The Ladies' Guide to Cricket

II Miss L iston : “ Thai i a bonded out Iknow,b mean by a bailor P” L over : “ A bailor, or bail-ball, is ono bowled so as to d ror) or pitch ((bo technical lorm) a i'ow foot in front of batsman, ami which, hopping over the shoulder of the bat, jus( skims off the bails. It is also, for that reason, called a and divides with the ‘ and the the honour of being tho most diflicult ball to play. The ‘ shooter* is a ball which, instead of hopping or rising from the pitch darts in to the foot of the wicket all along the ground. A vorkrr is a ball pitched close np lo, and liable to get under the bat when the striker attempts to hit it. But w a tch____ ^ ___ the telegraph. It now reads 31— 2—13— that is to say the total number of runs is 31, two batsmen are out, and Cooke, the last out, has scored 13 runs. That is Gresforcl going in, a fair but somewhat nervous bat. He has a good defence, and well—that is, stops the ball with the bat carefully— but in bitting does not always time the ball 31 2 13 correctly. I mean by timing, striking neither too soon nor too late, but exactly at the right moment. Oh dear! he has spooned his first ball to mid-off (No. 8 oil diagram) by playing too soon, and is caught out.” Miss L iston : “ How very improper of him !” L over : “ In faith lady you have a merry heart; but the term sponing , which amuses you, is borrowed from the action of raising liquid in a spoon. You see, by putting his bat forward too soon, the ball ran up the inclined plane presented to it by the bat’ s surface, and soared aloft as a spoonful of coffee would if the spoon were jerked upwards.” M rs . C hester : “ The board now show's— and that, I think, means 31 runs, for three wickets, Am I right ? 31 3 0 last man nothing. L o v e r : “ Perfectly, and the cypher is often facetiously termed a duck’s egg, an egg, or a round O.” Miss L iston : “ Who is this huge man striding out of the pavillion towards the wickets ?” L o v e r : “ That is Whaler, tho Jumbo of our team, and a tiemendous hitter, so we may expect to see things a bit lively. He and Stanley will give the Paragons some leather-huntmg I trust,” Miss L iston : “ Como now ! explain please !” L over : “ The material of which a thing is made is, by a figure of speech, sometimes used for tho thing itself. The willow often stands for tho bat, which is made of that wood, and the wickets ure frequently called the sticks, or the timber-yard. I f you ever hear the phrase ( there is a row in his timber yard, jou muy conclude that somebody 1ms been bow led out. Chi the