Cricket 1914

J u n e 13 , 19 14 . THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 235 The Game and How to Play it. F i g . 7 .— P l a y in g t h e b a l l . N o t e t h e c o v e r in g o f t h e l e g w it h t h e b a t . F ig . 8 .— T h e f o l l o w t h r o u g h . N o t e h o w f ir m t h e t o e s o f T H E RIG H T FOOT A R E K E P T . F ig . 9 .— T h e f o l l o w t h r o u g h c o n t in u e d . ' N o t e t h e t r a n s ­ f e r e n c e o f w e ig h t f r o m r ig h t t o l e f t l e g , c a u s in g t h e h e e l o n l y t o b e r a is e d . B y A . C. M a c L a r e n . T his week we have photographs of Hobbs playing forward to a ball that is pitched straight for the front leg. This is one of the strokes which seem most to worry boys, and yet there is not much difficulty in mastering it, pro­ vided the batsman keeps cool and does not get scared because the ball is going to hit him on the leg if he misses it. Boys almost always take the left foot, and sometimes the right as well, aw ay from the w icket to this ball, which not only increases the danger of being hurt, but also allows the bowler facilities for bowling the batsman off his pads. To this ball, pitched fairly well up and outside the leg stump, the front leg should be advanced straight from the w icket so that, in the event of the ball being missed it hits the leg on the outside, which prevents any possibility of being bowled. Boys should p ay great attention to the position of the feet, and observe the direction in which the toes are pointing. For forward p lay or driving, the toes of the left foot should never point to the onside of the w icket, as this causes the left shoulder to be taken away, and the whole of the bats­ man’s chest to be presented to the bowler— which is wrong, because the chest should be facing the off side in forward play. Great care must be taken to keep the right foot absolutely firm in forward strokes, for only one foot must be moved for the purpose of securing position and balance for .the actual striking of the ball. The photos of J. B. Hobbs we reproduce were taken by Messrs. Cherry Kearton’s aeroscope camera, by special permission of the Motograph Company. ------------ + ------------ A sy lum C r icke t Yarns. A lfred Jeaco ck e, w ho, b y th e w a y , h as scored v e ry la rg e ly in deed d u rin g th e p a st th ree seasons fo r th e W h ite H ou se C .C ., h as h ad som e am u sin g experien ces w h en p la yin g a g a in st asylu m team s. L a s t w eek he w as en tertain ed b y th e scorer o f th e T h ree C o u n ties A sylu m to a lo n g a cco u n t of a b rillia n t in n in gs p la y e d fifteen ye a rs ag o b y th e la tte r. T h e m atch w as ag ain st th e L o n d o n C o u n ty eleven , n e a rly all o f w h om tried th e ir hand w ith th e b all. W h en w ell se t (he w o u ld b e, w ith close upon 300 to his credit) he to ld o f o p en in g his sh oulders an d w ith Jessop-like fo rce d esp atch ed th e b a ll sk y w a rd clean o v e r th e C ry sta l P a lace. T h e listen er, h a v in g regain ed his b rea th , exclaim ed : “ B ra v o , sir, su ch a stro ke as th a t is n eve r lik e ly to be ru bb ed o u t. Y o u w ere, o f cou rse, rew ard ed w ith six ? ” O h , n o ," w as th e rep ly, “ w e h ad to ru n th em o u t w h ile som e one w en t an d b o u g h t a n ew b a ll.” I t w ould be in terestin g to k n o w if D r. W . G . G race rem em bers th is m arvellou s p erform an ce, an d if he w as one of th o se w ho en d eavo u red to d e fe a t th e hero w ith th e leath er. O n an o th er occasion M r. Jeaco ck e sta te s th a t he o verh eard a co n tro v e rsy am o n g several h a lf-w itte d in d iv id u als regard in g th e n um ber of w ick ets th a t go to an in n in gs. O n e m an sta te d w ith ce rta in ty th a t a t th e fa ll of th e te n th w ick e t th e in n in gs w as com p leted . A n o th er in sisted th a t th e n um ber w as eleven , refu sin g n o isily to a c ce p t a n y o th er e x p la n atio n . A fte r a w hile h e p u t th is p oser : “ If o n ly ten w ick e ts fa ll w h a t becom es of th e e lev en th m an ? ” A n u n u su ally san e lu n a tic w ho h ad been listen in g to th e argu m en t in sta n tly ch ip p ed in w ith a re p ly th a t w as u n iv e rsa lly accep ted as co n v in cin g : “ W h a t a q u estion to a sk ! " h e ex cla im ed co n tem p tu o u sly. “ W h a t becom es of th e e lev en th m an ? W h y , lik e th e rest o f us here, he never gets out ! ’ * --------- ------------ S h r e w s b u r y S c h o o l put up another good total on Saturday. Against the Aliens they declared at 306 for 8, R. M. Phillips m aking 83, M. C. Dem psey 60, L. B. Blaxland 58, and T. K. Tw ist 52*. The Aliens scored 200 for 7, B. P. Nevile (45) getting most runs for them.