James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annnual 1881

2 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' ANNUAL. shoulder in any other position , and you will realise the impossibility . Keep yourself as upright as possible to allow yourself the full benefit of your height, andyour attention riveted on the actions of the bowler. It is im- possible to have such a good sight of the ball , to judge of its length , or to watch and allow for any break in its course , if the head be lowor the attitude cramped . He gets so well over the ball ' is perhaps the highest praise that can be bestowed on a batsman, and to deserve such distinction it is necessary that the advice just given be carefully studied . The acquisi- tion of consistently straight and upright play is , as I have before said , by no means an easy task, but, if only in contrast to the manythat fail , it is worthyof an effort to be one of the successful aspirants . Withdue atten- tion to the foregoing hints on position and attitude a candidate for honours will havemuchin his favour, but to reach perfection there is need of more devotion. T h e veriest novice will b e able to see for himself the advan- tages , if only on mathematical grounds, of facing the ball with an upright bat; inasmuch as a greater amountof the surface is thereby presented to the ball than is possible in any deviation fromthe upright position . It is this same full face of the bat that forms the original groundwork of the long scores ; it is the same straight bat that enables a hitter to defy at times the attack of the bowler, and to score freely from balls that would soon dispose of a cross -player . Muchdepends on the accuracy of the eye, and much on the judgment with which a ball is timed , but , beyond all , I think it will be acknowledgedthat the great secret of batting both in so far as it affects defence and hitting , consists in meeting the ball with the full force of the bat. Let m e recommendyoung players , therefore , to ground themselves thoroughly in this essential before they enter into the competitive examination of cricketers . To feel that you meetthe bowler with the best weapons at your disposal inspires confidence in your own mind, and this feeling mayenable you to outlive the attack . Only be care- ful ,whilst seeking to acquire the art of straight play , to follow the rules given , with the bat held firmly in the hands ; to avoid shrinking , or any but decisive movements , as with strict practice perfection will sooner be attained , and an uncertain and vacillating style will inevitably cause the bat to deviate from the perpendicular line , to the probable discomfiture of its owner . Ihave just spoken of the benefits of meeting the ball with the full face of the bat. It was advisedly that I used the word meeting , and to makemyself more intelligible , I mayexplain myself to meanmeeting in the most active sense , as opposed to allowing the bat passively to await the impact of the ball . Some batsmen consider themselves fully recompensed if they can dispose of a good ball by the simple process of allowing the bat to protect the stumps . This maypossibly be a happy result for the rank and file of the game, but I a m desirous of appealing at the same time to the superior officers , and I do not think that this policy of offensive defence in cricket is sufficiently valued. In some instances , of course , there are balls which require every effort of the batsmanto meet at all , but there are, beyond doubt, hundreds of others that this passive style of defensive batting allows to escape unpunished. To block a shooter or stop a bailer can as easily be accomplished in a resolute as in ahesitating manner, whilein the one case runs will accrue , and in the other, runs m a ynever come. Play vigorously , then, and whenyou 'play'a ball , play it confi- dently and with a resolute movement, with both arms and wrists acting in concert , as if you had some other idea than a mere passive occupation of a beleaguered fortress . Whenyou hit , hit hard ; whenyou block , do not be