John and James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1882

19 It is a beautiful ball, bow led a grea t deal by B ate ’ s , Messrs. A. 1 \ L ucas and C. T. S tudd , but an especial favou r ite w ith A lfred S haw . A c co rd - ing ly at this stage o f our subject we m ay open the question, How to P lay the B reak - back . To describe this ball more accuratel3r, it is one w h ich pitches either on or just outside the off-stump, at such a length as to in\ite forw ard play* and then turns to the inside o f the bat and dislodges the leg -ba il. It is a ball which that illustrious veteran, the captain o f the M iddlesex .Eleven, says he has tried to play for twelve years, in vain. This is sufficient to g iv e some idea o f its difficulty. But though so difficult, it is h o rr ib ly comm on . In a certain state o f the ground, S haw can bow l it tw ice an o v e i , and oui grounds are often in that state, since all that is needed to produce it is a smart shower o f rain. What then is to be done to such a b a l l? W h a t is to be said about it ? The best that can be said about it is to po in t ou t how the great batsmen o f this age deal w ith it. Mr. A . N. H ornby runs out and hits it, sometimes a long the ground , but frequen tly in the air. Of this method we w ill speak presently. Mr. W . G. G race , and, to a ce r ­ tain extent, Mr. A . P. L ucas also, rely upon their w ond e r fu lly practised eyesight to detect where the ball w ill iiitch, and stride r igh t out to it, ju s t smothering the ball before it can break, even though it be necessary to leave the crease to do so. This method demands genius, and, i f practised by any one not in the very front rank o f batsmen, would entail fa ilure and chagrin. The late Mr. C. J. O ttaway would play these balls back, and just snick them to leg for one, his bat being close to the leg-stump. B u t no one has ever played difficult balls back with quite the same iinish since his day. Some tactics should be recommended, better adapted to ord inary capacities, and, to my mind, those adopted by Mr. W . W . B ead should be imitated by all who go about in fear o f this ball. Tha t gen tlem an ’s admirable defence consists m a in ly in advancing the le ft leg r igh t to the pitch o f the ball, the hat being held at just such a distance from the leg that no ball can quite go between them. Thus when the p itch is a litt le outside the off-stump, and a few inches short o f the bat, the ba ll has room to begin breaking, but is cheeked by the side o f the bat and the leg w o rk ­ ing together to this end. In short, the excellence o f the m ethod lies (1 > in the relation o f leg and bat, and (2 ) in the p rox im ity o f both to the p itclq so that as little time as possible is g iven to the ball to break, and , wha t is most important, when the hall breaks from outside the stump, leg befox-e is out o f the question. Thus from consideration o f the importance o f the left leg ’ s position , we have been led to a discussion on the break-back. Th is care fu l rea ch ­ ing out o f the left leg may he enforced early, i t lies w ith in the prov in ce o f coaching. So also does some practica l advice on R unning out to S lows . 1 etling on tills subjec t a little at variance "with many weighty au tho ­ rities, i must again remind the reader that M r . H ornuy ’ s method is to run out consistently and unhesitatingly to the best slows that are bowled liis immense success as a batsman confirms my opinion that men do n<>t as a rule run out to slows enough. To begin w ith , a man who runs out to Blows differs in one respect from a man who stands still 5 that supposing