James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1883

T H ED E C L I N EO F F A S TB O W L I N G . 1 7 Australian cricket fast -bowling vindicated its right to be considered as an all-important . element in the result of a cricket match. Its marked success on that occasion furnishes the most satisfactory answer to those who advocate the unlimited cultivation of slow or mediumbowling , of that kind of delivery whichis so muchaffected now-a-days , both by the seasoned cricketer and by the stripling , just issuing into a wider arena from the narrower limits of the school or college playing -field . Nearly every cricketer can ' bowl a little ,' can 'break or put a little work upon his balls ,' can place a field to suit the vary- ing deliveries , but the often ludicrous results of all these half-disguised pre- tensions form perhaps the most crying condemnation of such aspirations , and such failures. It is a fact , which few cricketers will deny, that fast bowling in Englandis much on the decline . Byfast bowling I mean that species of trundling which implies a fast pace , a uniformly straight direction , and a constant variation of pitch . Howmanyreally first -class bowlers are there at present amongst us ? Themost successful , upon last year's doings , is the most suspected , the most abused , and, withal , the most indispensable , because the most reliable . Whether Crossland is a genuine bowler or not, is a point upon which the Marylebone C.C. mayeventually venture to express an opinion ; but no one will , I presume , deny that the professional's pronounced success last year was due muchmore to his enormous pace than to any adroit manipulation of wrist and elbow . Other bowlers , it is true , were subjected to similar innuendoes ; but these had not the same success , because they had not the same pace . F e wbowlers of the really fast kind appeared last year , and for this reason the doings of the Lancashire professional were examined the more closely . B u tit is not so muchwith the professional as with the amateur element that these remarks have to do. The match-Gentlemen of England v. Australians- played last June on the Oval is, in itself , a reductio ad absurdum ' of the abnormal influence of the present rage for slow bowling . In a test match, which every English cricketer was anxious to see properly fought out , there was not one fast bowler upon the side of the amateurs . It maywell be that neither of the two accredited amateurs , who usually did service in the fast bowling department ,was available ; but the admission , even if granted , does in no sense do away with the pressing nature of the corollary that the fast bowling requirements in English cricket should be administered to bymore than one or two of the amateur portion of our cricketers . The question then naturally arises -Whyhave we not more good fast bowlers amongst our amateurs ? This is almost answered in the putting of it . W ehave not a sufficiently large number of good fast bowlers among our amateurs, simply and solely because the practice of fast bowling in our schools and colleges is sadly , almost cruelly , neglected . If it be axiomatic that cricket , to be properly learnt , must be learnt early , then it is mere waste of time to enlarge uponthe utility of regular school coaching in fast bowling . Of course it is clear that all boys are not destined to become good fast bowlers , but the fault nowprevalent is that of supposing that no boys are destined to become so. Bowlers are the products of two distinct , but unequally important , factors- natural aptitude and early systematic training . If a boy, when about 13 to 15 years of age , show no suppleness of limb , no length of arm, no flexibility of wrist , treat that boy kindly , but do not allow him to labour under the aggravating mis- apprehension that he will by practice become a really good first -class bowler . Persuade him to become an adept in the less pretentious departments of our national game, to learn how to appreciate the elements of athletic greatness in others , and to be content to become a supporter of cricket , and not to expect that h ewill ever become one of its champions . But there is another side to this . Manyboys are naturally qualified to become good first -class bowlers ; but they never attain success , because they are not encouraged to face the drudgery of constant practice ; because , in truth , they are ill trained by those to whomis entrusted their athletic education . In fact , the maxim-Don't overbowl yourself -hasexercised a wide and pernicious influence over this department of cricket practice ; because some boys , owing to ignorance that might easily have been