At the time of writing this chapter, after the season of 1899, the difficulty of getting batsmen out on the smooth wickets is so great that bowlers have been driven to try methods incompatible with the true science of the game. They are not altogether to be blamed. As I have said before, any fool can get runs now, and human nature being what it is, bowlers will bowl whatever seems most likely to get wickets. So fast bowlers pound the ball down, very short, very fast, with the hand as high as nature will allow, to get the batsman caught behind the wicket; but the ball is nothing more nor less than a long hop, and to bowl a series of long hops is not bowling, according to all well-established canons of the art. In the same way slow bowlers, in endeavouring to get as much twist on the ball as possible, have sacrificed all length and precision, and in some cases are driven to bowl outrageous bad balls in order to tempt an Abel or a Noble to hit the ball up. When cricket has arrived at this stage of its development it is time for reforms to be made, but this must be reserved for another chapter.
