Bowling. 1. Should you desire to bowl leg-breaks, close the right eye. 2. Off-breaks are obtained by closing the left eye. 3. To bowl straight, close both. Batting. 1. Don't be afraid to leave the "popping" crease—there is another at the other end. 2. County cricketers use the curved side of the bat for driving. 3. A "leg glance" is not football. 4. When "over" is called, don't cross the wicket. Fielding. 1. Stop the ball with your feet. If you are unable to find it, step on one side. 2. To catch a ball, sit down gracefully and wait. 3. When throwing in from the country, aim half-way up the pitch; you may then hit one of the wickets—which one I don't know. Postscript. The spirit in which the game should be played is best shown by the following extract from the Leicester Daily Mercury:—
Two men talking at a cricket match. Two Sides to a Question.--Major Podmore. "Congratulate you, dear boy!" Disappointed Cricketer. "What do you mean? Bowled first ball--never got a run!" Major Podmore. "Quite so, dear boy. But in this hot weather--80° in the shade--so much better, if you can, to take things coolly!" What is the companion game to Parlour Croquet? Cricket on the Hearth. Epitaph on an Old Cricketer's Tombstone.—"Out at 70." Operatic Song for a Cricketer.—"Batti, Batti!" Sentiment for a Cricket Club Dinner.—May the British Umpire rule the wide world over. |