Cricket 1884

SEPT. 25.1884. CEICKET; A WEEKLY EECOED OE THE GAME. 451 bound before it comes to the wicket is bad. It may shoot, or be turned out of its course, in either case the chance is gone ; therefore it is better to throw straight at the man. In nine cases out of ten, it is bad to shy at the wicket. There is the uncertainty of hitting i t ; and very likely the field will not be prepared by backing up; and so you will cause one of those annoying sights, an overthrow. Any fieldsman intentionally shying at the bottom of the wicket, when a man is there to receive the ball, ought to have a “ dozen ” immediately, you will frequently see the ball returned hard in, when there is no chance of a run being at­ tempted ; this is bad, it affects the wicktt keeper’s hands, as he is not prepared for i t ; when there is a chance he would not feel it, if you were to send it in like shot; his anxiety would take away the thought. You should never hold the ball, but return it to the man at the wicket immediately ; if you are in the out field, and the batsman is on the alert, he will steal a run, and you will get laughed at. In throwing in, avoid a long swing of the arm, but shy with as short and sharp a motion as possible. In catching, you will frequently see the easiest chances missed. For why? Men don’t give w»y sufficiently with their hands. Thinking it easy, they hold their hands stiff, which causes the ball to rebound, and they lose it, with the old saying, “ linadetoo sure of it.” That’s very little consolation to a bowler. BalU hit with the greatest force you will generally see caught ; for the man, seeing the ball como with such velocity, feels a little fear, which makes his hands give, and causes the very action that makes the ball stick. Most catches, particularly high or slow ones, are missed for want of humour­ ing the ball. In gathering to a ball, you should try to get it at the bound, which you will be able to do if well on your legs. At the same time be prepared, in case it should shoot ; sometimes it is worth the risk of losing a run, by darting in a little further to run the batter out, especially if he is a good one. I think there are no half-way places in the field a man should stand, either to save the one, or the three or four, except in extra­ ordinary cases. The middle off, cover point, long slip, and long stop should all save one run. Those are places that give a man a fine chance of showing off to advantage; for, by being a good judge and a good gatherer, he may frequently run a man out. The dis­ tance of those places depends much on the state of the ground If it is soft, you can stand much nearer than when very hard; because the ball loses half its speed the moment it touches the ground. When you have the office for moving in the long field from the general, move a good distance. It is unpleasant to both parties to keep saying “ further yet ; ” besides, he can sign to you to stop when you have got far enough. This point is difficult to give advice about, lt depends on the quality of the bowling. Now, with respect to point, if you have that any-how stuff, that you can’t tell where it is coming to a yard or so, I should say it is better to fall back, and make yourself useful in the field. However fond a man may be of Cricket, he does not like to stand iu a place where he has no chance of defending himself. If the bowling is nearly correct, I am an advocate for standing well up to the batter. There are some whose style of play won’t allow them to be dan­ gerous, and to these you may stand very close. The long stop should place himself at such a distance that he can save the run, and not any nearer. If he could stop the ball close to the wicket, what’s the use ? He loses the advantage of covering a great space of ground on each side, and saving the tip3 or touches that frequently occur. The great merit of a long stop is getting the balls that are put a little out of their course, so as to save the run. If you see the batsman trying to get the best of you by stealing a run, gather in a little closer. It is batter to prevent him attempting, than to give him the chance of getting it ; which he will do, if the ball is not well handled in every way. If a Batsman has only one good hit, and is weak at all others, it ought to be very difficult for him to get runs ; for if your field is good, and welllaid out, and the bowler bowling at points, you can afford to make your field doubly strong in his favourite place. In altering your field, the bowler may have only one more ball to deliver in the over. Some one will be sure to say “ Oh, never mind till next over.” I don’t believe in that doctrine. I would have the field altered then and there, as the thing may come off that very ball. Delays are dangerous; and, as a great general said, “ There is a moment to decide a victory.” Though you should have a captain in the field (as you ought to have, for what i3 every one’s business is never well done), it is proper for him to say to the bowler, Don’t you think it would be better to do so and so ? It makes it appear as if somebody knew something as well as himself, and there is always a way of speaking to a fielder, so that it will be pleasant for him to receive it, un­ less it be one of those shake-your-self sort of men that seem to do everything reluctant­ ly ; with him you must do as well as you can. These little things all create a good feeling. I have one more remark: I like to see every man steady at work, I am sure that every one has enough to do when at play in minding his own business, without gossiping or being careless. I used to admire a cer­ tain Gentleman, that has left off playing this last two or three years, at the change of the over, walking across the wicket as steady as old Time, and when I was starting to bowl, just glancing round .the field to see if they were all ready. There he was sure to be with his eye on every one to see if all was right. There is plenty of time for a little funny saying or something to laugh at, when a man is out, without keeping every one waiting between each over. III. THE SCIENCE OE BATTING. F ir s t you should try to get that firm yet easy position that best suits you, so that you may have the freedom of action so requisite for both hitting the bad and the middling balls, and defending your wickets from the good ones, and not be so fixed that you are only prepared to play or hit one or two par­ ticular balls. It is the man who hits all round, that is prepared to play the ball on the side it comes that makes the awkward customer for a bowler. Never get too fond of one particular hit. If you do it will lead you into error; I have known it to occur to the very best batters. Sometimes a good leg hitter, sometimes a good off hitter will be getting so partial to his favourite hit, that he will be trying it with straight balk. If bowled out will say for an excuse, “ I thought it was not straight.” A ball straight for the wicket should be played with an up­ right full faced bat, back towards the bowler with the handle of the bat inclined forward. There is as much room behind the bowler and often more than in any other part of the field. There is no half way play at a good b a ll: it should be played to the extent of your reach forward, so as to smother it, or back as near as you can safely get to your wicket, by that means there is a longer sight from the bound. Never let the ball get you in two minds, if you do it will cause you to play half way. Ah, there’s where the mischief lies. It is caused by an error in judgment, you are deceived as to the spot on which the ball will pitch, that causes the mistake. In playing forward take the upper part of your body with you and have the top or left hand placed well on the top side of the handle of your bat and not too far apart from the other hand ; by the handle of the bat being nearer the bowler than the blade (always bearing in mind to keep it straight), the ball will be prevented from rising. If you don’t take your body with your arms when playing forward, one is undoing what the other is trying to do. Take care not to get ahabit of sinking your body when hitting, lt takes away your power and not only that but it will cause you to hit under the ball. Don’t strike with all your strength, a man is often out by hitting at a bad ball. For ■why? He wants to make too much of it, and by hitting past his strength loses pre­ cision. It is not always the long swinging hit that drives the furthest. No, it is hit­ ting the ball at the proper time, with a quick or short motion of the arms and wrists. If you go out of your ground to hit, you should forget the wicket keeper, if not your mind will be one way your body the other. You must go far enough to cover the ball and drive it straight before you. Never try to pull a straight ball across you. There are many chances against you if you do. For you have only the width of the ball to hit at, while it may chance to rise suddenly or turn out of its course, but if you take your bat up­ right, straight down the wicket and play on to the ball, you have the whole length of the bat, always taking care to play the ball with your bat, not the bat with the ball. Lay your bat on the top of the ball and don’t pull your bat from the ground up to it. That is not Cricket. The bat was made to play the ball. To be continued. A N SW E R S toC O R R E S P O N D E N T S J u piter . —Two or three are counted to wides. D. C. F raser . — 1. You can get photographs of many of them at the office of this paper. 2. They were beaten three times, by the Australian Eleven of 1882 by United Australia, and by Victoria. W. K. S trid e (Hon. Sec. Millbiook C.C.)— Cases like this can only be decided from actual observation. If the batsman did not attempt to play the ball he ought not to have been given out. The Deanery team retiring lost the match. A. S. J ohnston . —The batsman is out under conditions you name. H. J. F.—You will see Rule 35 meets your case. The batsman ought to have been in his ground. C. H. N orton . —He is out. E n q o ir e r . —According to tho system hither­ to practised Middlesex is second. A. Gr. W e st . —1. Edward is the elder. 2. Steel did bowl both Blackham and Bonnor.