be drawn, instructed them to get out. What followed was merely a burlesque of cricket. The batsmen knocked down their wickets or ran themselves out, while the out side, knowing that they could not win, and not wanting to be defeated, as they would have been if they had gone in to bat, wasted time by actually bowling no-balls, and refusing to put the wicket down or hold catches.
The captain of the in side, by the new rule of the M.C.C., now has the power at any stage he likes of the second innings of his side to declare that the innings is over. Say that his side is 250 ahead and the time is 4 o'clock. The other side have consequently to go in for nearly three hours' batting, and of course in that time they may get out, and the match instead of being drawn may be finished. The runs may not be so numerous, the captain may make a mistake, and the out side may go in and win the match. That is a risk which the captain has to run, but he runs a certain risk now when he tells his men to get out on purpose, and he saves cricket from becoming ridiculous. Besides, it is hard on the young professional to be obliged to get out on purpose; cricket is his business, and a low average might handicap him in his profession.
A small reform that the Australians advocated has also been suggested. The M.C.C. committee have recommended an increase in the number of balls in an over from four to five, and herein we think that they have acted wisely.
The conclusion we arrive at as an upshot of the whole matter is that the recommendations already made are wise and will improve the game, and that still further improvements will ensue if the following regulations become the law of each ground:— (1.) Stricter observance of the rules of time both between the innings and between the fall of each wicket. (2.) A new rule ordaining that matches begin at 11.30 or 12 on the first day, and at 11 sharp on the second and third days. On the leg before wicket question we hold that a change in the law would be better than the little sermon of the M.C.C, but the latter may nevertheless do good, and we sincerely hope it will.
