From the year 1825 down to the present, round-arm bowling has been universal, and it is now quite an exceptional occurrence to come across a fast under-arm bowler of the old style. This is not much to be regretted, as every attribute of good bowling which was obtainable by the fast underarm delivery is much more easy of attainment by the round or over-arm style; and many accomplishments pertaining to the bowler's art are possible to the round-arm which, from the very nature of the action, are impossible to the fast under-arm bowler. Break, spin, and quickness from the pitch are common to both styles, but certainly the two latter are made easier of acquirement by the round-arm style; and with regard to break—an easier matter for the under-arm bowler—the ball that breaks or twists the most is not as a rule the ball that gets the most wickets. To a fast under-arm bowler the variations in flight and pace, so well known to the best round-arm bowlers, are unknown. Slow under-arm bowling, of course, must be excepted from these remarks; later on in this chapter I shall have some thing to say on the subject of this most useful style, which unfortunately in later years seems almost to have died out.
Nowadays all the bowling, i.e. the good bowling, of England is in the hands of professionals, a fact which is greatly to be regretted for several reasons. It is also noticeable that to-day've have barely got one first-class amateur bowler. The falling off in the quality and quantity of amateur bowlers is owing to the great demand there has been in the last few years for professional bowlers at schools. Thirty years ago there was not one professional bowler to every twenty there are now. The large public schools in those days had, as a rule, one professional bowler, who took charge of the ground, coached the boys, and made himself generally useful in various capacities. Consequently, each boy at practice had to bowl. The professional could only bowl to one boy at a time, and so everyone did his very best at practice to bowl straight and well, as a batsman would not care to practise to bowling that was slack and crooked. The outcome of this system resulted in every
