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26 the cause of his incompetence; for either his position will be out of rule, or his hands will be wrongly placed on the bat; and if the latter be the case, no man can strike well. Let me also strongly caution the young player against over-hitting, or hitting too hard; this will almost invariably throw him off his balance.

All straight balls should be played straight back, and with an upright bat. To cross a ball is the worst of all bad play.

Draw the right foot back; play back, with the bat upright, as near to the wicket as convenient: the lower edge of the bat slightly turned towards the stumps; the wrist and arms will do the rest, if you ply them well. This is always a safe hit, and many runs are made by it. Add to which, if the batsman play these balls well, the wicket-keeper is frequently obliged to move one of the fieldsmen in, to save the run: this weakens the field, and consequently gives an advantage to the batsman.

Balls dropped short of the length on the on-side, or tosses, must be played on the on-side. The batter has but to set himself steadily to work; to take his best position—his legs right—body upright—to play above the ball, and hit it as hard as he can along the ground. I never wish to see a ball mount: for it always goes farthest when it skims like a swallow; moreover it is then safe, and, better than all, it gets the greatest number of runs. The great beauty of hitting, is to see a batsman go in and get many runs, without giving a chance.