Page:Cricket (Lyttelton, 1898).djvu/92

88 important matches it seems to me that the fear of losing is the predominant feeling, and that the side which goes in last adopts invariably the timid course, and, fearing to risk defeat, plays the poking game.

To sum up, an ideal captain should be an excellent judge of the game, be possessed of an imperturbable coolness, a calm tender, and firmness of character, and should have besides a cheerful and popular manner. To possess all these qualities is given to very few, and as a consequence bad captains are many. Naturally, as it is difficult for one professional to have much control over his brethren, there have been few professionals who have succeeded as captains ; but George Parr and Shrewsbury were, and are, good and capable captains. V. E. Walker, Mitchell, Webbe, Shuter, Lord Hawke, and Hornby were all excellent. The first, from his well-known and well-deserved popularity, his great knowledge of the game, and his keenness, I reckon to have been perhaps the best captain that ever lived; and Trott the Australian, in the