Cricket 1901

16 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 31, 1901. five ounces and three-quarters. It shall measure Dot less than nine inches, nor more than nine inches and one-quarter in circumference. A t the beginning of each innings either side may demand a new ball. The weight of the ball waa ever deemed an essential point by cricket law-givers. In the earliest known code the initial law restricted the weight from five to five and a-half ounces. The dimensions of the leather were not intro­ duced into the rules of cricket until about 1840. When this law was first propounded cricket balls were so imperfectly made that they would not stand the strain of an innings —despite the fact that such innings rarely exceeded 100 runs. The manufacture of present-day balls involves a vast amount of attention, and they are brought to as near perfection as possible. John Small, of Peters- field, Hampshire, lays claim to have made the first treble-seamed ball, while the inven­ tion of the six-seamed ball is credited to a Kentish man name Duke. We read that: “ The first made six-seamed cricket ball was presented by Duke and »^on in the year 1780 to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV .” The firm of Duke and Sons was estab­ lished in 1760. 5.—The bat shall not exceed four inches and one-quarter in the widest p a rt; it shall not be more than thirty-eight inches in length. Prior to (about) 1840, the lenglh of the bat was deemed unlimited ; it was usually made to suit the requirements of the exponent. Nyren, in 1833, nays : “ There are no restiic tions as to the height of the bat; it may lie made as tall, short, or narrow as the player chooses ” The bat was originally curbed as a volute at the lower extremity. The changed character of 1owling, however, necessitated a pod or blade. The old Hambledon Club had an iron frame through which all suspected bats had to pass. The willow tree seems Jo have always been employed in their manu­ facture. In a recent number of the Strand, Magazine , an instructive article on the making of cricket bats formed an interesting feature. No mention is made as to the weight of a bat. 6.—The wickets shall be pitched oppo­ site and parallel to each ,other at a distance of twenty-two yards. Each wicket shall be eight inches in width, and consist of three stumps, with two bails upon the top. The stumps shall be of equal and sufficient size to prevent the ball from passing through, twenty-seven inches out of the ground. The bails shall be each four inches in length, and when in position, on the top of the stumps, shall not project more than half an inch above them. The wickets shall not be changed during a match, unless the ground between them become unfit for play» and then only by consent of both *i les. The earliest form of wickets consisted of two stumps, each one foot in height, sur­ mounted by a bail two feet in lenglh. A hole was made in the ground immediately be leath the centre of the bail, into which the batsman had to place his bat, to indicate he was “ home,” or the wicket-keeper the ball, to bring about the bitsman’s dismissal, as the case might be. The constant meeting of the keeper’ s hand and the butt end of the bat was naturally the cause of frequent inj uries to the former, and eventually the popping hole was dispensed with, and the crease in­ troduced. It was only natural that with the stumps two feet apart that the ball should frequently pass through them. It is recorded that during a certain match, and when only a lew runs were required to win by the batting side, that a bowler constantly sent the ball between the stumps, and despite his superior bowling the runs were acquired. This was considered hard upon the bowler, and the height of the wickets was accordingly in­ creased, and the width diminished. It was not until about 1775 that the third stump w’as introduced. Other changes were intro­ duced, and in 1818 the present standard of width and height was adopted, together with two bails instead of one. The distance between wicket and wicket has never been altered. Other alterations in the height and width of the wickets have occasionally been tried as an experiment; notably the cele­ brated “ barn door ” match, at Lord’s, when the gentlemen defended four stumps of greater dimensions than those usually used. Hails, too, have been made of iron, while during the progress of the Scarborough Festival, some twenty-five years ago, the wind was so high that bails were dispensed with altogether. The record distance that a bail has been propelled by a bowler is 63 yards 6 inches, during the progress of the Lanca­ shire v. Surrey match at the Oval in 1896, while in 1875 E. C. Rawson, in returning a ball from short slip, sent the bail a distance of 76 yards. As regards the latter part of this law, it is very seldom now that the wickets are changed during a match. 7.—The bowling crease shall be in a line with the stumps: six feet eight inches in length ; the stumps in the centre; with a return crease at each end at right angles behind the wicket. This was originally Law IV. The old practice of cutting the creases in the turf, and thus ruining the ground, was kept up at Lord’s until the year 1864. It is the custom now-a-days to have a frame of the dimen­ sions required, and to describe the crease by a white line outside the frame. “ Bob” Thoms tells an amusing story in Bettesworth’s “ Walkers of Southgate,” of how a coffin lid was once requisitioned when no other article was forthcoming to mark the crease. 8.—The popping, crease shall be marked four feet from the wicket, parallel to it, and be deemed unlimited in length. Originally a hole was made in the ground, into which the batsman had to “ pop” his bat, but when the popping crease was first introduced the length was exactly three feet ten inches from the wicket. In 1823 two inches were added, thus extending the bats­ man’s hitting area to the present size. 9 .—The ground shall not be roiled, watered, covered, mown or beaten during a match, except before the commence­ ment of each innings and of each day’s play, when, unless the in side object, the ground shall be swept and rolled for not more than ten minutes. This shall not prevent the batsman from beating the ground with his bat, nor the batsman nor bowler from using sawdust in order to obtain a proper foothold. This law, as amended, was first put into operation during the progress of the Sussex v. M.C.C. match, in 1883. In the early days of cricket it was unlawful to touch the ground between the wickets during a match. in 1849 the M.C.C. ruled that the ground might be swept and rolled at the commencement of each innings, at the request, within one minute, of the party going in. In 1860 the necessity of appealing “ within one minute” was abolished; the privilege being granted (or refused) at the request of the side going in, to the side that had concluded its innings. Sawdust, we are told, was first used by Lord Frederick Beauclerk in 1806. A curious incident occurred in connection with the use of sawdust during the progress of the match between C. I. Ihornton’s X I. v. Australians, at Scarborough in 1899. It appears that when a storm came on which put an end to further play for the day, the Australian captain, instead of rushing to the pavilion with the rest of the team, stayed behind and filled in the holes with sawdust. Mr. F. S. Jackson and one of the umpires objected to this proceeding, but Mr. Darling justified his action by stating that the same thing had been done before; moreover, he was assisted by one of the umpires. 10.—The ball must bo b ow led ; if thrown or jerked either umpire shall call 44no-ball.” Law 10 has undergone many changes during the past 150 years. In the early days of cricket all bowling was delivered under­ hand, though the laws were silent upon the mutter. On the publication of “ Lambert’s Cricketers’ Guide” in 1816, an attempt was made to describe correct bowling. On Monday, May 19th, 1828, the old law was repealed, and the hand was allowed to ascend in a line with the elbow when delivering the ball. On June 9th, 1835, the law underwent another alteration, legalising a bowler to raise his arm level with the shoulder. On May 5th, 1858, this law was again revised, and on June 10.h, 1864, all restriction as to the height of a bowler’s arm was abolished. The law empowering either umpire to assert his authority was passed in 1899. Until our cricket legislators can define athrowrora jerk from a ball fairly bowled, this law will remain an eyesore in the code. 11.—The bowler shall deliver the ball with one foot on the ground behind the bow ling crease and within the return crease, otherwise the umpire shall call “ no-ball.” “ No balls ” were first marked down in the score in the year 1830, but it was some time ufterw’ards before the rule was thoroughly recognised. Originally they were recorded as byes. This law might yet be drawn up more correctly. As an instance, a case is recordei of »n umpire no-balling a bowler because he delivered the ball with both feet behind the crease. 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Used on tennis courts aad golf links: found it a most excellent manure; rapidly producing a thick velvety sward on worn patches.” Orders to the Native Guano Co., Ltd., 29, New Bridge Street, London, E.C., where Pamphlets of Testimonials, &c. may be obtained. Agents wanted. Printed and Published lor the itotrietor by M ib b itt k B a tcb k b , L td . 167. 168, and i«9, Upper Thame* Street, London, B.C., Jan. 31st, 1901.