Robert Henry Lyttelton

“ The practical abolition of leg-hitting, by the wonderful accuracy of modern bowling, has robbed the game of no small amount of its æsthetic enjoyment, for, in the first place, a leg-hit is a lovely stroke to witness, as is a catch against the ropes, and lastly, prettier than any was the good throw-in. ”

“ Besides all these, then there is the indefinable something which goes to making your own eleven trust you: the taking things coolly—an easy enough task when things are going well, but very difficult when, for instance, a Jessop is making runs at the rate of two a minute, mis-hits going everywhere except to hand; and place the field how you will, luck is all in favour of the hitter, and you know your best bowler is obeying his fallen nature, and is unmistakably losing his pluck;—under these circumstances the ideal captain has to wear a calm face. ”

“ I believe that, given the same wickets, our bowlers would be able to prove themselves every bit as good as the giants of old; and in one particular there can be no doubt that bowlers of the present day are far superior to those of the former generations, and that is in accuracy. To take one illustration, no bowler bowls a ball to leg now. The batsman, if he wants to hit in that direction, must pull a straight ball. ”

“ If the wicket is hard and inclined to bump, impress upon short-slip that his post is no sinecure, and rebuke any field who keeps his hands in his pockets and apparently takes no interest in the game. If a fieldsman, young probably, impetuous certainly, is seen to rush in and charge a ball, a captain should exercise a chastening and moderating demeanour upon him ”

“ At the same time I think the benefit of the doubt, which by an unwritten law of cricket seems invariably given to the batsman, might in this particular be given to the bowler. It is bad play to put the leg in front of the wicket, and in these days of gigantic run-getting the bowler ought to have the benefit of the doubt, and not the batsman. An umpire has many things to think about—he has to count the balls, he has to look at the bowler's feet to see that he does not go over or wide of the crease; he ought to look at the arm of some bowlers to see that they do not throw. ”

“ What visions of dropped catches pass through my mind as I look back over thirty years' experience of cricket—a chapter might be written on them—and how many old cricketers live, deep in whose hearts linger bitter memories of catches in the hands and out again. True, some men have hands that are not well adapted for holding catches. A small, fat, fleshy hand is one out of which the ball is apt to bound—it lacks grip and holding power—but even such hands, if the owners thereof would only hold them in the right position, would hold catches and not drop them. ”

“ You must be careful of such a ball; you must concentrate your mind on stopping it; and the obvious truth must be pressed home again, that, for at any rate a quarter of an hour, defence, not attack, must be your one consideration; and to the fast bowler the best advice for most batsmen is to make forward play the backbone of your play. There are players like Jessop, of Cambridge University and Gloucestershire, whose play is all hit. Such players have a splendid eye, often only staying about fifteen minutes at the wicket, but during that time scoring about a run and a half a minute. ”

“ Long-stops are not now required; long-leg is a thing of the past. If the bowling is of Richardson's pace, the wicket-keeper stands back, more men are placed in the slips, and, generally, I should say that, with the exception of the wicket-keep, short-slip has more catches than any other "field." Still, though it is not easy to compare past generations with this, I am of the opinion that more catches are missed than ought to be, and more care and attention should be bestowed upon this part of the game. It may be stated, as a more or less true axiom, that good fielding makes weak bowling strong ”

“ The rules which qualify a man to play for his University are somewhat elastic, and, I think, need revision. No man is allowed to play for more than four years; this has been the unwritten rule since 1865, when R. D. Walker had grown grey in the service for Oxford and played his fifth year. But within this four years' limit there is an elasticity that is as surprising as it is absurd. As far as I know, if a man resides one term at any college, and keeps his name on the books, but never sees his University except for that one term, he has, nevertheless, qualified himself to play for four years. ”

“ If ever a man desires the gift of correct prophecy he desires it now. When will the sunshine? This is the question, and not being possessed of supernatural powers, what is a captain to do? I humbly think that if the sun is out he had better put the opposite side in; if not, go in himself. If the wicket is soft and just rolled, put a hitter in first; it will play tolerably easy for twenty minutes, and in that time a hitter may get thirty runs, and this may win a match. (Remember Massie's innings in the great International match of 1882.) ”

“ The queer thing about the whole matter is, that a crowd like the Surrey crowd, who grow so frantically keen during the progress of a county match, is seen to be just as keen for their county to win, composed as the eleven often has been of men purchased from all parts of England, and having no connection with Surrey by birth, as Yorkshire, Notts, and Derbyshire are for the success of their genuine natives. ”

“ In the case of a full pitch a batsman often has the power to place it where there are no fields; if leg is put square, as he invariably is to slow bowling, he can pull the ball fine out of his reach. Great care, however, is necessary to go out to the right ball; for if a bowler has any break, and you do not smother the ball, the batsman will be beat by the break, and stumped or bowled. Some bowlers break so much that it is almost true to say you had better go on the safe side and not leave your ground, unless you can be sure of getting the ball full pitch. ”

“ Everything was run out, so throwing from long distances became absolutely necessary, and moreover very beautiful to look at; in fact, nothing prettier in cricket could be seen than a low, skimming, long hop, thrown in from eighty yards off, neatly handled by the wicket-keeper, the bails knocked off with no fuss, and the batsman run out by inches. ”

“ Left-hand bowlers seem to bowl round the wicket more than do right-hand bowlers; consequently there is no umpire, white-coated or otherwise, in the line of sight, and such are nearly always easy to see. Tall men, like Lohmann and Spofforth, who deliver their balls from a great height, bowl in such a way that it is difficult to judge the length, and spectators may see this for themselves. Lohmann, for instance, as you sit in the ring, seems to bowl what look like half-volleys and yorkers, but when the batsmen play them you see that before the ball gets to their distance it drops straight down. ”