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gree loose, which can be effectively hit or, in cricket parlance, “made use of” in no other way,

The cut is only suited to a ball somewhat to the off, and should, except by a skilled player, be only attempted with one that is distinctly at least three or four inches wide of the off stump; a ball much nearer to the wicket can be much more safely, and mostly quite as effectively, played with an upright

bat.

The cut proper is made by dropping back the right foot towards the wicket, throwing the bat back over the right shoulder, and then lashing at the ball just as it is passing the wicket. Some players, in delivering the cut, employ a quick motion of the wrist: this hit is very neat in appearance, and possesses this advantage over the former, that it can be made more quickly, and therefore allows more time to judge the ball and to guard against accidents; it has not, however, the driving power of the cut proper, and is, therefore, less effective. The cut proper can only be made from a rising ball.

The other variety of the cut is, on the whole, preferable to the above. It is suited to any off ball that “gets up" at all from the ground; it is much safer, as it always offers a straight bat-the great desideratum of all true defence to any twisting or other dangerous peculiarity of the ball, and at the same time, especially with a tall player, it is little less effective in propelling power. It has this further recommendation, too, by no means to be despised, that it gives the batsman a greater power both of playing down the ball and of "placing" it.

COVER-HIT. This hit is useful with an over-pitched off ball. Let the young player play hard forward at the pitch, in the attitude of Fig. 3, stepping, of course, slightly across the line of wickets with his left leg, and the hit will result of itself. To avoid accidents in the way of catches, the handle of the bat should be brought well over the ball.

To give full efficiency to this and all similar hits, the bat must be grasped tightly in the hand, and the ball not only struck, but pushed vigorously forward by a combined action of the right arm and shoulder, after the manner of a shoulder-hit in boxing.

DRIVE. —A ball is said to be driven when it is sent back from the bat in, or nearly in, the direction in which it came. The skilful cricketer is known by his driving; it is the mere artful dodger who gets his runs by snicks and leg hits. To drive neatly is almost as difficult as to cut well.

An over-pitched ball somewhat nearer in line of the off-stump than for cover-hit, would go for an off-drive; one on, or almost on, the off stump, goes to long off; one quite straight, for forward drive; and one a little to leg (ie., either in a line with or a little wide of the leg-stump), goes to the on.

If the ball be only a little over-pitched, the hit may be made as in cover-hit ; but if pitched well up, so that the point at which it takes and leaves the ground is well within the batsman's reach, he has two choices before him-either, with the full swing of his bat, to pick it up at the "half-volley," that is, just as it rises from the ground-the most effective method of hitting a ball – and lift it well over the heads of all the outlying fieldsmen-a magnificent and telling hit, if successful; or, by stepping a little forward with his left foot, bring his left shoulder well over it, and drive it all along the ground.

The latter of these two, though less showy, is in general quite as effective, and assuredly infinitely safer. They are both valuable in their degree, though

to the young beginner the drive along the ground is more particularly commended for practical use. The soaring hit may occasionally be dangerous: the drive along the ground is always safe.

Some players will even go forward to meet some balls, and, taking them at half-volley, make over-pitched balls of them. This, however, is only safe on a perfectly true ground, and hardly even then; for a mistake, it should be remembered, can hardly fail to be fatal. Perhaps the chief peril of this "goingin" lies in its extreme fascination. A successful hit is at once so brilliant and so profitable for the ball is sent to the least guarded part of the field-that the temptation is almost irresistible to try the same hit again; and in cricket, as in other matters, success has a strong tendency to make men rash. It is extraordinary how many wickets are lost, even in our great matches, through this "going-in." It is, however, a useful variation; and, with loose bowling, piles up the runs at a ruinous rate. Of course, if there be no wicket-keeper, more liberties may be taken.

MID-WICKET HIT is either a variety of the on-hit, and is the result of precisely similar play on the part of the batsman, a little extra wideness of the ball to leg carrying it out into mid-field-on in

stead of long-on; or it is brought about by what used to be called the CAMBRIDGE POKE (Fig. 7) from its principal cultivation being assigned to the credit of the Cambridge players. It is, as will be seen, not a very elegant style of hitting, but, with those who have acquired a mastery over it, it is far from ineffective; but, on the whole, it is scarcely of such utility as to make it worth the beginner's time and trouble spent in learning it-the more so, that almost any ball which can be met by the Cambridge poke can be played with equal ease, accuracy, and success in other and more ordinary forms.

SQUARE LEG, like many other hits, may be made in two ways, either by meeting forward, with a straight bat, a ball a little wide of the leg-stump, thus causing it to fly off almost at right angles to its former course, or as in Fig. 8, by stepping out with the left foot, "swiping round at the ball, the bat pointing directly to the pitch. This latter is a very effective hit, and, if care be taken to hit rather over than under the ball, and thus avoid the fatal error of "skying" it, a reasonably safe one. The same form of hitting will, if the bowling be fast, and the ball be hit a little late, result in LONG LEG. But the surest, safest, most effective, and most brilliant method of hitting legballs, specially suited for those pitched well up, is, with both feet planted firmly on the ground, the left about a foot or a foot and a half in front of the right, its toe pointing to the bowler, to swing the body and shoulders round on the hips, and catch the ball with full sweep of the bat just on the point of passing. To do this with fullest effect, the body should be drawn up to its full height, and the whole frame well balanced and set firm on both feet. A slight

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FIG. 7.

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rise and fall on the toes just at the moment of striking imparts considerably additional impetus to the sway of the bat.

DRAW.-Like "slip," this hit depends mainly for its effect upon the speed of the bowling. A ball on, or scarcely wide of, the leg-stump is met with a full, straight bat, as in the attitude of back play (Fig. 4). A slight action of the wrist, impossible to describe, but easy to exemplify practically, just at the moment of contact, confers much additional life to the ball.

Draw, of course, will only be employed when the pitch and character of the ball render it difficult to make use of it otherwise.

Before we take leave of the subject of hitting, we would again remind the young player that, to be of any continued good service, all hitting, even of the most brilliant kind, must be subordinated to a rigid defence. It is of no use to have the knack of hard hitting, if the first straight ball finds its way to the wicket, and puts a stop to all hitting whatsoever.

Many a fine hitter bewails his bad luck in not getting some of that loose bowling he sees an inferior player knocking about at will, when he should in truth blame his bad play in not keeping his wicket up, and thus getting the chance that has fallen to another. Let a man only keep his wickets up long enough, he is sure to have a sufficiency of loose balls to afford ample scope for his hitting capacities.

The young player must beware of taking a fancy to one particular hit, and practising that to the detriment of others. All are equally valuable in their place, and deficiency in any one point is certain to tell disadvantageously in the long run. Moreover, a man of one hit soon becomes known; the field is set accordingly, and his speciality completely neutralized; whereas a player with a fair average power of hitting all round is always dangerous, for no arrangement of the field, however skilful, can by any possibility guard every point, and where the field is weak, there will the all-round hitter be careful to send the ball.

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The learner should endeavour to find out the weak points in his hitting, and endeavour to strengthen them by careful practice and imitation of better players. His strong points he need not trouble about-they will take care of themselves.

And, lastly, let me repeat the injunction to hit hard: try to make every run a six, and it will surprise you how many threes and fours you will make. A hard hitter is always dangerous at a critical moment: in a match, a hard hitter will often save the game, purely by the force of his hard hitting. Therefore, above everything, when you do hit, hit hard.

THE BOWLER

BOWLING.

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A good style of bowling-and the same may be said of batting-is only to be attained by training the muscles of the body into one unvarying system of action; and this can be effected only by continuous practice in one form, and one form alone. The simultaneous practice of two or more styles can only result in another illustration of the truth of the old adage, "Jack of all trades, master of none."

To begin with the bowler must take the ball, not in the palm of the hand, but in the fingers only, the thumb being only employed to retain it in its place. He must then advance, more or less swiftly, according to his style, with a pace half-run, half-walk, and, with a horizontal swing of the arm straight out from the shoulder, launch the ball at the opposite wicket, just as he strides, left foot first, across the bowling-crease.

The ball should not be allowed to leave his fingers all at once, but should be made to roll off them, as it were, receiving just at the last moment of contact a final impulse from their tips. This imparts to it a spinning motion, which, when it touches the ground, will make it fly off suddenly at an angle, just as does a top from a wall, to the great discomfiture of the batsman.

The bowler should accustom himself always to bowl from exactly the same distance behind the wicket (he will find it a useful plan to mark his startingpoint with a stick or straw), and should always take precisely the same number of steps in his advance; his body should be erect and well balanced, and his eye fixed steadily upon the opposite wicket: above all, his movements, however rapid, should be unhurried, perfectly steady, and under complete control. Accuracy of direction is, of course, the first and most important requirement in bowling; but straightness alone will avail little, if attention be not also paid to accuracy of pitch.

A ball coming directly from the bowler's hand to the wickets, technically termed "a full pitch" or "toss," is, of all balls, the easiest for the batsman to judge and hit away; and one that takes the ground little more than half-way between the wickets (a long hop) is scarcely less simple.

All that the batsman requires is time, and that the bowler must make it his special care not to give him.

The most difficult ball for the batsman to hit, and therefore the very best for the bowler to send him, is one that pitches from four to eight feet in front of the popping-crease. This distance varies with the pace of the bowling: the slower the pace, the nearer must the ball be pitched to the crease, and vice versa. It varies also with the height and style of the striker: a tall player with a good forward reach leaves the bowler no option but to pitch shorter. Balls pitched within these limits are called length-balls.

The learner will find it good practice to mark, with a piece of paper or a dab of chalk, the exact spot on which his ball ought to pitch to be a good length, and steadily set himself to acquire the art (for it is to be acquired) of dropping the ball either upon or close upon this mark with unvarying certainty. However simple his style may be in other respects, this accuracy of pitch and direction will always render him formidable to any batsman.

In bowling, it must be kept in mind that every batsman has his strong and weak points: one man, for instance, is a hard leg-hitter, but weak in defending his off stump, while another can play well forward, and another only back; and the bowler must give his whole mind to find out these strong and weak points, to avoid the one, and persistently attack the other.

There is one maxim more for the bowler, perhaps the most important of all. "Always pitch as near to the striker as he will let you." The nearer he allows the ball to pitch without hitting it away, the less time does he get to judge it after the pitch. If he allow it to come too near, his play is cramped and his hitting powers paralysed.

A really first-class bowler will, to this intent, pitch nearer and nearer to the batsman, creeping in inch by inch, until he finds out the exact spot beyond which he dare not go, and, having thus decided it to his satisfaction, will methodically settle down to work upon it with undeviating pertinacity, until the fall of the wicket crowns his labours.

Men have been known, in this manner, to wear away the turf in a bald patch, by the reiterated pitching of the ball in the same spot.

The bowler will find it well to study the art of varying the speed and the curve with which the ball passes through the air, without making any corresponding visible change in his action. Nothing is more deceptive, and, therefore, more fatal to the batsman, than a judicious unexpected variation of pace. The great art consists, not in constant changes-for then the batsman is on the alert--but in allowing him to get used to one particular pace, and then, with the second of two balls, following each other in rapid succession (it loses half its effect after a hit), suddenly increase or slacken the pace: the fall of many a wicket will reward this manœuvre. Only it must be borne in mind that the attempt must not be too often repeated, or it will defeat itself. Nor must the change of pace be too palpable, for the sole object is to catch the batsman

unawares.

Remember that medium pace possesses a great advantage over fast, in the power it gives the bowler of varying the curves with which it passes through the air, and thus deceiving the batsman by altering the pitch without his perceiving it; for he naturally, at first sight, expects a ball that rises high in the air to come farther than one of lower flight, and may often be thus led into fatal error.

Of absolutely slow bowling I do not speak; for on good ground, against

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