Lives in Cricket No 21 - Walter Read

114 On forward play, for instance, he advises: The great secret of placing the left leg across the wicket when playing forward is that the left leg is taken so close to the bat, that it is impossible for the ball to get between it and the bat. That technique is still sound today, though his suggestion that driving be restricted to half-volleys has been succeeded by the method of sensibly using the feet to make a good length ball into the required half-volley. It is impossible to drive any other ball than a “half-volley”, though very often the batsman (by running out of his ground) tries to make many deliveries of the bowler of this particular ball, and not a few times in a season comes to grief. I strongly advise the reader to cultivate this style of play but at the same time not to be too reckless. Although Read is credited with, if not inventing at least developing, the pull shot, he makes no specific mention of it, but does expand on ‘leg-hitting’ both in front and square of the wicket. This is a very useful stroke, especially now that the field is placed so much on the off-side, but is not so often indulged in as in years back, probably because one gets, in really good cricket, so few balls on the leg side. A batsman to put himself into a position for a long leg 183 hit must place his left leg well forward in a line with his right, the knee slightly bent so that he might strike the ball directly it leaves the pitch. To make a square leg hit the batsman has to be in an entirely different position, as the left leg must be drawn back to the right and the body turned directly facing the bowler. The only ball that a batsman is able to make this hit from with safety is an over pitched ball directly on to his legs, though not by any means a “yorker”. Modern coaching would suggest placing the front foot wider and opening up the body for the on drive, and the cross-batted shot through square leg can be played to a short-pitched ball of any length, but we are still almost half a century from ‘leg theory’ and the ‘hints’ are sound enough to encourage aspiring cricketers to acquire the pamphlet and perhaps buy themselves a ‘magic’ bat and other cricket equipment. 183 i e long on Annals of Cricket and Short Hints on Cricket