Page:Cricket (Lyttelton, 1898).djvu/20

16 fast bowling and slow, is that fast bowling is far easier to hit behind the wicket on the off-side than slow, as may be seen from the fact that Richardson has, besides the wicket-keep, three fields in the slips at least; while to slow—Tyler, for instance—two would suffice. As every cricketer knows, players are constantly caught in two minds when playing slow bowling, the result being a compromise frequently attended by disaster. To fast bowling there is no time for two minds; your first instinct may be a wrong one, but for better for worse it is the first and only instinct.

A good batsman often leaves his ground to slow bowling, and, meeting the ball either full pitch or the second it leaves the ground, pulls it to leg if a full pitch, or drives it if a half volley. In the case of a full pitch a batsman often has the power to place it where there are no fields; if leg is put square, as he invariably is to slow bowling, he can pull the ball fine out of his reach. Great care, however, is necessary to go out to the