Page:Jubilee Book of Cricket (Second edition, 1897).djvu/481

Rh How cricket has gradually developed into its present condition is the history of the game during the Victorian Era. Into this it would be impossible for me to go deeply here, even if I had the necessary knowledge of facts. Besides, the historical part of Dr W. G. Grace's splendid book on the game practically leaves nothing unsaid.

There are two sides to cricket. There is cricket as a game consisting of bowling, fielding, and batting; and there is cricket in the shape of clubs and club management. The two aspects of the game naturally are almost inextricably mixed up, and react continuously upon each other.

The evolution of skill in cricket is by no means easy to trace. Whether the players of to-day are better or worse than those of the past is not and cannot be decided, so different are the conditions under which the game is played now from what they used to be. The gradual improvement in wickets alone would make any comparison difficult. But there is no doubt that the number of good players has enormously increased. I should say that there are fifty good bowlers and fifty good bats nowadays where there was one in the days of William Clarke and Alfred Mynn. As to quality, there are no data for comparison. But it is only reasonable to suppose that over-arm bowling gives a bowler wider scope than did either under-arm or round-arm; and that proportionately batsmen have become more versatile, and have learnt the use of more strokes. It is instructive to notice that in the old days straight balls were considered the most difficult and dangerous, while those off the wicket were regarded as godsends to be promptly turned into runs; whereas now, batsmen delight in a straight bowler, and find it safer to hit straight balls than any others: it is the ball off the wicket that gives us most trouble.

The three changes in the style of bowling are landmarks in the history of cricket as a game of skill. The higher the arm is allowed to go, the greater the skill required in the batsman. No doubt the old under-arm bowlers were very accurate and clever, and reached as high a standard in their line as modern bowlers have reached in theirs: if we could call back old William Clarke from the fields of asphodel he would be sure to take a high place in our averages. But there is this to be taken into account: an under-arm bowler could only bowl a certain number of different balls, and when round-arm bowling was legalised there were added to the game all those balls which round-arm bowlers could deliver but under-arm bowlers could not: similarly, when