standing still, it ought to be easy to make it a full-pitch by stepping out to meet it. Mr. Grace does this even to fast bowling.
Having endeavoured to the best of our ability to enunciate a few principles as to defensive tactics, we will now try and discuss offensive tactics, or hitting. A curious feature of the present day is that new hits have come into existence. These have not sprung up because they were not occasionally brought off in earlier days, but formerly when they were the batsman used to apologise to the bowler for having wounded his feelings, and a sort of groan used to be heard all round, as if there had been some gross violation of a cricket commandment. The grounds have improved to such an extent that bowlers have had to resort to new tactics to effect the grand object of all bowlers—namely, to get wickets.
They cannot bowl the first-class batsmen out, so they must place the field accurately and bowl for catches. In order to do this with success the bowling must be accurate to a degree, or rather the bowler must learn to pitch the ball to a nicety on some given spot. He must carry out a predetermined plan likely in his judgment to tempt the batsman to a false hit, having previously arranged his field also in accordance with the same plan. But this extreme accuracy is only compatible with slow bowling, and it is owing to this fact that fast bowling is now at a discount. It is because of the smoothness of the modern wickets, and for no other reason. On rough wickets a wise captain will put on his fast bowlers, if he has got them—not by any means always the case—for they will get wickets at a less cost; the rough ground makes the ball bump, and a fast bumping ball frightens the batsman. He cannot run out to fast bowling; therefore balls of a certain length are never smothered at the pitch as slow bowling sometimes is; consequently the bump, shoot and turn may come, and frequently do come. On such wickets, at the present day, Barnes is the best bowler in England; and Lohmann and Barnes, if they happened to be on the same side, would begin the attack.
