Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

61 intelligence. The first is a prime requisite of all batsmen in first-class cricket and Astill had it to a marked but not exceptional degree. The second was far more noticeable. As Philip Snow observed, even late in his career ‘he gave the impression of being light and delicate on his feet in all [his] movements’, thus giving an almost balletic quality to his play in the crease and when he advanced down the pitch. Since he was also ‘very well balanced’, he could adjust quickly to the length of the ball as he played back or forward. His nimbleness enabled him to escape injuries even on the often treacherous pitches of his time. The one instance I can find of him being hit on the head, thereby missing one and a half games, came while he was fielding. I doubt if he would have had the audacious self-confidence of I.V.A.Richards to scorn the wearing of a helmet when all around were wearing theirs, but he never wore a cap in England. He bowed not to the fastest of bowlers but only to Helios Hyperion in tropical climes when he would don a floppy hat or sola topi. 117 The third asset was consonant with his measured striking of a billiard ball with a cue, but in cricket dependent upon precise angling of the bat. The fourth showed itself in his ability to read correctly what the bowler was going to do even when, in his late forties, he was no longer always able to ‘play it right’ as wicketkeeper Corrall put it. He watched the bowler’s hand and fingers 117 A team photograph in the West Indies in 1925/26 shows him wearing a regular English cricket cap, but this was probably compulsory attire for all members are identically roofed ( The Cricketer , 1 May 1926, p 10). A less formal photograph on Lord Harris’ 75th birthday shows him again becapped, as are most of the MCC players (Spring Annual, 1926, p 63). The Batsman and Fielder A straight bat. Astill is shown demonstrating his forward defensive stroke.