Lives in Cricket No 37 - William Clarke

125 Practical Hints on Cricket that I recommend very slow bowling without alteration, a ball must have some pace or a man will walk into it and do as he likes, if he has got legs, though of late years those articles have not been so much exercised as of old, while padding has been substituted for their use. Nothing tests the truth of Bowling so much as a good level ground, it will find out the bad balls soon enough, and will enable the Batsman to hit them, and perhaps leave so few good ones that the Bowler will be obliged to retire, while on rough ground the same bad balls might have escaped and perhaps even proved effective. Suppose you have what I call a skimming Bowler, for mind you all straight arm Bowlers don’t deliver alike. Some sink their body in delivery and turn the elbow in close to the side, which makes the ball more like an underhand one, and causes it to come straight from the hand, so that it is plain, as you can see it all the way, and by placing the bat full at it you will rarely make a mistake. Such a ball has no deception; as it is delivered from the hand so will it rise from the bound. It is no use putting it further up, as there is nothing to deceive the batter, he will drive it forward. This is the part I said I would refer you to. Well such a bowler is seldom any use on level or soft ground. There is no fire in the ball. It won’t get up, and being pitched rather short to keep it from being hit forward, can’t do any execution. But on a hard uneven or glibby ground such bowling often tells well, but I question if under like circumstances a better style would not tell better. Though I recommend you to get the style of delivery that is easy to yourself, I don’t say that you should be careless or lazy, on the contrary, you must put all your body and mind in a determination to get your man out, and be guarded above all things not to lose your temper. At times it’s enough to make you bite your thumbs to see your best balls pulled and sky-rocketed about – all luck – but you must console yourself with, ‘Ah, that won’t last long.’ Now as for the place for delivering the ball – the bowling crease is three feet on each side the stumps. You will find most men deliver with the foot placed half way betwixt the end of the crease and the wicket, some nearer the wicket. I think this is an error, they ought to deliver at the very end of the crease, for the ball then has to go more across the wicket and is more deceptive to the batter. It is a plan I generally adopt, and if it is advantageous to me that is only half round, how much more it must be to a straight arm bowler. Now a word as to variation in delivery, such as raising the hand higher and lower. (I am now speaking of Bowling according to the rules.) Variation of speed and height, sometimes higher and sometimes lower, sometimes faster sometimes slower, deceives the batsman. These are all little things, but though appearing trivial may amount to a great deal. But after all that has been said, I have never stated what is the most dangerous ball for a batsman, except the one that gets him out. It is the ball that catches him in two minds, so that he does not know whether to play forward or backward, but plays half way; that’s the ball if you can do it. How? By putting the Ball exactly in the right place according to your man’s play.