Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/20

 and made an uncommon number of runs before he got rid of him. Lumpy was not much of a bat, and the countryman quickly upset his wicket with a fast daisy-cutter, and won very easily, amidst the uproarious laughter of those present. Lumpy swore he would never play another single-wicket match as long as he lived, and he did not."

Nyren's description of a match is as hearty and enthusiastic as his sketch of the players. " Little Hambledon pitted against All England was a proud thought for the Hampshire men. Defeat was glory in such a struggle; victory, indeed, made us only a little lower than the angels. Half the county would be present, and all their hearts were with us. And whenever a Hambledon man made a good hit, worth four or five runs, you would hear the deep mouths of the whole multitude baying away in pure Hampshire, 'Go hard! go hard! Tich and turn! tich and turn!"

We can shout to-day when occasion requires, but the players of the past seem to have had rather the best of us there.

The Hambledon Club played first on Broad-halfpenny Down, afterwards on Windmill Down, both close to the village of Hambledon. An old painting gives the eleven in their club costume of knee-breeches, stockings, buckles, shoes, and velvet caps. Lord Winchelsea's team some years later played in silver-laced hats.

Harris's introduction of good-length bowling caused the bat to be altered from the hockey shape to a straight form, and playing with a straight bat was now cultivated. There was no law in existence as to its size, and a player named White, of Reigate, appeared at a match with a bat larger than the wicket; but a rule was immediately passed regulating the size, and the Hambledon Club had an iron frame made through which