by making the bat narrower and thicker. But in the earliest days the bowling was mostly fast underhand, and much of it along the ground, or "sneaks," and the only way to deal with bowling such as this was to drive it forward—to cut was impossible. Beldham remembered those days and spoke of the cricket with contempt, and indeed it probably was dull to men like Beldham who saw the next stage of development. But to the historian there is a picturesque side, and many of us can remember something of the same sort of match in the south of England on the village greens, when the spectators used to sit smoking churchwarden pipes, with beer in china jugs on small round tables, and when many a match used to be finished in one day.
William Lillywhite and Broadbridge, as I have said, brought in round-arm bowling; and with no heavy rollers or mowing machines invented, I should think it probable that many bowlers were successful who were nevertheless not possessed of great skill. Readers must have a proper sense of proportion and make a little allowance, but there is a great deal of truth in
