Bowler hat

“ Unfortunately this same showman was an extremely sour looking person and presented a most remarkable appearance. He had a brown bowler hat and trousers, green waistcoat, and black expression, which ‘tout ensemble’ constrained St. ”

“ A white bowler and a blue serge suit made as stylish and effective a garb as anyone needed. Soft hats no doubt were comfortable, but they were also slovenly. Moreover they were not practical. At a horse sale, for example, you could not rattle them. As for the plea that tall hats were of value to conjurers, he had no use for such arguments. Conjurers dealt in illusion and all illusion was retrograde. (Oh! Oh!) .
The Bishop of LINCOLN said that he felt bound to dissociate himself from his, partner's remarks. He himself looked upon a silk hat as an essential. (A voice, "With rigging?") ”

“ Have you ever noticed that there's hardly one grown-up man in a hundred that can ever look decent in a bowler? A man has either to be very neat-featured or else very ugly to carry off that sort of hat.
"Them there bowlers is all the go for little boys of Master Roland's age, and 'is suits 'im right enough, only 'e chooses to think as it don't, and you listens to 'im," went on the worthy old woman. "'Pon my word, that there boy's vanity do beat anything I ever come across in all my life. Every time that I makes 'im put that bowler on, 'e gets into such a temper as you never saw. ”

“ The labourers wear blue linen smocks, usually with some device upon them, and they merge into the landscape as naturally as French or Belgian peasants. These men, whether working on the soil or the roads, or engaged in cutting bamboos or building houses, wear the large straw hats that one sees in the old Japanese prints. Nothing has changed in their dress. But the modernized Japanese, the dweller in the cities or casual visitor to the country, pins his faith to the bowler. The bowler is so much his favourite headgear that he wears it often with native costume on his body. ”

“ The Treasure only consented to play after much pressure. He said:
“You know what the wicket is like; it’s simply mountainous, [Pg 514] and black men have no control over their bowling. For you medium-sized chaps it may be comparatively safe, but bowling at me is like bowling at a haystack—you cannot miss. When I go in, the blacks never bother about the stumps, but just let fly at random on the chance of winging me. Last match here, I hit their crack fast bowler all over the island, and he got mad at last, and gave up attempting to bowl me, but just tried to kill me.” ”

“ It will only be seen when bowlers of superlative excellence are bowling, men who can be relied upon to keep a good length, and whose bowling is too fast to allow the batsman to run out for a drive. If the bowler has not these qualities, but bowls a decent average of half-volleys on the leg-stump or a little outside, there will probably be a coroner's inquest required. But Boyle knows that neither Spofforth nor Palmer bowls such balls, and it cramps the batsman unpleasantly to see a field standing there on a tricky wicket. ”

“ Most amateurs take no trouble whatever with their bowling, except in matches. It would be far better if bowling were zealously cultivated during ordinary net-practice. The usual thing is to take up the ball in a lazy, careless fashion, without any attention to the length of run, or indeed to any of the requisites of bowling save sending the ball somehow towards the striker's wicket. Sometimes the bowler takes upon himself to demonstrate the peculiarities in the styles of various great bowlers in a manner which does infinite credit to his imagination but none at all to his power of imitation. ”

“ Caps I think indispensable and preferable to any kind of hats, unless in very hot weather under a broiling sun, when some protection to the neck and back of the head is necessary. 1887 was one of the hottest seasons I ever played through, but only once did I change my cap for a hat with a large brim. Hats are very apt to fall off; caps rarely do so if they are made to fit properly. Many cricketers never wear any covering on their heads. ”

“ The general practice of right-hand over-arm bowlers is to bowl at the off-stump or just outside it with an off-break, varied occasionally by a ball that gives with the arm. He who can follow this plan, change his pace and pitch as circumstances require, and supplement everything with a liberal use of his wits, should not fail to meet with success. A bowler with a high action must be very careful not to bowl too much to leg, as his balls have, to begin with, a tendency to break across the wicket from the off-side. ”

“ Nothing is more disagreeable than to see a member of a team wearing a dirty pair of boots. It is not necessary for a batsman to have many nails in his boots, but for a bowler it is essential on all sorts of wickets. All boys should keep a few nails of various sorts in case of an emergency, suited to the different kinds of wickets they are likely to meet. Always have a good-fitting pair of pads and gloves, to save the limbs pain or injury. They impart confidence in standing up to bowling, and will render your play stronger. ”

“ Perhaps it may be a smaller pleasure than batting, somewhat as to besiege an enemy may be a smaller pleasure than to resist the siege or to make a sally. But bowling allows more errors—a single bad ball, unlike a single error in batting, need not be the end of the performance. Anyhow, bowling is a pleasant change from fielding, and gives one an extra chance of playing for a team. And, unless one plays for a team, Cricket is not much sport! A fair bowler is becoming more and more useful to his side every year, with these billiard-table wickets. ”

“ As there was a period of about thirty years when round-arm bowling held the field, so now, after the lapse of another thirty years, overhand bowling has taken its place. Of course in the thirties there were plenty of bowlers who, like J. H. Kirwan, bowled with a very low arm, so in the sixties and seventies there were plenty of round-arm bowlers. But in 1899 hardly any bowler exists who does not bowl right above his head. ”

“ It is impossible to compare the tallhatted old heroes of the ball with bowlers of the present day. In olden days the badness of the grounds caused the best batsman's wicket to be in frequent jeopardy, and fast erratic bowlers were well aware that there would be ample compensation for any accuracy which might be wanting in their delivery in the far from infrequent shooters and abruptly rising balls which so often either levelled the stumps or compelled the retirement of the batsman by a catch in the slips. Nowadays a bowler is nothing unless he is accurate ”

“ Bowling is called underarm when the arm in delivering the ball is swung nearly pendulum-wise, very much as it is at the game of bowls. Originally it was the only kind allowed. Nowadays fast and medium under-arm has gone completely out of fashion, and does not require many remarks. Nevertheless, if an under-arm bowler of this description were to appear and bowl a perfect length with lots of twist, as William Clarke is said to have done in the good old days, he would probably severely tax the defence of some of our eminent batsmen. ”

“ It is probable that overhand bowling may be the most difficult to play, but in adopting entirely the overhead system of bowling and discarding round-arm bowlers have in my opinion made an error. The whole essence of modern bowling is variety. We see all paces, all heights, and all the different forms of twist and break, but the stamp of bowler, who bowled round the wicket, and kept the arm on a level or a little below the level of the shoulder, and made the ball come with his arm, is practically extinct. ”

“ It is a most important thing for a bowler to have shoes which will prevent him from slipping, and this is somewhat difficult when grounds are so constantly changing from hard to soft. For a hard ground nothing is better than big nails or screws; these do not go into the ground, but grip it and give a firm foothold. The left shoe of a right-hand bowler and the right shoe of a lefthand one should be extra well supplied with nails, because in the act of bowling the whole weight of the body comes down upon the left foot with the right-hand bowler and the right with a left-hand one. ”

“ He is a cautious player, the man at this end, and the bowling is straight and well pitched.
After five balls, a man who has been standing by the bowler with his coat on, and seeming to take no interest in the game, turns his back on the bowler and batsman, and strolls off as if tired of looking on. Then the fielders seem to be playing at "pussy wants a corner," for they walk about and change places, and then another man begins to bowl from the other wicket. ”

“ On crown-greens it is customary to use a small biased wooden jack to give the bowler some clue to the run of the green. The bowler delivers his bowl with one foot on a mat or footer, made of india-rubber or cocoa-nut fibre, the size of which is also prescribed by rule as 24 by 16 in., though, with a view to protecting the green, Australasian clubs employ a much larger size, and require the bowler to keep both feet on the mat in the act of delivery. ”

“ The improvement of bowling in mere accuracy, owing to the fact that now compared with twenty years ago five medium pace and slow bowlers exist to one fast bowler, is the reason of this change; and even when Hit to square-leg.
a long-leg is used, it is very often because a sort of back-up is required for the wicket-keeper, and the long-leg is consequently placed very sharp, always remembering that there is no long-stop. The man chosen for this grand post ought to know from the way a batsman hits at a ball whether he should stand square or sharp. ”

“ Meanwhile, as was only fair, I turned the mare in the direction of the drawing-room where I had reason to believe that Miss Dora Harris was quenching her impatience in tea.
Chapter 2.IV.
The very next morning I met Armour on my way to the office. He was ambling along on the leanest and most ill-groomed of bazaar ponies, and he wore a bowler. In Simla sun hats are admissible, straw hats are presentable, and soft felt hats are superior, but you must not wear a bowler. I might almost say that if one’s glance falls upon a bowler, one hardly looks further ”

“ For some reason, very big men do not look well in glossy black coats and silk hats; they seem to want wideawakes, bowlers, caps, anything rather than a Paris hat, and some loose-cut jacket of a free-and-easy colour, suitable for the field, or cricket, or boating. ”

“ Bowling is, indeed, scarcely less scientific than batting. It is not, however, so systematically taught to young amateurs, and it may be partly in consequence of this neglect that amateur bowling is exceedingly weak in England as Bowling. compared with that of professionals. The evolution of the art of bowling, for it has been an evolution, is an interesting chapter in the history of cricket which can only be briefly outlined here. The fundamental law as to the proper mode of the bowler’s delivering the ball is that the ball must be bowled, not thrown or jerked. ”

“ Some bowlers experience great difficulty in bowling to left-handed batsmen. The necessary alteration in their style seems to worry them and interfere with their accuracy of pitch. Usually a slow bowler tries to get a left-handed batsman caught on the off side. He places most of his men on this side, and bowls the off break (or, as it would be to a left-handed batsman, the leg-break) with the object of getting the batsman to play inside the ball, and thus make an upstroke. In short, he places the men as a left-handed bowler places them when bowling to a right-handed batsman. ”

“ If the change-bowler bowls better than the first one, by all means keep him on, but do not forget the first bowler. One of the very best changes is a slow leg-break bowler; but unless he is a very good one, he should only be kept on for a few overs at a time. Batsmen treat such bowlers much as trout do a cast of flies: they either rise at once or never. So a leg-breaker generally gets a wicket in the course of three or four overs or not at all. Quite a moderate "leg-toss" bowler is a very useful change, as indeed is even a bad lob-bowler. ”

“ To Harris's fine bowling I attribute the great improvement that was made in hitting, and above all in stopping; for it was utterly impossible to remain at the crease, when the ball was tossed to a fine length; you were obliged to get in, or it would be about your hands, or the handle of your bat; and every player knows where its next place would be. This long extract is not too long, for it contains a dignified study of the bowler.
This is the perfect Trundler, this is he,
That every man who bowls should wish to be. ”

“ Both Sharpe and Hamilton played well at the start, and brought the score up to 21, when the latter put his leg in front and departed. Mr. Lucas came in, but was clean bowled for 5 runs: two wickets for 26. Mr. Longman, the captain, came in, and played steadily and well, and the bowling for the first time in the innings seemed to be collared; Lang went off, Ridley bowled three overs for 11 runs, and Mr. Royle took the ball. Mr. Royle's bowling proved the turning point of the game. He was not by any means an accurate bowler, but at times his balls broke fast and were most difficult to play. ”