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Bible Encyclopedias
Cricket (Game)
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or The game of cricket may be called the national summer pastime of the English race. The etymology of the word itself is the subject of much dispute. The Century Dictionary connects with O. Fr. criquet, " a stick used as a mark in the game of bowls," and denies the connexion with A.S. crice or cryce, a staff. A claim has also been made for cricket, meaning a stool, from the stool at which the ball was bowled, while in the wardrobe account of King Edward I. for the year 130o (p. 126) is found an allusion to a game called creag. Skeat, in his Etymological Dictionary, states that the word is probably derived from A.S. crice (repudiated by the first authority quoted), the meaning of which is a staff, and suggests that the " et " is a diminutive suffix; the word is of the same origin as " crutch." Finally the New English Dictionary traces the O. Fr. criquet, defined by Littre as " jeu d'addresse," to M. Flem. Krick, Kriike, baston a s'appuyer, quinette, potence. History. - In a MS. of the middle of the 13th century, in the King's library, 14 B y, entitled Chronique d'Angleterre, depuis Ethelberd jusqu'd Hen. III., there is found a grotesque delineation of two male figures playing a game with a bat and ball. This is undoubtedly the first known drawing of what was destined to develop into the scientific cricket of modern times. The lef thand figure is that of the batsman, who holds his weapon upright in the right hand with the handle downwards. The right-hand figure shows the catcher, whose duty is at once apparent by the extension of his hands. In another portion of the same MS., however, there is a male figure pointing a bat towards a female figure in the attitude of catching, but the ball is absent. In a Bodleian Library MS., No. 264, dated the 18th of April 1 344, and entitled Romance of the Good King Alexander, fielders for the first time appear in addition to the batsman and bowler. All the players are monks (not female figures, as Strutt misinterprets their dress in his Sports and Pastimes ), and on the extreme left of the picture, the bowler, with his cowl up, poises the ball in the right hand with the arm nearly horizontal. The batsman comes next with his cowl down, a little way only to the right, standing sideways to the bowler with a long roughly-hewn and slightlycurved bat, held upright, handle downwards in the left hand. On the extreme right come four figures - with cowls alternately down and up, and all having their hands raised in an attitude to catch the ball. It has been argued that the bat was always held in the left hand at this date, since on the opposite page of the same MS. a solitary monk is figured with his cowl down, and also holding a somewhat elongated oval-shaped implement in his left hand; but it is unsafe to assume that the accuracy of the artist can be trusted.
The close roll of 39 Edw. III. (1365), Men. 23, disparages certain games on account of their interfering with the practice of archery, where the game of cricket is probably included among the pastimes denounced as " ludos inhonestos, et minus utiles aut valentes." In this instance cricket was clearly considered fit for the lower orders only, though it is evident from the entry in King Edward's wardrobe account, already mentioned, that in 1300 the game of creag was patronized by the nobility. Judging from the drawings, it can only be conjectured that the game consisted of bowling, batting and fielding, though it is known that there was an in-side and an out-side, for sometime during the 15th century the game was called " Hondyn or Hondoute," or " Hand in and Hand out." Under this title it was interdicted by 17 Edw. IV. C. 3 (1477-1478), as one of those illegal games which still continued to be so detrimental to the practice of archery. By this statute, any one allowing the game to be played on his premises was liable to three years' imprisonment and f 20 fine, any player to two years' imprisonment and f,io fine, and the implements to be burnt. The inference that hand in and hand out was analogous to cricket is made from a passage in the Hon. Dames Barrington's Observations on the more Ancient Statutes from Magna Charta to 21 James I. cap. 27. Writing in 1766, he comments thus on the above statute, viz.: " This is, perhaps, the most severe law ever made against gaming, and some of these forbidden sports seem to have been manly exercises, particularly the handyn and handoute, which I should suppose to be a kind of cricket, as the term hands is still retained in that game." The word " cricket " occurs about the year 1550. In Russell's History of Guildford it apjears there was a piece of waste land in the parish of Holy Trinity in that city, which was enclosed by one John Parish, an innholder, some five years before Queen Elizabeth came to the throne. In 35 Elizabeth (1593) evidence was taken before a jury and a verdict returned, ordering the garden to be laid waste again and disinclosed. Amongst other witnesses John Derrick, gent., and one of H.M.'s coroners for Surrey, aetat. fifty-nine, deposed he had known the ground for fifty years or more, and " when he was a scholler in the free school of Guildford, he and several of his fellowes did runne and play there at crickett and other plaies." In the original edition of Stow's Survey of London (1598) the word does not occur, though he says, " The ball is used by noblemen and gentlemen in tennis courts, and by people of the meaner sort in the open fields and streets." Some noteworthy references to the game may be cited. In Giovanni Florio's dictionary A Worlde of Wordes most Copious and Exact, published in Italy in 1595 and in London three years later, squillare is defined as " to make a noise as a cricket, to play cricket-a-wicket and be merry." Sir William Dugdale states that in his youth Oliver Cromwell, who was born in 1599, threw " himself into a dissolute and disorderly course," became " famous for football, cricket, cudgelling and wrestling," and acquired " the name of royster." In Randle Cotgrave's Dictionary of French and English, dated 1611, Crosse is translated " crosier or bishop's staffe wherewith boys play at cricket," and Crosser " to play at cricket." Among the earliest traces of cricket at public schools is an allusion to be found in the Life of Bishop Ken by William Lisle Bowles (1830). Concerning the subject of this biography, who was admitted to Winchester on the 13th of January 1650/1, it is said " on the fifth or sixth day, our junior. .. is found for the first time attempting to wield a cricket bat." In 1688 a " ram and bat " is charged in an Etonian's school bill, but it is possible this may only refer to a cudgel used for ram-baiting. In The Life of Thomas Wilson, Minister of Maidstone, published anonymously in 1672, Wilson having been born in 1601 and dying in or about 1653, occurs the following passage (p. 40): " Maidstone was formerly a very profane town, in as much as I have seen morrice-dancing, cudgel-playing, stool-ball, crickets, and many other sports openly and publicly indulged in on the Lord's Day." Cricket is found enumerated as one of the games of Gargantua in The Works of Rabelais, translated in 1653 by Sir Thomas Urchard (Urquhart), vol. i. ch. xxii. p. 97. In a poem entitled The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence or the Arts of Wooing and Complimenting (1658), by Edward Phillips, John Milton's nephew, the mistress of a country bumpkin when she goes to a fair with him says " Would my eyes had been beaten out of my head with a cricket ball." The St Alban's Cricket Club was founded in 1661, one of its earliest presidents being James Cecil, 4th earl of Salisbury (1666-1694).
In 1662 John Davies of Kidwelly issued his translation of Adam Olearius' work entitled The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors from the Duke of Holstein to the Grand Duke of Muscovy, and the King of Persia. Begun in the year 1633 and finished in 1639. On page 297 is a description of the exercises indulged in by the Persian grandees in 1637, and the statement is made that " They play there also at a certain game, which the Persians call Kuitskaukan, which is a kind of Mall, or Cricket." In the Clerkenwell parish book of 1668 the proprietor of the Rum Inn, Smithfield, is found rated for a cricket field.
The chaplain of H.M.S., "Assistance," Rev. Henry Teonge, states in his diary that during a visit to Antioch on the 6th of May 1676, several of the ship's company, accompanied by the consul, rode out of the city early and amongst other pastimes indulged in " krickett." During the first half of the 18th century the popularity of the game increased and is frequently mentioned by writers of the time, such as Swift, who alludes sneeringly to footmen at cricket," D'Urfey, Pope, Soame Jenyns, Strype in his edition of Stow's Survey of London, and Arbuthnot in John Bull, iv. 4, " when he happened to meet with a football or a match at cricket." In 1748 it was decided that cricket was not an illegal game under the statute 9 Anne, cap. 19, the court of king's bench holding " that it was a very manly game, not bad in itself, but only in the ill use made of it by betting more than ten pounds on it; but that was bad and against the law." Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, died in 1751 from internal injuries caused by a blow from a cricket ball whilst playing at Cliefden House. Games at this period were being played for large stakes, ground proprietors and tavern-keepers farming and advertising matches, the results of which were not always above suspicion. The old Artillery Ground at Finsbury was one of the earliest sites of this type of fixture. Here it was that the London Club - formed about 1700 - played its matches. The president was the prince of Wales, and many noblemen were among its supporters. It flourished for more than half a century. One of the very earliest full-scores kept in the modern fashion is that of the match between Kent and All England, played on the Artillery Ground on the 18th of June 1744.
Cricket, however, underwent its most material development in the southern counties, more especially in the hop-growing districts. It was at the large hop-fairs, notably that of Weyhill, to which people from all the neighbouring shires congregated, that county matches were principally arranged.
The famous Hambledon Club lasted approximately from 1750 to 1791. Its matches were played on Broad Half-Penny and Windmill Downs, and in its zenith the club frequently contended with success against All England. The chief players were more or less retainers of the noblemen and other wealthy patrons of cricket. The original society was broken up in 1791 owing to Richard Nyren, their " general," abandoning the game, of which in consequence " the head and right arm were gone." The dispersion of the players over the neighbouring counties caused a diffusion of the best spirit of the game, which gradually extended northward and westward until, at the close of the 18th century, cricket became established as the national game, and the custom became general to play the first game of each year on Good Friday.
The M.C.C. (or Marylebone Cricket Club), which ranks as the leading club devoted to the game in any part of the globe, sprang from the old Artillery Ground Club, which played at Finsbury until about 1780, when the members migrating to White Conduit Fields became the White Conduit Cricket Club. In 1787 they were remodelled under their present title, and moved to Lord's ground, then on the site of what is now Dorset Square; thence in 1811 to Lord's second ground nearer what is now the Regent's Canal; and in 1814, when the canal was cut, to what is now Lord's ground in St John's Wood. Thomas Lord, whose family were obliged to leave their native Scotland on account of their participation in the rebellion of 1745, was born in Thirsk, Yorkshire, in. 17 57, and is first heard of as an attendant at the White Conduit Club, London, in 1780. Soon afterwards he selected and superintended a cricket ground for the earl of Winchilsea and other gentlemen, which was called after his name. He died in 1832 on a farm at West Meon, Hampshire, of which he took the management two years before. Lord took away the original turf of his cricket-ground at each migration and relaid it. In 1825 the pavilion was burnt down, invaluable early records of the game being destroyed; and in the same year the ground would have been broken up into building plots had not William Ward purchased Lord's interest. Dark bought him out in 1836, selling the remainder of his lease to the club in 1864. Meanwhile, in 1860, the freehold had been purchased at public auction by a Mr Marsden - n6 Moses - for 7000, and he sold it to the club six years later for nearly X18,500, a similar sum being paid in 1887 for additional ground. In 1897 the Great Central railway company conveyed a further portion to the club, making the ground complete as it now is; the total area is about 20 acres, including the site of various villas adjoining the ground which are part of the property. The number of members now considerably exceeds five thousand.
Laws
The oldest laws of cricket extant are those drawn up by the London Club in 1744. These were amended at the " Star and Garter " in Pall Mall, London, in 1755, and again in 1774, and were also revised by the M.C.C. in 1788. From this time the latter club has been regarded as the supreme authority, even though some local modifications have in recent years been effected in Australia. Alterations and additions have been frequently made, and according to the present procedure they have to be approved by a majority of two-thirds of the members present at the annual general meeting of the whole club; the administration being in the hands of a president, annually nominated by his outgoing predecessor, a treasurer and a committee composed of sixteen members, four annually retiring, in conjunction with a secretary and a large subordinate staff.
Implements
Concerning the implements of the game, in the 1744 rules it was declared that the weight of the ball must be " between five and six ounces," and it was not until 1774 that it was decided that it " shall weigh not less than five ounces and a half nor more than five ounces and three-quarters," as it is to the present day. Not until 1838 however came the addition, " it shall measure not less than nine inches nor more than nine inches and a quarter in circumference." The materials out of which the old balls were made are not on record. At present a cube of cork forms the foundation, round which layers of fine twine and thin shavings of cork are accumulated till the proper size and shape are attained, when a covering of red leather is sewn on with six parallel seams. Various " compositions " have been tried as a substitute for cork and leather, but without taking their place.
For the bat, English willow has been proverbially found the best wood. The oldest extant bats resemble a broad and curved hockey stick, and it has been claimed to be an evolution of the club employed in the Irish game of " hurley." The straight blade was adopted as soon as the bowler began to pitch the ball up, an alteration which took place about 1750, but pictures show slightly curved bats almost to the time of the battle of Waterloo. The oldest were all made in one piece and were so used until the middle of the 19th century, when handles of ash were spliced into the blade, and the whole cane-handle was introduced about 1860. No limit was set to the length of the bat until 1840, though the width was restricted to 4 4 in. " in the widest part " by the laws of 1788, and a gauge was made for the use of the Hambledon Club. The length of the bat is now restricted to 38 in., 36 being more generally used, as a rule the handle being 14 in. long and the blade 22 in. As to weight, though there is no restriction, 2 lb 3 oz. is considered light, 2 lb 6 oz. fairly heavy; but W. Ward (1787-1849) used a bat weighing 4 lb.
At present the wicket consists of three stumps (round straight pieces of wood) of equal thickness, standing 27 in. upright out of the ground. On the top are two " bails," short pieces of wood which fit into grooves made in the top of the stumps so as not to project more than half an inch above them. But the evolution of the wicket has been very gradual, and the history of it is very obscure, since different types of wickets seem to have existed simultaneously. If early pictures are to be trusted, no wicket was required in primitive times: the striker was either caught out, or run out, the fieldsman having to put the ball into a hole scooped in the ground, before the batsman could put his bat into it. A single stump, it is supposed, was sometimes substituted for the hole to save collision between the bat and the fieldsman's fingers. In due course, but at an unknown date, a wicket - a " skeleton gate " - was raised over the hole; it consisted of two stumps each 12 in. high, set 24 in. apart, with a third laid on the top of them. John Nyren, however, writing in 1833, and discussing some memoranda given him by Mr W. Ward, says apropos of these dimensions, " There must be a mistake in this account of the width of the wicket." Undoubtedly such wickets were all against the bowler, who must have bowled over or through the wicket twenty times for every occasion when he succeeded in hitting either the uprights or the cross stump. In pictures of cricket played about 1743 we find only two stumps and a cross stump, or bail, the wicket varying apparently both in height and width. In a picture, the property of H.M. the King, entitled " A Village Match in 1768," three stumps and a bail are distinctly shown. Two stumps are shown as used in 1779, afterwards three always with one exception. Two prints, advertisements, representing matches played between women on consecutive days in 1811, show, one of them a wicket of three stumps, the other a wicket of two. The addition of the third stump, as is universally agreed, was due to an incident which occurred in a match of the Hambledon Club in 1 775. " It was observed at a critical point in the game, that the ball passed three times between Mr Small's two stumps without knocking off the bail; and then, first a third stump was added, and seeing that the new style of balls which rise over the bat also rise over the wicket, then but, ft. high, the wicket was altered to the dimensions of 22 in. by 8, and to its present dimensions of 27 in. by 8 in 1817." So writes the Rev. J. Pycroft (1813-1895), quoting fairly closely from Nyren, who wrote many years after the event; but Pycroft is wrong in writing 22 by 8, which should really be 22 by 6. It is hard to believe that the 12 by 24 wicket lasted as long as 1775, for in the laws issued after the meeting held at the " Star and Garter," Pall Mall, where many " noblemen and gentlemen " attended " finally to settle " the laws of the game, we read that the stumps are to be 22 in. and the bail 6. " N.B. - It is lately settled to use three stumps instead of two to each wicket, the bail the same length as before." Regarding all the circumstances one is tempted to believe that Small defended a wicket of two stumps, 22 in. high and 6 in. apart, strange as is the circumstance that the ball should thrice in a short innings - for Small only made 14 runs - pass through them without dislodging the bail, even though the diameter of the ball is a trifle less than 3 in. Allusion is also found to a wicket 12 in. by 6, but it is hard to believe in its existence, unless it was used as a form of handicap. It should be recorded that in advertisements of matches about this time (1787) the fact that three stumps will be used " to shorten the game " is especially mentioned, and that the Hampshire Chronicle of the 15th of July 1797 records that " The earl of Winchilsea has made an improvement in the game of cricket, by having four stumps instead of three, and the wickets 2 in. higher. The game is thus rendered shorter by easier bowling out." In 1788, however, when the M.C.C. revised the laws, reference is made to stumps (no number given, but probably three) 22 in. high and a bail of 6 in. Big scoring in 1796 caused the addition next year of 2 in. to the height and of i to the breadth, making the wicket 24 in. by 7. That three stumps were employed is shown by a print of the medallion of the Oxfordshire County C.C. 1797, forming the frontispiece to Taylor's Annals of Lord's (1903). In 1817 the dimensions now in use were finally settled, three stumps 27 in. high, and a wicket 8 in. wide. Larger wickets have occasionally been used by way of handicap or experiment. The distance between the wickets seems always, or at least as far back as 1700, to have been 22 yds. - one chain.
The Game. - Cricket is defined in the New English Dictionary as " an open-air game played with bats, ball and wickets by two sides of eleven players each; the batsman defends his wicket against the ball which is bowled by a player of the opposing side, the other players of this side being stationed about the field in order to catch or stop the ball." The laws define that the score shall be reckoned by runs. The side which scores the greatest number of runs wins the match. Each side has two innings taken alternately, except that the side which leads by 150 runs in a three days' match or by ioo runs in a two days' match or by 75 runs in a one day match shall have the option of requiring the other side to " follow their innings." In England cricket is invariably played on turf wickets, but in the Colonies matting wickets are often employed, and sometimes matches have taken place on sand, earth and other substances. The oldest form of the game is probably single wicket, which consists of one batsman defending one wicket, but this has become obsolete, though it was very popular in the time when matches were played for money with only one or two, or perhaps four or five, players on a side. Matches between an unequal number of players are still sometimes arranged, but mainly in the case of local sides against touring teams, or " colts " playing against eleven experienced cricketers. In any case two umpires are always appointed, and for English first-class county cricket these are now annually chosen beforehand by the county captains. Two scorers are officially recognized. All the arrangements as to scoreboards, and accommodation for players, members of the club and general spectators, vary considerably according to local requirements. Between six and seven acres forms the most suitable area for a match, but the size of a cricket ground has never been defined by law.
The wickets are pitched opposite and parallel to one another at a distance of 22 yds.; the " bowling crease " being marked with whitewash on the turf on a line with the stumps 8 ft. 8 in. in length, with short " return creases " at right angles to it at each end; but the " popping crease," marked parallel to the wicket and 4 ft. in front of it, is deemed of unlimited length. The captains of the opposing sides toss for choice of innings, and the winner of the toss, though occasionally, owing to the condition of the ground or the weather prospects, electing to put his adversaries in first, as a general rule elects for his own side to bat first. The captain of the batting side sends his eleven (or whatever the number of his team may be) in to bat in any order he thinks best, and much judgment is used in deciding what this order shall be. Two batsmen with strong defensive powers and good nerve are usually selected to open the innings, the most brilliant run-getters immediately following them, and the weakest batsmen going in last. As there must always, except in the obsolete single-wicket cricket, be two batsmen in together, it follows that when ten of the side (in a side of eleven) have been put out, one of the final pair must be " not out "; that is to say, his innings is terminated without his getting out because there is none of his side left to become his partner. The batsman who is thus " not out " is said to " carry his bat," a phrase that recalls a period when two bats sufficed for the whole side, each retiring batsman leaving the implement on the ground for the use of his successor, till at the close of the innings the " not out " man carried it back to the tent or pavilion. As the phrase is not also applied to the last batsman to get out, who would of course have carried the second bat off the ground, it was possibly at one time restricted to a player who going in first survived through the whole innings. It should be observed that the term " wicket " is used by cricketers in a number of different senses. Besides being the name given to the set of three stumps with their two bails when pitched for a match, it is in an extended sense applied to that portion of the ground, also called the " pitch," on which the stumps are pitched, as when it is described as being " a fast wicket," a " sticky wicket " and so forth. It also in several idiomatic expressions signifies the getting out of a batsman and even the batsman himself, as in the phrases: " Grace lost his wicket without scoring," " Grace went in first wicket down," " when Grace got out England lost their best wicket," " England beat Australia by two wickets." The umpires are required to decide questions arising in the course of play and to call the " overs," the " over " being a series of successive deliveries of the ball (usually six) by the bowler from one end of the pitch, the rest of the " out " side, or fielders, being stationed in various positions in the field according to well-defined principles. When an " over " has been bowled from one end a different bowler then bowls an " over " from the opposite end, the alternation being continued without interruption throughout the innings, and the bowlers being selected and changed from time to time by the captain of their side at his discretion. At the end of every over the fielders " change over " or otherwise rearrange their places to meet the batting from the other end. An over from which no runs are made off the bat is called a " maiden." 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. (i) The striker is " bowled " out if the bowler hits the wicket with the ball, when bowling, and dislodges the bail; (2) he is " caught " out if the ball after touching his bat or hand be held by any member of the fielding side before it touches the ground; ( 3 ) he is " stumped " out if the wicket-keeper dislodges the bail with the ball, or with his hand holding the ball, at a moment when the striker in playing at the ball has no part of his person or bat in contact with the ground behind the popping crease, i.e. when the batsman is " out of his ground "; (4) he is out " l.b.w." (leg before wicket) if he stops with any part of his person other than his hand, or arm below the elbow, a ball which in the umpire's judgment pitched straight between the wickets and would have bowled the striker's wicket; (5) if when the batsmen are attempting to make a run a wicket is put down (i.e. the bail dislodged) by the ball, or by the hand of any fieldsman holding the ball, at a moment when neither batsman has any part of his person or bat on the ground behind the popping crease, the nearer of the two batsmen to the wicket so put down is " run out." The remaining four ways in which a batsman may be dismissed are (6) hit wicket, (7) handling the ball, (8) hitting the ball more than once " with intent to score," and (9) obstructing the field.
The positions of the fieldsmen are those which experience proves to be best adapted for the purpose of saving runs and getting the batsmen caught out. During the middle of the 19th century these positions became almost stereotyped according to the pace of the bowler's delivery and whether the batsmen were right or left handed. A certain number of fielders stood on the " on " side, i.e. the side of the wicket on which the batsman stands, and a certain number on the opposite or " off " side, towards which the batsman faces. " Point " almost invariably was placed square with the striker's wicket some ten or a dozen yards distant on the " off " side; " cover point " to the right of " point " (as he is looking towards the batsman) and several yards deeper; " mid on " a few yards to the right of the bowler, and " mid off " in a corresponding position on his left, and so forth. Good captains at all times exercised judgment in modifying to some extent the arrangement of the field according to circumstances, but in this respect much was learnt from the Australians, who on their first visit to England in 1878 varied the positions of the field according to the idiosyncrasies of the batsmen and other exigencies to a degree not previously practised in England. The perfection of wicket-keeping displayed by the Australian, McCarthy Blackham ( b. 1855), taught English cricketers that on modern grounds the " long stop " could be altogether dispensed with; and this position, which in former days was considered a necessary and important one, has since been practically abolished. In many matches at the present day, owing to the character of modern bowling, no more than a single fieldsman is placed on the " on " side, while the number and positions of those " in the slips," i.e. behind the wicket on the " off " side, are subject to no sort of rule, but vary according to the nature of the bowling, the state of the ground, or any other circumstances that may influence the judgment of the captain of the fielding side. Charts such as were once common, showing the positions of the fielders for fast, slow and medium bowling respectively, would therefore to-day give no true idea of the actual practice; and much of the skill of modern captaincy is shown in placing the field.
The score is compiled by runs made by the batsman and by the addition of " extras," the latter consisting of " byes," " legbyes," "wides " and " no-balls." All these are included in the designation " runs," of which the total score is composed, though neither " wides " nor " no-balls " involve any actual run on the part of the batsmen. They are called by the umpire on his own initiative, in the one case if the bowler's delivery passes the batsman beyond the reach of his bat (" wide "), and in the other if he delivers the ball without having either foot touching the ground behind the " bowling crease " and within the " return crease," or if the ball be jerked or thrown instead of being bona fide " bowled." " Wides " and " no-balls " count as one " run " each, and all " extras " are added to the score of the side without being credited to any individual batsman. The batsman may, however, hit a " no-ball " and make runs off it, the runs so made being scored to the striker's credit instead of the " no-ball " being entered among the " extras." The batsman may be " run out " in attempting a run off a " no-ball," but cannot be put out off it in any other way. " Byes " are runs made off a ball which touches neither the bat nor the person of the batsman, " leg-byes " off a ball which, without touching the bat or hand, touches any other part of his person. With the exception of these " extras " the score consists entirely of runs made off the bat.
Batting is the most scientific feature of the game. Proficiency in it, as in golf and tennis, depends in the first instance to a great g. extent on the player assuming a correct attitude for making his stroke, the position of leg, shoulder and elbow being a matter of importance; and although a quick and accurate eye may occasionally be sufficient by itself to make a tolerably successful run-getter, good style can never be acquired, and a consistently high level of achievement can seldom be gained, by a batsman who has neglected these rudiments. 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; it is the necessity for doing this while at the same time he must prevent the ball from rising off his bat into the air in the direction of any one of eleven skilfully-placed fielders, each eager to catch him out, that offers scope for the science of a Grace, a MacLaren or a Trumper. In early days when the wickets were low and the ball was trundled along the ground, the curved bats of the old pictures were probably well adapted for hitting, defence being neglected; but when the height of the wickets was raised, and bowlers began to pitch the ball closer to the batsman so that it would reach the wicket on the first bound, defence of the wicket became more necessary and more difficult. Hence the modern straight-bladed bat was produced, and a more scientific method of batting became possible. Batting and bowling have in fact developed together, a new form of attack requiring a new form of defence. One of the first principles a young batsman has to learn is to play with a " a straight bat " when defending his wicket against straight balls. This means that the whole blade of the bat should be equally opposite to the line on which the ball is travelling towards him, in order that the ball, to whatever height it may bound from the ground, may meet the bat unless it rises altogether over the batsman's hands; the tendency of the untutored cricketer being on the contrary to hold the bat sloping outwards from the handle to the point, as the golf-player holds his " driver," so that the rise of the ball is apt to carry it clear of the blade. Standing then in a correct position and playing with a straight bat, the batsman's chief concern is to calculate accurately the " length " of the ball as soon as he sees it leave the bowler's hand. The " length " of the ball means the distance from the batsman at which it pitches, and " good length " is the first essential of the bowler's art. The distance that consitutes " good length " is not, however, to be defined by precise measurement; it depends on the condition of the ground, and on the reach of the batsman. A " good-length ball " is one that pitches too far from the batsman for him to reach out to meet it with the bat at the moment it touches the ground or immediately it begins to rise, in the manner known as " playing forward "; and at the same time not far enough from him to enable him to wait till after it has reached the highest point in its bound before playing it with the bat, i.e. " playing back." When, owing to the good length of the ball, the batsman is unable to play it in either of these two ways, but is compelled to play at it in the middle of its rise from the ground, he is almost certain, if he does not miss it altogether, to send it up in the air with the danger of being caught out. If through miscalculation the batsman plays forward to a short-pitched ball, he will probably give a catch to the bowler or " mid off," if he plays back to a well-pitched-up ball, he will probably miss it and be bowled out. The bowler is therefore continually trying to pitch balls just too short for safe forward play, while the batsman defends his wicket by playing forward or back as his judgment directs so long as the bowling is straight and of approximately good length, and is ready the instant he receives a bad-length ball, or one safely wide of the wicket, to hit it along the ground clear of the fieldsmen so as to make as many runs as lie and his partner can accomplish before the ball is returned to the wicket-keeper or the bowler. But even those balls off which runs are scored are not to be hit recklessly or without scientific method. A different stroke is brought into requisition according to the length of the ball and its distance wide of the wicket to the " off " or " on " as the case may be; and the greatest batsmen are those who with an almost impregnable defence combine the greatest variety of strokes, which as occasion demands they can make with confidence and certainty. There are, however, comparatively few cricketers who do not excel in some particular strokes more than in others. One will make most of his runs by " cuts " past " point," or by wrist strokes behind the wicket, while others, like the famous Middlesex Etonian C. I. Thornton, and the Australian C. J. Bonnor, depend mainly on powerful " drives " into the deep field behind the bowler's wicket. Some again, though proficient in all-round play, develop exceptional skill in some one stroke which other first-class players seldom attempt. A good illustration is the " glance stroke " off the legs which K. S. Ranjitsinhji made with such ease and grace. All great cricketers in fact, while observing certain general principles, display some individuality of style, and a bowler who is familiar with a batsman's play is often aware of some idiosyncrasy of which he can take advantage in his attack.
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 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. When bowling underhand along the ground was superseded by " length bowling," it was found that the ball might be caused, by jerking, to travel at a pace which on the rough grounds was considered dangerous; hence the law against jerking, which was administered practically by chalking the inside of the bowler's elbow; if a chalk mark was found on his side, the ball was not allowed as fair. The necessity of keeping the elbow away from the side led gradually to the extension of the arm horizontally and to round-arm bowling, the invention of which is usually attributed to John Wills (or Willes; b. 1777) of Kent and Sussex. Nyren, however, says " Tom Walker (about 1790 ) began the system of throwing instead of bowling now so much the fashion "; and, " The first I recollect seeing revive this fashion was Wills, a Sussex man," the date of the revival being 1807. Walker was no-balled. Beldham ( 1766-1862 ) says, " The law against jerking was owing to the frightful pace Tom Walker put on, and I believe that he afterwards tried something more like the modern throwing-bowling. Willes was not the inventor of that kind, or round-arm bowling. He only revived what was forgotten or new to the young folk." Curiously enough, Beldham also writes of the same Tom Walker that he was " the first lobbing slow bowler " he ever saw, and that he " did feel so ashamed of such baby bowling, but after all he did more than even David Harris himself." Roundarm bowling was long and vigorously opposed, especially in 1826 when three matches were arranged between England and Sussex, the Sussex bowlers being round-arm bowlers. When England had lost the first two matches, nine of the professionals refused to take part in the third, " unless the Sussex bowlers bowl fair, that is, abstain from throwing." Five of them did play and Sussex lost, but the new style of bowling had indicated its existence. In 1844 the M.C.C.'s revised law reads, " The ball must be bowled, not thrown or jerked, and the hand must not be above the shoulder in delivery." Round-arm bowling was thenceforth legal. In 1862 Willsher (1828-1885), the Kent bowler, was no-balled by the umpire (Lillywhite) for raising his hand too high, amid a scene of excitement that almost equalled a tumult. Overhand bowling was legalized on the 10th of June 1864 after strenuous opposition. In early days much importance was attached to great pace, but the success of the slow lobbing bowling (pitched up underhand) led to its cultivation; in both styles some of the best performers delivered the ball with a curious high action, thrusting the ball, as it were, from close under the arm-pit. When the advantages of bias (or twist, or break) were first known is not closely recorded, but we read of one Lamborn who (about 1800) could make the ball break from leg so that " the Kent and Surrey men could not tell what to make of that cursed twist of his." Whatever the pace of bowling, accuracy is the essential point, or, more correctly, the power of accurately varying pace, pitch and direction, so that the batsman is never at peace. If the bowler is a mere machine, the batsman soon becomes his master; but the question as to which of the two is supreme depends very largely on the condition of the turf, whether it be hard and true, soft and wet, hard and rough or soft and drying: the first pair of conditions favour the batsmen, the second pair the bowler.
The immense amount of labour and expense devoted to the preparation and care of cricket grounds has produced during the past quarter of a century a perfection of smoothness in the turf which has materially altered the character of the game. On the rough and fiery pitches of earlier days, on which a " long stop " was indispensable, the behaviour of the ball could not be reckoned upon by the batsman with any degree of confidence. The first ball of an " over " might be a " shooter," never rising as much as an inch off the ground, the next might bound over his head, and the third pursue some equally eccentric course. But on the best grounds of to-day, subject to the well-understood changes due to weather, the bound of the ball is so regular as to be calculable with reasonable certainty by the batsman. The result has been that in fine weather, when wickets are true and fast, bowlers have become increasingly powerless to defeat the batsmen. In other words the defence has been strengthened out of proportion to the attack. Bowlers have consequently to a great extent abandoned all attempt to bowl the wicket down, aiming instead at effecting their purpose by bowling close to but clear of the wicket, with the design of getting the batsman to give catches. Many batsmen of the stubbornly defensive type, known in cricket slang as " stonewallers," retaliated by leaving such balls alone together, or stopping them deliberately with the legs instead of the bat.
These tactics caused the game to become very slow; over after over was bowled without an attempt being made to score a run and without apparent prospect of getting a wicket. This not only injured the popularity of the game from the spectator's point of view, but, in conjunction with the enormous scores that became common in dry seasons, made it so difficult to finish a match within the three days to which first-class matches in England are invariably limited, that nearly 70% of the total number of fixtures in some seasons were drawn. Cricketers of an older generation have complained that the cause of this is partly to be found in the amount of time wasted by contemporary cricketers. These critics see no reason why half of a summer's day should be allowed to elapse before cricket begins, and they comment with some scorn on the interval for tea, and the fastidiousness with which play is frequently interrupted on account of imperfect light or for other unimperative reasons. Various suggestions have been made, including proposals for enlarging the wicket, for enabling the attack to hold its own against the increasing strength of the defence. But the M.C.C., the only recognized source of cricket legislation, has displayed a cautious but wise conservatism, due to the fact that its authority rests on no sanction more formal than that of prestige tacitly admitted by the cricketing world; and consequently no drastic changes have been made in the laws of the game, the only important amendments of recent years being that which now permits a side to close its innings voluntarily under certain conditions, and that which, in substitution for the former hard and fast rule for the " follow on," has given an option in the matter to the side possessing the requisite lead on the first innings.
Early Players
If the era of the present form of cricket can very properly be dated from the visit of the first Australian team to England in 1878, some enumeration must be made of a few of the cricketers who took part in first-class matches in the earlier portion of the 19th century. Among amateurs should be noted the two fast bowlers, Sir F. H. Bathurst (1807-1881; Eton, Hampshire), and Harvey Fellowes (b. 1826; Eton); the batsman N. Felix (1804-1876;1876; Surrey and Kent), who was a master of " cutting " and one of the earliest to adopt batting gloves; the cricketing champion of his time Alfred Mynn (1807-1861; Kent); and the keen player F. P. Miller (1828-1875; Surrey). The three Marshams, Rev. C. D. Marsham (b. 1835), R. H. B. Marsham (b. 1833) and G. Marsham (b. 1849), all of Eton and Oxford, were as famous as the Studds in the 'eighties; and R. Hankey (1832-1886; Harrow and Oxford) was a great scorer. In the next generation one of the greatest bats of his own or any time was R. A. H. Mitchell (1843-1905; Eton, Oxford, Hants). A very attractive run-getter was C. F. Buller (b. 1846; Harrow, Middlesex); an all too brief career was that of C. J. Ottaway (1850-1878; Eton, Oxford, Kent and Middlesex); whilst A. Lubbock (b. 1845; Eton, Kent) was a sound bat, and D. Buchanan (1830-1900; Rugby and Cambridge) a destructive bowler, as was also A. Appleby (1843-1902; Lancashire).
Of the professionals, Fuller Pilch (1803-1870) and E. G. Wenman (1803-1897) were great bats; T. Box (1808-1876) the most skilled wicket-keeper of his time; W. Lillywhite (1792-1854), one of the first round-arm bowlers, renowned for the accuracy of his pitch, and W. Clark (1798-1856) possessed wonderful variety of pace and pitch. It was the last-named who organized the All England Eleven, and he was not chosen to represent the players until he had reached the age of forty-seven. George Parr (1826-1891), the greatest leg-hitter in England, had no professional rival until the advent of Richard Daft (1835-1900). J. Dean (1816-1891) was the finest long-stop, Julius Caesar (1830-1878) a hard clean hitter, as was G. Anderson (1826-1902), and T. Lockyer (1826-1869) seems to have been the first prominent wicket-keeper who took balls wide on the leg-side. Of bowlers, E. Willsher (1828-1885) would seem to have been the most difficult, W. Martingell (1818-1897) being a very good medium-paced bowler, and J. Wisden (1826-1884) a very fast bowler but short in his length. Four famous bowlers of a later date are George Freeman (1844-1895), J. Jackson (1833-1901), G. Tarrant (1838-1870) and G. Wootton (b. 1834). With them must be mentioned the great batsmen, T. Hayward (1835-1876) and R. Carpenter (1830-1901), as well as two other keen cricketers, H. H. Stephenson (1833-1896) and T. Hearne (1826-1900). Since the first half of the 19th century the sort of cricket to engage public attention has very greatly changed, and the change has become emphasized since the exchange of visits between Australian and English teams has become an established feature of first-class cricket. First-class cricket has become more formal, more serious and more spectacular. The contest for the county championship has introduced an annual competition, closely followed by the public, between standing rivals familiar with each other's play and record; an increased importance has become attached to " averages " and " records," and it is felt by some that the purely sporting side of the game has been damaged by the change. Professionalism has increased, and it is an open secret that not a few players who appear before the public as amateurs derive an income under some pretext or other from the game. Cricket on the village green has in many parts of the country almost ceased to exist, while immense crowds congregate to watch county matches in the great towns; but this must no doubt be in part attributed to the movement of population from the country districts; and some compensation is to be found in league cricket (see below), and in the numerous clubs for the employees of business firms and large shops, and for the members of social institutes of all kinds, which play matches in the suburbs of London and other cities. At an earlier period two great professional organizations, " The All England," formed in 1846, and " The United All England," toured the country, mainly for profit, playing local sides in which " given men," generally good professional players, figured. They did much good work in popularizing the game, and an annual match between the two at Lord's on Whit-Monday was once a great feature of the season; but the increase of county cricket led eventually to their disbandment.
At this period, and much later, the first-class matches of "MI.C.C. and ground" (i.e. ground-staff, or professionals attached to the club) occupied a far greater amount of importance than is at present the case. In recent years over 150 minor matches of the utmost value in propagating the best interests of cricket are annually played by the leading club. League cricket has of late become exceedingly popular, especially in the North of England, a number of clubs - about twelve to sixteen - combining to form a " League " and playing home-and-home matches, each one with each of the others in turn; points are scored according as each club wins, loses, or draws matches, the championship of the " League " being thus decided.
English County Cricket
The first English inter-county match which is recorded was played on Richmond Green in 1730 between Surrey and Middlesex; but for very many years, though counties played counties, there was no systematic organization, matches often being played at odds or with " given " players, who had no county connexion with the side they represented. This was the natural outcome of the custom of playing for stakes. It was not till 1872 that any real effort was made to organize county cricket. In that year the M.C.C. took the initiative by offering a cup for competition between the counties, six of which were to be selected by the M.C.C., the matches to be played at Lord's, but the scheme fell through owing to the coolness of the counties themselves. It was only in 1890 that the counties were formally and officially classified, Notts (the county club dating from 1859), Lancashire (1864), Surrey (1845), Kent (1842), Middlesex (1864), Gloucestershire (1869), Yorkshire (1862), and Sussex (1839), being regarded as " first-class," as indeed had been the case from the time of their existence; and by degrees other counties were promoted to this class; Somerset in 1893; Derbyshire, Essex, Leicestershire, Warwickshire in 1894; Hampshire in 1895; Worcestershire in 1899; Northamptonshire in 1905.
| 1882 | Lancashire equal Notts | 1895 1896 | Surrey Yorkshire | 1883 | Yorkshire | 1897 | Lancashire | 1884 | Notts | 1898 | Yorkshire | 1885 | Notts | 1899 | Surrey | 1886 | Notts | 1900 | Yorkshire | 1887 | Surrey | 1901 | Yorkshire | 1888 | Surrey t equal Notts | 1902 1903 | Yorkshire Middlesex | 1889 | Lancashire equal Surrey | 1904 1905 | Lancashire Yorkshire | 1890 | Surrey | 1906 | Kent | 1891 | Surrey | 1907 | Notts | 1892 | Surrey | 1908 | Yorkshire | 1893 | Yorkshire | 1909 | Kent | 1894 | Surrey | In 1887 the County Cricket Council had been formed, working with and not against the Marylebone Club, for the management of county cricket, but the council dissolved itself in 1890, and it was then arranged that the county secretaries and delegates should meet and discuss such matters, and request the M.C.C. to consider the result of their deliberations, and practically to act as patron and arbitrator. In 1905 an Advisory Cricket Committee was formed " with the co-operation of the counties, with a view to improve the procedure in dealing with important matters arising out of the development of cricket, the effect of which will be" (the quotation is from the annual report of M.C.C. in 1905) " to bring the counties into closer touch with the M.C.C." Various methods have been tried as to the assignment of points or marks, the following being the list of champion counties up to 1909: Surrey Gloucestershire Notts Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Notts Lancashire equal Notts Notts Lancashire English county cricket is now the most firmly established cricketing institution in the world, but in its earlier stages it owed much in different counties to enthusiastic individuals and famous cricketing families whose energies were devoted to its encouragement and support. To Gloucestershire belongs cester= the honour of the greatest name in the history of the game. Dr W. G. Grace (q.v.) was not only the most brilliant all round cricketer in the world, but he remained supreme after reaching an age when most cricketers have long abandoned the game. He and his two famous brothers, E. M. Grace (b. 1841) and G. F. Grace (1850-1880), rendered invaluable service to their county for many years; and not to their county alone, for the great part they played for a generation in first-class cricket did much to increase the growing popularity of the county fixtures. A separate article is devoted to Dr W. G. Grace, whose name as the champion of the game will always be associated with its history. And of Dr E. M. Grace it may be mentioned that, besides being the most daring field at " point " ever seen, he altogether took 11,092 wickets and scored 75, 62 5 runs. In more recent years some excellent cricketers have been associated with Gloucestershire, such as F. Townsend, and the professional Board; but foremost stands G. L. Jessop, a somewhat " unorthodox " batsman famous for his powers of hitting. What W. G. Grace did for Gloucestershire, Lord Harris (b. 1851) did for Kent, and his services are not to be estimated by his performances in the field alone, great as they were. His influence was always exerted to impart a spirit of sportsmanship and honourable distinction to the national game. Kent had been a home of cricket since the first half of the 18th century, but it was Lord Harris more than any other individual who made it a first-class county, celebrated for the number of distinguished amateurs who have taken part in its matches. The Hon. No Bligh, afterwards Lord Darnley (b. 1859), and F. Marchant (b. 1864), both Etonians like Lord Harris himself; the two Harrovians, W. H. Patterson (b. 1859) and M. C. Kemp (b. 1862), and the Wykehamist J. R. Mason (b. 1874) are names that show the place taken by public school men in the annals of Kent cricket, while the family of Hearnes supplied the county with some famous professionals. Amateur batsmen like W. Rashleigh, C. J. Burnup, E. W. Dillon and A. P. Day have been prominent in the Kent eleven; and in Fielder and Blythe they have had two first-class professional bowlers. The " Kent nursery " at Tonbridge has proved a valuable institution for training young professional players, and contributed not a little to the rising reputation of Kent, which justified itself when the county won the championship in 1906, largely owing to the admirable batting of the amateur K. L. Hutchings.
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