Cricket batting

“ In other words, batting is, besides being more difficult in itself than bowling and fielding, far more subject to chance. A bowler may bowl a bad ball or a fielder drop a catch without losing all chance of retrieving himself. One bad stroke, and a batsman is out once and for all. Of course batsmen often have good luck in being missed in the field or being beaten by the ball without being bowled ”

“ BATTING. An expert batsman experiences unspeakable pleasure during his innings. Cricketers glory in him, his friends delight in him, and the sweetest smile of his best girl emphasizes his triumph.
Nearly every young American learns base ball before cricket. When he first stands before a wicket, he is almost paralysed by the fear of losing it. Nothing corresponding to it appears upon the diamond. When his wicket has been successfully attacked a few times he is disheartened, and is likely to abandon cricket and return to his first love. This is a critical period in the history of the beginner. ”

“ The subject to be dealt with in this chapter is the most fascinating and delightful part of cricket. No persuasion will be required on my part to induce any one who has once handled a bat to devote himself heart and soul to the art of batting. A boy or man who needs urging to take a delight in batting is hardly the kind ever to have touched the game at all.
The first thing that strikes one is, that in order to bat well a player must provide himself with a suitable instrument in the shape of a bat. ”

“ A moment's thought will show that it is the key to the whole situation. Batting is the object-matter of bowling and fielding. A side bowls and fields in order to get the other side out for as few runs as possible. A side bats in order to get enough runs to win the match, which comes to very much the same thing as all the runs they can. Since, then, batting is the object of attack, it is quite clear that bowlers and fieldsmen, and above all the captain, should understand the exact nature of this object, otherwise they cannot possibly use their power to the best effect. ”

“ They have less waiting for their innings, and consequently less of that restless nervousness from which few men are free; they have the best of the wicket; they have often loosish bowling just at first, before the bowlers have warmed to their work; and, last but certainly not least, they are batting a new ball. Few people realise what a difference a new ball makes to the batsman; it goes cleaner and firmer off the bat than an old one, and, what is better than all, a hard new ball is much more difficult to twist than one that has had a hundred runs made off it. ”

“ The fielder is always on exhibition in the proportion of eleven to one batter, so that his opportunities for the display of either good or bad play are many. If cricketers will bring to their game the excellent qualities displayed upon the diamond, theirs will soon be recognized as the popular game. Greater interest is felt in fine fielding than in brilliant batting by the spectator, though from a cricketers standpoint a finished batsman will always be the favorite. There seems no excuse for poor fielding unless to permit the second-rate bat to score double figures. ”

“ Batting, as in cricket, is a science by itself, although comparatively more stress is laid on fielding than in cricket. A good batsman can place the ball in any part of the field he chooses by meeting the ball at different angles. He may make a safe hit either by hitting the ball on the ground directly through the infield out of reach of the fielders, or so hard that it cannot be stopped. ”

“ Good batting consists in a defence that is proof against all the bowler’s craft, combined with the skill to seize every opportunity for making runs that the latter may inadvertently offer. If the batsman’s whole task consisted in keeping the ball out of his wicket, the accomplishment of his art would be comparatively simple ”

“ A “run” is made when the two batsmen change places, each running from his own to the opposite wicket without being “run out.” The aim of the batting side is to make as many runs as possible, while the object of the fielding side is to get their opponents out, and to prevent their making runs while in.
There are nine ways in which the batsman, or “striker,” can be put out. Of these the following five are the most important. (1) The striker is “bowled” out if the bowler hits the wicket with the ball, when bowling, and dislodges the bail ”

“ Almost every stroke he attempts is some form of a pull with a cross bat. Now, the fundamental principle of good safe batting is playing with a straight bat. So that the beginner has to overcome at the outset certain natural tendencies which, though perhaps good in themselves, do not make for good cricket. ”

“ The great difficulty which frequently besets a captain on turf wickets, as to which roller he will put on at the commencement of his side’s innings, or at the beginning of the day’s play, is removed, for no rolling of the matting is necessary. Towards the end of an innings the matting is apt to get a trifle loose, and batting is no fun then, for should the ball pitch on one of the creases in the matting, it will probably break very quickly; and in this case the last few batsmen have the worst of the wicket. ”

“ This accurate bowling has caused another change in the way of batting. As no ball is bowled on the leg side at all, so it consequently follows there is no fieldsman on the on side except a forward short-leg and a deep field. There is not much to be gained by continually cracking the ball straight to a row of safe fieldsmen on the off side. What, then, does the modern batsman do on a smooth wicket? He waits till the bowler slightly overtosses a ball—whether pitched outside the off stump or on the wicket he cares not ”

“ An under-arm bowler can make the ball twist—that is, curl off the ground—but he cannot make it break or bump; a round-arm can make the ball twist from leg and break somewhat from the off and also cause it to swing across the wicket; an over-arm can do all these things and also make the ball bump. All three kinds differ in the flight of the ball in the air and in its manner of coming from the pitch.
Naturally a batsman had to know more strokes as the number of balls to be played increased; so the development of batting must have gone hand in hand with that of bowling. ”

“ Bowlers must be chosen and put on, fielders arranged with reference to the batsmen who are in, as well as to other considerations. There is only one way to arrive at a knowledge of batting, and that is by continual observation. The kind of knowledge required relates to how particular batsmen or kinds of batsmen play; what are their strong and weak strokes; how they score most of their runs; how they generally get out, or, what is much the, same, are likely to get out. With regard to batsmen he has seen play frequently, a captain should not have much difficulty. ”

“ The great desire of every beginner is to score runs in good style. This means the cultivation of certain actions which he will find at first are not natural to him. But by continual practice the artificial actions of cricket become second nature. Of course even the most artificial stroke in cricket implies the development of certain natural gifts. That a considerable part of batting consists of unnatural movements of the body can very easily be seen. An absolute beginner, when a bat is first put into his hands, follows the promptings of nature. ”

“ All these points must be noticed and studied, and every piece of information used against the batsmen,—for each style of batting has certain inherent weaknesses. Forcing bats are liable to be bowled out in attempting their usual strokes at good-length balls, or may often be got rid of by judicious feeding of their best strokes. Defensive players are often best treated with a tricky slow bowler, for they can be frequently "diddled" or humbugged out. Forward-players are naturally weakest at those bowlers who should be played back—for instance, at slow left-handers, leg-breakers, or lob-bowlers ”

“ There is another reason: we are far too dependent on gate-money: but still, if only for the sake of old cricketers who love the game as well as for the general public, cricket ought and must be an interesting, or in other words, an elegant and picturesque game to watch. The Australian system of playing matches to a finish must tend to produce a dull, sticky, monotonous style of batting. I fully admit the graceful freedom of Trumper and the bold attractive style of Worrall, but generally speaking the batting style of the Australian batsmen of 1899 was slow and monotonous. ”

“ The history of bowling precedes that of batting, because the batsman must necessarily adapt his style to the bowling, not vice versâ He must also adapt it to the state of the wickets. There are times when a purely rural style of play, a succession of 'agrarian outrages,' is the best policy. Given an untrustworthy wicket, good bowling, fielding ground in heavy grass, a stone wall on one side, and another wall, with a nice flooded burn beyond, on another side, and a batsman will be well advised if he lifts the ball over the boundaries and into the brook. ”

“ In the origin of cricket, when the stumps were low, and the bat a crooked club, hitting hard, high, and often must have been the rule. A strong man with good sight must have been the pride of the village. When David Harris, Tom Walker, Lumpy, Brett, and other heroes brought in accuracy, spin, twist, and pace, with taller wickets to defend, this batting was elaborated by Beldham and Sueter and others into an art. ”

“ If the ground has been soft before the rain and has been made still softer by the rain, it is madness to put the other side in. The first two or three hours will then be easy for batting, as a very slow soft wicket is always against the bowlers, and it will not be till after several hours of hot sun have been on it that it will begin to get caked and difficult for the batsman. Suppose the weather looks uncertain and broken, and the glass has been gradually going down, a captain should never in any state of the ground risk putting his opponents in. Rain is always in favour of the in side ”

“ Secondly, the splendid display of fielding exhibited by the American ball players has opened the eyes of English cricketers to the important fact that in their efforts to equalize the attack and defense in their national game of cricket, in which they have looked only to certain modifications of the rules governing bowling and batting, they have entirely ignored the important element of the game, viz., fielding ”

“ There has grown up in late years a most deplorable practice amongst batsmen of leaving balls on the off side alone, for fear of risking their wickets. In every match, big and little, one may see batsmen jump in front of their wickets time after time to off balls, allowing the ball to go by unplayed at, or if it twists to hit their legs. We call this a most deplorable practice, because it is not real cricket. The true object of the batsman is to defend his wicket with his bat ”

“ A batsman is perfectly right in refusing to hit or play at wide balls on the off side, but when he remains passive to balls a few inches only outside the off-stump, he not only acknowledges his want of confidence in himself, but also degrades the dignity of a cricket bat by substituting in its place his own usually nervous legs. ”

“ Third, while playing the waiting game an instant longer he may turn his person two-thirds around on his left foot, and strike the ball from the rear to sharp leg.
All natural hits require determination and energy on the part of the batter if good results are expected. Modern cricket does not prepare itself for natural hits. On the contrary the beginner as well as the expert will have few balls delivered to him opportune for these hits. The modern bowler is instructed to force the “off” or unnatural upon the batsman. ”

“ The star known as the aggressive batter, or perhaps he had better be called a comet, has turned the heads of American cricketers. We are all sovereigns, though many of us cannot show that amount of cash, and why should we not all be star batsmen? The object is easily accomplished if the wicket keeper can be got rid of. The attempt has not only been made, but has been actually imposed upon the American public as cricket; for though wearing the armor of that great office, he is located ten to fifteen feet behind the batsman, thereby becoming a fielder ”

“ The ball, not being straight, cannot be met with the full face of the bat, and consequently, unless the batsman puts his left leg right across the wicket, he must, in playing it, lift it up in the air, when it is probably captured by cover-point or mid-off. If this ball can be made to go ever so little from the leg side after it has pitched it becomes more deadly, as then there is a much greater chance of the batsman being unable to get over the ball sufficiently to keep it along the ground. ”

“ The body of the batsman in many cases completely obstructs the view the wicket-keeper ought to have of the ball. Even if he can get a good sight of the ball there is that abominable bat being fiddled about, baulking the eyesight in the most tantalising manner, and there are some batsmen who have a provoking habit of waving their bats directly the bowler begins his run, and continuing their antics till the ball is right up to them; while others seem to be built like windmills, and have a limb always at hand to throw out between the unhappy wicket-keeper and the rapidly-advancing ball. ”