Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/257

 then you have an excellent chance of getting him out. It used to be considered a very good plan to bowl a yorker to a batsman immediately he came in, on the assumption, I believe, that he would not be ready for it. A straight half-volley was also thought likely to find him half-hearted in hitting, and a catch sure to follow. Now most batsmen have made up their minds to get either of those balls early in their innings, and you must not be disappointed if you fail to succeed with it. One thing I can tell you: it is a huge mistake to give him a short one. It is the one ball which he can see best of all, and he rarely fails to play it. Repeat it, and you have given him a favourable start, and will have some difficulty in finding his weak spot and getting him out.

It is better a thousand times to bowl an over-pitched ball than a short one at any time of his innings. You cannot do better than begin in your usual way, aiming at a good-length straight ball, and not attempting too much. If you find that he is playing confidently, then you may change your tactics and tempt him to hit. You need not be disheartened because your good balls have been played so easily, for there are more ways of getting a batsman out than bowling him. The mistake is too often made of pegging straight at the wicket to keep down the runs, trusting that the batsman will sooner or later allow one to pass him. Maiden overs are useful in their way, and serve a good purpose when they are bowled by a change bowler to give the principal bowler of his side a rest, but a really first-class bowler has something else to think about. He is played to get men out, and by hook or crook he means to do it.

Messrs. Spofforth, Boyle and Ferris, of the Australians, and Mr. A. G. Steel, Freeman, A. Shaw, Southerton, and Tom Emmett, were a treat to witness in that respect. They gave the batsman no rest, and tried