be too much even for full-grown men if they had to do it day after day. I think that, taking everything into consideration, if play begins at 11, luncheon ought to be at 1.30, and play should begin again at 2.30 and go on to 6.30; thus you would get six and a half hours' cricket, and taking the whole season through, this is all that the cricketers can do without wearing themselves out.[1] I suppose it is with a view to stopping waste of time that the M.C.C. have altered the number of balls from five to six per over. Time has been saved, and to slow or medium pace bowlers there has been no great difference, and even to bowlers like Kortright and Richardson the change has not apparently done them harm. It is probable that the extra labour involved has been counterbalanced by the longer rest when the bowling is at the other end. There are many other methods of reform, and putting aside all fantastic proposals such as only batting in sections of three or four batsmen, we may consider the other proposals, and these may be divided roughly into two classes, those
- ↑ We quite agree with this. But at Lord's nowadays play rarely begins before 12: then there is a considerable interval for tea, and stumps are generally drawn at 6.30.—Eds.
