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106 him on the leg at all, he deserved to be given out, properly or improperly. McDonnell agreed with him. Both were batsmen, and I. D. Walker was a lob bowler also. To be given out l.b.w. a batsman's legs must be in a straight line between the two wickets, but it is not necessary that the legs should be in this position to anything like the extent that is seen in these days. From the dread with which some batsmen seem to regard any alteration in this rule of l.b.w., it would seem that the ball is constantly hitting the batsmen on the legs. I believe, on the contrary, that it would surprise some of our friends if the truth on this point could be known. I should like to ask any of our first-rate performers to carefully note how often in an innings of a hundred the ball hits his leg at all without first hitting the bat. I believe that many an innings of over fifty has been played by W. G. Grace, and not one ball has hit anything except his bat or gloves. The upshot of an alteration in the rule will be, in my opinion, a blessed diminution in the number of runs scored by second and third rate batsmen; but first-class players will score very much as they do now, and if, as I believe, this