The Ladies' Guide to Cricket

2 xoon follow. Lot. ns return to Mio game. Wo shall, therefore, begin by debiting the reader with almost absolute ignorance of cricket, and gradually ascend from simple and rudimentary points to more dilllcult ones ; as far as possible making each point lend to another, and explaining everything clearly and fully. For if is a mistake to sacrifice lucidity lo conciseness. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but it is frequently shrouded %r I ' in the clay of ambiguity. Witness the sentence just penned ! This little brochure cannot, of course, pretend to be exhaustive. A Still any lady (or gentleman, if not too proud), unlearned in cricket, who masters all the points set down in these pages, will know more than enough to understand and appreciate the most elaborate and perfect of all games. A little patient study bestowed upon the diagrams (p. 12&13) and the modes in which a batsman may be put out (p. 14), will clear up many a difficulty. Then there is the Index to refer to whenever any puzzling expression is heard on the ground. In Chapters II., III ., and IY . the reader is taken through an entire ordinary, and some of the extraordinary events of cricket are described and explained. given in full, together with explanatory notes. The writer lias endeavoured to relieve the inevitable dulness of didactic work “ innings,” in the course of which all the The score of that innings is also by making free use of the conversational method, with what success the reader must judge. Indulgent criticism is claimed on the score of the difficulties inherent in the task of writing a popular Manual of Cricket. If, however, he be blamed for attempting to teach too much.the writer will boldly deny the impeachment. He knows how intelligent and quick of per­ ception is the feminine mind, and is confident that, with a little help from their gentlemen friends, lady readers who make up their minds to try will quickly become an fait in all the hitherto perplexing manoeuvres on the green turf of the tented field. Entre noun that mean creature, man, often secretlv exults ^ ^ I when Miss Crushed-Strawberry, hearing tho Umpire cry “ Over!” naturally and naively exclaims, “ O i l ! tho match is over —who has won ?” Now, to assert that ladies can understand and even play cricket is a mere platitude. Only the other day, in a match between ladi.-s, a Miss Osborne scored over 100 runs. It is perhaps not generally known that, what is called round-arm howling, was invented by a lady many years ago, A Miss W'illes, while playing cricket with her brothers, found her flowing skirts very much in the way when delivering the ball in the old under- band fufebion. BJie, therefore, tried raising her arm hori­ zontally. 'J he result was a very difficult ball, which level leil li<*r bro In rV wicket. Acting on the hint the gentleman developed thi# novel fctyle into the howling, which is now