Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/263

 I shall now refer to the different positions in the field, and begin with the

He is worthy of the first place; for there is little doubt that his is the most important and responsible position of all. He should stand so that he can take the ball immediately it passes the wicket, and at once knock the bails off if necessary.

I would refer my readers to the illustration of G. McGregor on page 197. He (as well as Blackham, the prince of wicket-keepers) stands so close that the fingers almost touch the bails. Their hands are touching each other unless the ball is wide of the wicket, and catching or stumping is done without any show or fuss. They always stand with a full front to the bowler, and seldom move the feet unless the ball is very wide.

The wicket-keeper should be always on the alert, and if he has a doubt as to whether the foot is over the crease should whip off the bails, especially when the ball is on the leg side; for he cannot always see with certainty. But should he knock the bails off when he knows the batsman is in his ground, he should replace them quietly without appealing. Nothing looks so bad in a wicket-keeper as fussiness and appealing without reason.

Until late years our amateur wicket-keepers have never been up to the form of the professional; and by good judges it has been considered owing to their habit of standing too far back, and snapping at the ball instead of taking it quietly.

The wicket-keeper should be quick to go after a ball when it is near the wicket, or when it is played to leg where there is no fieldsman, and try to save the run. He should always be behind the wicket when the ball is thrown in to him. He must not mind hard