As a batsman he is a magnificent hitter, especially in driving and leg-hitting, and he always contrives to keep the ball well down. His defence is sound, and he plays the ball with firmness. He has a peculiar habit of flourishing his bat; but he plays very straight, and comes down on shooters with surprising quickness.
He was a good lob-bowler for years, and his right hand has lost little of its cunning to-day. As a rule he bowls slow, with a good curl from leg; but now and then he puts in a fast yorker, which often proves effective. Half his success has been owing to the smart fielding of his own bowling; and now, as years ago, he is a magnificent field and safe catch anywhere. He has a springy, elastic action in the field; and he goes after the ball in leaps and bounds. He was fielding at long-leg when Gloucestershire played Yorkshire, at Sheffield, on a certain occasion. Yorkshire spectators are invariably free and outspoken, and in this match they kept applauding the way he got over the ground and saved the runs. One extraordinary effort, in which he had to run a long distance, and brought off a magnificent, and what seemed an impossible, catch, roused their enthusiasm, and they unanimously dubbed him the "india rubber gentleman!"
No more genial or popular cricketer has ever played; and he has been ever ready to express an opinion on the game, or listen to one. All classes of cricketers have been tempted by his pleasant face to ask questions of him. But he had a curious experience on one occasion, when we played Lancashire. He was standing outside the hotel—in cricket costume, I believe—having a quiet cigar before starting for the ground for the day's play, when he was accosted by a seedy-looking individual.
"Good-morning! governor, be you an Australian?" asked the seedy one.
"Not quite that," replied Mr. Townsend.
