Page:The Crisis in Cricket and the Leg Before Rule (1928).djvu/17



N 1774 the first law relating to l.b.w. was passed, and it was as follows: "The striker is out... if the striker puts his leg before the wicket with a design to stop the ball and actually prevent the ball from hitting by it."

It was no skilled draftsman who wrote this rule, because nobody can say what sort of "design" a batsman can have in his mind or what is meant by "before the wicket," but a great deal of light is thrown on the subject by some remarks made by the most famous cricketer of his day, William Beldham. This dear old man was born in 1766 and died in 1862, and in the well-known book, The Cricket Field by the Rev. James Pycroft, Beldham is quoted as saying, "I remember when many things first came into the game which are common now. The law of l.b.w. was not made nor wanted till Ring, one of our best hitters, was shabby enough to get his leg in the way and take advantage of the bowlers, and when Tom Taylor, another of the best hitters, did the same, the bowlers found themselves beaten, and the law was passed to make leg before wicket out." Mr. Pycroft's story may be taken to be correct; he was born in 1813, and must often have seen and talked with Beldham and could hardly have invented this saying. In those days newspapers were few in number and casual in