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HEN cricketers talk about style in batting they generally mean style in hitting. There is a style in defensive play, but it is not noticed so much. In discussing style in this chapter, the word is limited to style in the scoring of runs, in cuts, off and on drives and leg hits. The real and most fascinating style is not easy to define, but it is seen perhaps best when the ball goes to the ropes along the ground with an apparently entire absence of effort. In these days it is carried out to perfection in Woolley's off drives, and the general appearance is enhanced by the fact that the striker is a tall spare man with little muscular developm ent; for the natural supposition would be that a hard hit would come from brute strength, which is far from being the case. What is necessary is perfect timing and power and flexibility of wrist, and this has been often seen in batsmen of spare build, such as Alfred Lubbock and Daft in the 'sixties, and in later times William Gunn, L. C. H. Palairet, Francis Ford, Woolley, and Seymour of Kent, to name only a few.

Some critics maintain that the best style is that which produces most runs, and this is to some extent true, but the best style is not necessarily the most attractive to watch. W. G. Grace had a great style, with perfect power of