Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/229



SHOULD like to say that good batsmen are born, not made; but my long experience comes up before me, and tells me that it is not so. There are gifts of eye and wrist which nearly all good batsmen possess in a greater or lesser degree that enable them to play certain strokes with great effect; but, to acquire all-round proficiency, I am strongly convinced that constant practice and sound coaching have all to do with it. I try to remember the time when I first handled a bat, and I can recall nothing but the advice that was drilled into me—Stand well up to the wicket; keep your left shoulder well forward; practise constantly and put your whole heart into it.

Opinions vary as to the qualifications a player must possess to be classed as a first-class batsman, and I fear always will vary. Some of the players I have met possessed a beautifully free style, and gave the impression of being able to score largely; but somehow the runs never came. Some had a cramped and ungainly style, which provoked severe comments; but nevertheless the runs did come. Then there were others who kept up their wickets for hours for very small scores; while opposite them were free-hitters who made more runs in a tenth part of the time.

Now it will not do to say that all of them may not be described as first-class batsmen. To score 50 runs off one's own bat in an hour is a very fast rate of scoring, and if it be done in a free, hard - hitting style