show often wins. The cards must be spread on the table face upward, so that both players may see. In reckoning, the trump card counts as part of each hand. All the cards in one group cannot be counted as part of a larger group as in playing, but any number less than the whole can be so counted. Thus, if a player have three Queens he can count them only as a pair royal and not as separate pairs also; and if he have for instance, Nine, Ten, Knave, Queen, he can count only a sequence of four and not the separate sequences of three. But if he have Nine, Ten, and two Knaves, or Nine, two Tens, and a Knave, he can count two sequences of three, only two cards being the same in both groups. This is called a double sequence of three, and evidently scores eight, counting the pair. A double sequence of four would in the same way count ten. So, too, with one Five and three face cards, three fifteens can be formed, and with two Fives and two face cards four fifteens. Each player usually has two pegs, and the points are marked with them alternately, so that the number of .Game Hole. Cribbage Board. holes between them always shows the last score that was made. The game will be made clearer by carefully playing through the following sample hand. Suppose the cards to be dealt and that they are distributed as follows, A being the dealer. The dealer counts his Hand before looking at his Crib, and the Hand and Crib are reckoned separately. The trump card is counted with the Crib also, and the Crib is reckoned like the Hand, except that a flush of four does not count in it. In counting fifteens the score is added to the word fifteen; thus, if a player has three of them he A puts in the Crib a pair of Eights, says he has fifteen-six, and if five because they form a group with of them, fifteen-ten. Experienced nothing else in his hand, and because players reckon their hands very fast, the Crib is his own. If it had been and this part of the game is excellent B's Crib he would have hesitated training in addition. After the before giving his opponent a pair. reckoning, the players deal alter- B should put in his Seven and Queen, nately, until one has made 61 | points, which wins the game, The score may be kept simply with pencil and paper, but it is usual to mark it with pegs on a Cribbage board like that in the illustration. In marking, each player uses one side of the board, his peg traveling the outside"eight" row of holes, returning by the inside pair). row, and finishing in the end hole. B (having no Seven to make 15) leaving himself a flush. The cards in brackets thus form the Crib. B cuts, and A turns up the Five of Clubs. Bleads with his Four of Clubs, saying four." A plays his Four of Spades, saying (and scoring two for a plays his Six of Clubs, saying "fourteen." " A plays his Five of Hearts, saying "nineteen' (and scores three for the sequence 4, 5, 6). B his Nine, saying " twenty-eight." A (having no card that will make with this 31, or less), says "Go" (and B scores one). A plays his King, saying "ten." B his Knave, saying "twenty.". A his Six, saying "twenty-six" (and scores one for the last card). The score in pegging thus stands 6 for A to I for B. B, having first show, spreads out his hand. The shown. His score is "fifteen-eight, and a double sequence of three makes 16." The points in the crib are "fifteen-six and a pair makes eight." A's total score for the hand is 30, and B's is 13. A Five-Card Cribbage. Each player has five cards, two of which he discards for the Crib as before, leaving him only three. The method of play is the same as in the six-card game, except that when thirty-one is reached, play stops, and the remaining cards are not put down. flush of three counts in the hand, but not in the crib, where it must consist of five cards as before. In opening this game, the non-dealer is allowed three points to begin with. Fivecard cribbage is considered a more difficult game than six-card. It requires more skill, and is preferred by many players. Three-Handed Cribbage, a kind of Cribbage played by three persons, each on his own account. Each has five cards, and an extra one is dealt to the crib, to which each adds one card. The board for this game is three-sided. Four Handed Cribbage, a kind of Cribbage played by four persons, in partnerships of two. Each is dealt five cards and discards one for the crib. The one at the dealer's left cuts for the trump and begins to play, and the others follow in succession to the left. The method of playing and the rules are the same in three-handed and four-handed as in two-handed cribbage, but more care is required, the greater the number of players. The board for fourhanded is like that for two-handed cribbage. The counting is done by one player on each side, and neither of the others may touch the pegs. Skill in Cribbage is shown both in laying out, or discarding, for the Crib, and in playing the cards. In the former the player must bear in mind to whom the Crib belongs. If it were his own he would not object to discarding a pair or a fifteen, whereas if it were his opponent's he would probably prefer to spoil his own hand rather than to give his enemy an advantage unless he were very far ahead. In Five-card Cribbage it is considered of more importance to "balk" or spoil an opponent's Crib, than to keep good cards for one's own hand, since the Crib is larger than either hand. As regards sequences a player should avoid discarding close cards for his opponent's Crib, and choose them for his own. It is a good plan to retain a sequence in hand if possible, as there is a good chance of the turn-up card's making it a double sequence. În playing, the best card to lead is one below a Five, as the adversary cannot then make fifteen. A good player frequently declines to make a pair or small sequence, suspecting that his opponent desires him to do so that he may then make a pair royal, or larger sequence. For the same reason, if it is possible to make either fifteen or a pair the former should be chosen. Numbers which would enable the adversary to make fifteen and a pair, or a thirty-one and a pair, at the same time, should be avoided. Thus a. player should never count fourteen or thirty with an Ace, thirteen or twenty-nine with a Two, twelve or twenty-eight with a Three, and so on. In counting the hand, beginners often overlook points. They should therefore look over the hand systematically, taking fifteens first, for instance, sequences next, and then, in order, pairs, flushes, and nob. RULES OF THE GAME. 1. The player who cuts the lowest card deals, Ace counting as low. 2. There must be a fresh cut for deal after each game, unless a rubber is to be played, when the deal alternates throughout the rubber. 3. The cards must be dealt one at a time. If two are dealt at once, the dealer may correct his mistake, if he can do so by moving only one card, otherwise there must be a new deal. 4. If the dealer expose one of his adversary's cards, or give either too few or too many cards, the adversary may take two points and call for a fresh deal, but he must do so before looking at his hand. Except that if too few cards have been given the non-dealer, he, after looking at his hand, may ask to have it completed, instead of demanding a new deal. 5. If a player deal out of turn, and the error is discovered before the trump is turned, there must be a new deal by the proper person, but if the trump has been turned the deal is good. The one who should have dealt deals next, and so on alternately as if no mistake had been made. 6. The dealer may insist on his adversary discarding first. 7. If a player discard, having too many cards, his adversary may score two, and either call for a new deal or draw the surplus card from his opponent's hand. 8. If a player discard, having too few cards, he must play out the hand with the number he has. 9. If a player take back a discarded card, his opponent may score two and call for a new deal. 10. The Crib must not be touched during play. 11. If the dealer turn up more than one card for trump, the nondealer may take his choice of them. 12. If the dealer turn up a Knave, and neglect to score for "his heels" before he has played, he loses the two points. 13. No card that is properly played can be taken up again, but if one is laid down, making the count more than 31, it must be taken back, and there is no penalty. 14. If a player say "Go" when he has a card that can be played, his opponent may require it to be played, or mark two points. 15. In reckoning, a player's Hand or Crib must remain in full sight till his opponent is satisfied that the count is correct. 16. If a player score too much, the adversary may correct him and add the same amount to his own score. If he score too little, the adversary is not bound to correct him. 17. A player's pegs must not be touched by his opponent, except to correct a false score; nor by himself, except in scoring. If he displace his foremost peg he must put it behind the other. 18. When a player has quitted his peg, he cannot alter his score. CRICKET, a game of ball, played usually by 22 persons, II on each side. It is played on a field arranged as in the diagrams below. Two "wickets" are set up, 22 yards apart, each consisting of three upright sticks called stumps, 27 inches high, so close together that the ball cannot pass between them. Across the top generally decided by lot, and the game is then begun by the players of the side that has the field taking positions round the wickets, while two of the other side take position one in front of each wicket, inside the Popping Crease, with bats like those in the illustration. The duty of each of these players, who are called Batters, is to keep himself from being put out as explained below, and to make as many runs as possible. The players on the fielding side take whatever positions in the field their captain directs. There are always a Bowler and a Wicket Keeper, but the positions of the other men vary with the opinions of the captain and the changes of the bowling. The first diagram shows an arrangement of the field for fast bowling and the Fig. 2.-Field for Slow Bowling. S. S., Strikers; U. U., Umpires; 1, Bowler; 2, Wicket-keeper; 3, Longstop: 4, Point: 5, Slip: 6, Cover slip: 7, Cover point: 8 Mid-off; 9; Midon; 10, Short leg: 11, Long leg second one for slow bowling. The names of the various positions in which the captain distributes his men, as he deems most advantageous, vary slightly in different places, but are usually those given in the diagrams of the field inserted below. The Bowler begins play by delivering the ball at the opposite wicket, standing with one foot behind the Bowling Crease. The Batter tries to protect the wicket by striking the ball with his bat. If the ball neither is struck nor hits the wicket, the Wicket Keeper returns it to the Bowler. If any part of the wicket is knocked down, the Batter is “out," and another takes his place, and so on in an order decided on by the captain of the batting side. If the player strike the ball far enough he may run to the opposite wicket, changing places with the batsman there, who runs at the same time with him. If the two cross the popping creases of the wickets toward which they run, or put the bat inside them before either wicket is knocked down (either by the ball thrown by a fielder or by a fielder with the ball in hand), they together score one run. Otherwise the one who leaves the knocked-down wicket is out, unless they have crossed, when he who approaches it is out. The players may make as many runs as they can, crossing to and fro several times, and scoring one for each run. A player who is out takes no farther part in the game until all on his side are out. The side wins which makes the greater number of runs in two innings, or sometimes in one inning, if it be so agreed. An inning is completed when both sides have been at the bat and have been put out. When the Bowler has bowled a certain number of balls (generally five in England and Canada, and six in the United States) at one wicket, the Umpire calls "over," and the next "over" is bowled at the opposite wicket, the fielders all changing their places correspondingly. Besides the ways of putting out the Batter that have been mentioned he may be put out by a fielder's catching and holding the batted ball before it strikes the ground, by his knocking down his own wicket, when in the act of playing the ball, stopping the ball with his body, or in other ways described in the rules below. The batsman and wicket keeper, when playing against fast bowling, generally have the legs protected by guards, and wear buckskin gloves. The size of the bats and ball is regulated by the first and second rules below. The duties of some of the players will now be described in detail. The Bowler. The Bowler is the most important player on the field. He sometimes varies his balls, like the Pitcher in BASE BALL, delivering some fast, some slow, some with one twist and some with another, so as to puzzle the batter. But as a rule a fast or slow Bowler will stick to his particular style, as his field is set for that style only, and a change of even one ball might prove expensive. The figure shows the courses of the balls as delivered by different bowlers. The ball usually bounds once, and the place where it bounds is called the "Pitch." If the ball is pitched close to the batsman, it is called "full pitched"; if it pitches sooner than a full pitched ball it is "short pitched," and if later, "over-pitched." A ball that does not hit the ground before reaching the batsman is called a “full ball." A short pitched ball, reaching the wicket by a long bound, is a "long hop"; an over-pitched ball, which can be hit back or "driven," is a half volley"; one that strikes the ground just where the batsman's bat is, is a "Yorker," and one which keeps close to the ground after it pitches, is a " shooter." One which bounds several times is a "grounder" or "sneaker." Grounders and full balls are too easily played by good batsmen to be used often, but are sometimes effective. If the bowling be fast, the ball will move in almost a straight line from the Bowler's hand |
