Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/230

 always commands our admiration. To score the same number in two or three hours by patient defence and quiet placing may not receive the same amount of praise, but under certain conditions it may be a more valuable innings to one's side. I do not sympathise with the batsman who plays only to keep up his wicket, and does not try to hit; but I do sympathise with those who, not possessing great hitting powers, keep adding quietly, though slowly, to the score as best they can.

I am now speaking to the young player, and will touch upon details that are too often neglected when he begins to play.

It may be safely laid down that the duty of a batsman is to make runs, and that he who can make them quickly or slowly as occasion requires belongs to the very highest class.

First let me urge upon him to practise in earnest from the outset, and if possible to get his first lesson from an experienced player. He need not have it from one who in his time made his hundreds against the finest bowling in England, and who talks about the glories of the past; a humbler individual, who has a real love for the game, will often be of more use, and will not be averse to showing how it is done. He has, in all likelihood, been through the mill himself, and knows that nothing short of patient practice will lead to success. That is the teacher worth listening to; but the pupil should not be content with his help alone. He should seek for every opportunity to witness the great players of the day, and watch their styles attentively, so that he may have both example and precept.

One of the first essentials to the making of a good batsman is a good wicket. There are very few schools of any importance now without a cricket-ground, and the pitch is generally well looked after; but there are hundreds of beginners living in the country who are not so favoured,