
name of c at and dog “
The game has b een and is a .

progressive one each generation reveal i ng improvements

,
.

The diagra m shows the vario us sizes and shapes o f the

w i c ket

Fi r s t Su r m 1s e of a Wk ic et
l8 w e“ 5 5 HI GH
S l
in g e St k

m mcn es
'

17 8 0 HI G H Bv e
 Sc ie n c e e on s t r a t e d t h at t h e at m os
h as d m

p her e i s t d
noen s e en o u gh t a c coo u n t
a ir c u r e f t h ba l l ; b t t h e batt er w h is
v o e u o

t h ere b y d eri e s no c on s o l at ion fr m t h

% ”
o ut v o e

cie t i t c ncl i n
’
s n s s o us o .
 D EFI NI T IO NS .
53

Wi k tc e Three stumps twenty seven inches high ,

— -

s o erecte d that they shal l be eight inches from o utside to

outside with bails laid in grooves u p on the top The

, .

stump s composing the wi cket m ust be o f such thickness

that the b all cannot pass between them
W
.

”
ic ket A b atter given o ut b y the u mpire fo r
“
— .

any caus e
W
.

ic ket — The crease as a Wh ole with special

.

reference to the s u r facin g .

54

C H APTE R V III .

LA WS OF CR I CK ET .
— AS R EV I SED BY T HE M AR L EYBONE

R I CK ET
C C LUB ,
M AY,
1 89 0 .

1 .matc h is playe d be tw ee n two si d e s o f e leve n

A
play ers each u n les s other w ise agree d to ; e a ch si d e h as
,

two innings take n a ltern atel y e xcept i n the cas e p rovi d e d

, ,

fo r in Law 5 3 The c h oice Of innings shal l be d eci d e d

.

by tossing .

2 The sco re s h al l be reck o n e d by r u ns A run is

. .

s core d — I st s o o ften as the b a ts men afte r a h it or at an y

, ,

tim e while the ball is in pl ay s h a ll have c rosse d an d , ,

ma d e go o d their gro un d from end to en d 2 d fo r penal .

,

ties u n d er Law s 1 6 34 4 1 and allowa nces un d er 44

, , ,
.

A n y run o r r un s s o score d Shall be d uly r ecor d e d by

scorers appointe d fo r the pu rpose T h e Si d e which .

scores the greate st n u mber o f runs w ms the match NO .

match is w on u nless pl aye d o ut o r given u p exce p t I n ,

the c ase provi d e d fo r in Law 4 5 .

3 B e
. fore the commencement o f t h e m at Ch t wo
u mpire s shall be app o inte d one fo r each en d , .

4 . The b all shall w e igh n o t less than 5% o z n o r .

,

m ore th a n 5 % oz I t s hall m eas u re n o t less th a n 9 in

. .

no r m ore than 9 % in in Cir c u m fer e n ce A t th e b egi n

. .

n ing o f e a ch innin s eith er s i d e may d e ma n d an e w b a ll

g .
 LAW S OF CR I CK ET .
55

5 .The b a t Shal l not exceed 4 % in in the w idest .

pa r t ; it shall not be mo re th a n 3 8 in in length . .

6 .The wickets s h a ll be pitche d Opp osite a n d par

a llel to each other at a dista nce o f 2 2 yards Each
, .

wicket sh a ll be 8 i n in w i d th an d consist of three stumps

.
,

with two bai ls u p on the top The stum p s shal l be of

.

equ a l an d su ffi cient size to prevent the b a ll from p assin g

through a n d 2 7 in out o f the groun d The bails shall
'

. .
,

be each 4 in i n length an d w h e n i n positio n o n the top

.
,

Of the stum p s shall not proj ect m ore than i n above

The wickets shall not be change d d uring a m a
.
,

t hem . tch ,

unles s the gro und be tw een them become u nfit fo r play ,

an d then only b y consent o f both s id es .

7 .T h e bowlin g cre as e s h all b e i n a~

line w ith the
stum p s 6 it 8 in in length ; the stum p s in the center
. . ,

w ith a retu rn crea s e at e ac h en d at right angles behin d ,

the w ick et .

8 .T h e p o pping c re a s e sh a l l be m a rked 4 ft from .

th e c ket p a ra llel to it a n d b e d e em e d u n limite d in

, ,

l en gt h .

9 .T h e gr o u n d s h a ll n o t be r o ll e d wa tere d covere
,
d , ,

m ow n o r b eaten d ur ing a match excep t befo re t h e c o m

,

m en cem en t o f eac h i n nings an d Of ea ch d ay s p l a y whe n

’
, ,
“

u nles s t h e i n si d e obj ect the g ro un d s hall b e s w e pt a nd

,

rolle d fo r n o t more than ten minutes T h is Sh a l l n o t .

p reve n t t h e batsm a n fr om beati n g the g ro u n d w ith h is

ha t n o r t h e b a tsmen n o r b o w l e r fro m usin g s awdu s t i n
,

o r d e r t o Ob ta i n a p r o p er foot h o ld .

10 T h e b a l l m u s t b e b o wl ed ; if thro w n o r j e rke d
.
,

t h e u mp ir e s h a l l c al l NO b a
”
ll .

11 T h e b o w le r s h all d el iv e r th e b a ll wit h o n e fo ot
.

o n t h e gr o u n d b eh i n d th e b o w ling cr ea s e an d w ith in th e ,
5 6 L AWS OF CR I CK ET .

return cre a se otherwise the umpire sh a ll call No b a ll

, .

12 I f the bowler shal l b owl the ball s o hig h over

.

o r s o wi d e of the wi cket that in the Opinion of the u m

pi re it is not within reach of the striker the u mp ire Shall
W
,

call i d e ball .

13 . T he
ball shall be bowled i n o v ers of five balls
from e a ch Wicket altern a tely When fi v e balls have .

be e n b o w led and the ball is fi n ally s ettle d in t h e b owler s ’ ’

o r Wicket keeper s hands the umpire Shall call Over

-
’ ”
,
.

”
Neither a n o ball no r a w i d e ball shall be reck
“ “

”
o n ed a s one of the over .

14 The bowler sh a ll be allowed to change en d s as

.

often as he p l eases provided only that he d oes not bowl

,

two overs consecutivel y in one in n ings .

15 T h e bowle r may requi re th e b a tsman a t the

.

wi cket from which he is b owling to stan d on th a t s id e Of

it which h e may direct .

16 The striker may hit a no b a ll and whatever

.
-
,

runs res ult shall be add e d to h is score ; but he shall not

be o ut fr o nf a no ball unle s s he be r u n o u t or b reak
” -
,

Laws 2 6 2 7 2 9 30 All runs made from a no ball

, , ,
.
-
,

otherwise tha n from t h e bat shall be scor ed n o b all s ,

-
,

an d if no ru n be ma d e one ru n s h all be a dd ed to that

”
score From a wide ball as man y runs as are run
.
“

sh a ll be add ed to the score as w ide if no “

ru n be otherwise obtained one run sh a ll be s o ad ded .

17 If the ball not having been calle d Wi d e or

.
,
“

n o ball pass the striker without to uching h is bat or

‘

-
, ,

person and any runs be obtained the umpi re sh a ll call ,

’
Bye ; but if the ball to u ch any part of th e s triker s
person % hand excep ted%and a n y r u n b e Obta ine d the ,
 L AW S OF CR I CK ET .
57

um p ire shall c a ll Leg bye s uch r u ns to be score d

“
-
,
”
“
byes an leg byes respectively
-
.

18 .A t the beginning Of the m atch an d Of each ,

’
innings the umpire at the bowler s wicket shall call
,

Play from that time no trial ball shall be allowed to

any bowler on the ground between the w icke ts an d ,
‘

w hen one of the b atsman i s out the u s e Of the bat Shall

not b e allowed to any person until the next batsman
shall come in .

19 . A batsman Shall be hel d to b e out o f h is

gro un d unless his bat in hand o r some part of h is per
son be grou nded within the line Of the popping crease .

20 .The wicket shall be hel d to be down w hen

either of the bails is stru ck o ff o r if both bails be Off
, , ,

when a stump is struck o u t o f th e gro un d .

The striker is out :

2 1 I f the wi cket be bowle d do w n
. even if the ball ,
’ ”
first touch the striker s bat o r person Bo w le d .

22 .Or if the ball from a str o ke o f the bat or

, ,

hand but n o t th e wrist be hel d befo re it to uch the

, ,

ground althou gh it be hugged to the body of the

,

catcher Caught .

23 .O r if i n p lay ing a t t h e ball p r ovi d e d it be not

, ,

to uched by the bat or han d the striker be o ut o f h is

,

gr o u n d and the wi cket be put d own by the wicket

,

keeper With the ball o r with the hand o r arm with ball ,
”
in hand S tumped .

24 .Or if with an y p art of INS person he sto p the

,

b all which in the Opinion Of the um pire at the bowler s

,
’

wicket shall have b een pitche d in a straight line fr o m it ,

to the strikers wicket an d would h ave hit it L eg ’ “

b efo r e Wicket
5 8 rLA WS OF CR I CK ET .

25 O r if in p laying at the ball he hit d o w n h is

.
,

wicket with his bat or any part o f h is person o r dress

“
Hit wicket .

26 Or if u n d er pretense Of ru nning or otherw ise

.
, , ,

either of the batsmen w ill fully prevent a ball from being

”
cau ght z Obstructing the fiel d
— “

27 Or if the ball be str uck o r be stoppe d b y any

—
, ,

part Of h is p erson an d he wi ll fully strike it again e xcept

, ,

it b e done for the p urpose o f guarding h is wicket which ,

he may do wit h h is bat or any part o f h is person e xcept

, ,
”
h is han d s H it the ball twice
“
.

Either batsman is o ut %

28 If i n runnin g o r a t any other tim e w hile the

.
, ,

ball is in play he be out of h is gro un d and h is w icket be ,

s truck d o w n b y the ball a fter to u ching a ny fi e ld s m a n or ,

b y the hand or ar m w ith b a ll in hand o r a n y fi eld s man

, ,
”
R un o ut .

29 Or i f he to u c h w ith h is han d s or take u p t h e

.
,

ball w hil e in p lay u nless at t h erequ est o f the oppo site

,
”
si d e H an dle d the ball
“
.

0 O r if h w ill fully obstruct an y fi ld s ma

3 . e e n

Obstructing the field .

3 1 I
. f the batsmen have c r o s se d each other
r he ,

that runs fo r the wicket which is put d own is o ut ; if

the y have not crossed he that has le ft the wic ket which
‘

is put d own is o u t »
.

3 2 The
. striker being caught n o ru n shall be
scored A batsman being r u n o ut that run w hich w as
.
,

b eing attempte d Sh a ll not be sco re d .

A batsman being u t fr o m a n y c au se t h e b a ll
33 . o ,

sh a ll be d ea d .
60 LAWS OF CR I CK ET .

t h e gro u n d at that en d an d the stri ker an d h is s u bst itute

,

a t t h e other end .

40 . A
batsman is liable to be o ut fo r any infringe
ment of the laws by 11 13 s ubstitute .

4 1 T h e fi eld s man may stop the ball with any pa rt

.

o f h is p erson b ut if he will fully stop it otherwise the b a l l

,

shal l be d ead ”
and five ru ns a d ded to the sco re
“

W
.
,

hatever run s may have been ma d e five only s h all be

a dd e d .

4 2 T h e w
. 1c k e t keepe r shall sta n d behin d the
-

wicke t I f he shall take the b all fo r the purp ose Of

.

s tump i ng before it h a s passe d the wicket or if he shall ,

i ncommo d e the striker by any n oise or motion o r if any

”

, ,

p art o f h is person be over or befo re the wicket t h e ,

striker shall not be o ut excepti n g un d er Laws 2 6 2 7 , , ,

2 8 2 9 an d 30
, .

43 The . u mpires are the sole j u d ges of fa i r or

un fair play o f the fitness o f the gro un d the w eather and
, , ,

t h e lig h t fo r play ; all d isp utes shall be d etermi ne d by

them an d if they d isag ree the actual state of things shall
,

c o n tinue .

44 The y s h al l p itc h t h er wickets arra n ge bound

.
,

a ries where n ec e ss a ry an d the allowances to be m ade fo r

,

them an d ch a nge en d s a fter each si d e h as had one

‘

i nnings .

45 T h e y s h a ll allow two m inutes for each striker

.

to co m e in a n d ten m in u tes between each I nn i ngs

W
.

”
hen the y sh a l l call Play the si de re fusing to play “
,

shall lo se t h e match .

4 6 T h ey
. shall not or d er a batsm a n o u t unless
ap peal e d t o b y the other si de .
 LAW S OF CR CK I ET . 61

47 . The umpire at the b owl er s wicket s hall b e

appealed to b e fore the other umpire i n all case s ex c ept
i n tho s e of stumpin g hit the wicket run o ut at the
, ,

s triker s wicket or arising un der Law 4 2 b ut in any ca s e

’

, ,

i n whi c h an umpire is u nab le to give a decision he Shall

appeal to the other umpi re whose decision shal l b e final
,

48 A I f the umpire at th e b owler s end b e not sat

.
’

ab solute fairness Of the delivery of any b all

is fi e d of the ,

he shall call NO b all ”

.

48 B The umpire shall take especial care to call

.
.

NO b all instantly upon delivery Wide ball as soon

”
,
“

as it Shall have passed the s triker .

49 . I f either b atsman run a short run the umpire ,

”
s hall call One short ,
and the run shall not b e sco red .

50 . A ft e r
the umpire h as called Over the ball is
dead b ut an appeal m ay b e made as to whether either
b at sman is o ut s u ch appeal howeve r shall not b e made
, , ,

after t h e del ivery Of the next b all nor after any cessation ,

Of play .

5 1 . NO u mpire Shall b e allowe d to bet .

5 2No ump i re s hall b e change d d u ring a match

.

unles s with the con s ent of b oth sides except in case of ,

violation Of Law 5 1 then either side may di s miss him

,
.

53 The Side which goes in secon d s hall follow

.

thei r innings if they have scored eighty runs less than

the opposite side .

54 On the last day of a mat c h an d i n a one -day

,

match at any time the in s ide Sh all be em powered to

,
-

d ec la re th ei r in n ings at an en d ,
62 LAW S OF R I CKE T
C .

ONE DA Y M A T C H E S
-
.

1 . The si d e which goes in secon d Shall follow

thei r inn i ngs if they have sco re d sixty runs less than the
Opposite side .

2 . The match unless play e d o u t shall

, ,
d ecide d
by the first innings .

3 . Prior to the commencement of a match it m ay

b e agree d th at the over consist of 5 or 6 balls .