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76 the easiest he has a good break and becomes very deadly; but you see batsmen, some of them not by any means first-rate, merely playing straight forward, and Hearne becomes easy. To get your opponents out on a hard wicket, you must sacrifice some accuracy to obtain turn and twist, and change of pace. Spofforth had both, especially the last; Palmer, Giffen, Turner, and Trumble had the first. This is the great lesson Englishmen have learnt from the Australians, who learnt it for themselves, because in Australia the wickets are more fast and true than they are in England, even in a hot summer. Some few bowlers have break naturally—Richardson has, and Lockwood had; but change of pace cannot be natural, it must be acquired by practice. Spofforth had some break, but he must have acquired his wonderful command of pace by long and diligent practice. To possess either or both of these qualities is to make a man a great bowler, but it is so difficult an art that—with grief I say it—I see no small danger of the ruining of