BOWLING.
“Every cricketer should be able to bowl when called upon to do so
by his captain. Every man who has played cricket has bowled at a
net, and he certainly has an action which is different from
everybody else’s.”--_From the Badminton Volume._
“Anything that improves bowling even a little is to be looked upon
as an unmixed boon to the game. The number of bowlers who have
hitherto made an honest attempt to acquire the knack is extremely
small, so that we need not forecast from the past what the future
might be.”--_Edward Lyttelton._
INTRODUCTORY.
More bowlers and better bowlers are sadly needed if amateurs are to hold
their own against professionals in other games besides Lawn Tennis and
Ping-pong. Bowlers are more and more needed in these days of good
pitches, when the caking ground, the bowler’s conjuror, cannot be had to
order.
The cause of the behindhandness of bowling is partly the excellence of
the plumb-wicket, partly the rise of the Pro bowler (without a
corresponding rise of the Pro or Amateur fielder), and partly the
consequent head-play demanded of the bowler, who to-day must think hard
and must also _be_ hard--must endure. But the cause lies less in the
degeneracy of the bowler than in the progress of the batsman and his
chances of scoring, the use of the heavy roller (to which Mr. R. H.
Lyttelton so often calls attention), and last but not least the fatal
theory that the bowler is born not made.
Of course the bowler is born--who isn’t? But whether or no he may be
made if the right means be adopted, remains to be ascertained by
experiment, the only teacher. We must suspend judgment, must insist on
ἐποχή, until some sort of method of making a bowler has been
fairly tried. We freely grant a certain “luck” in the finding of a
natural action with free swing and fine break. Yet we may still believe
that _proper_ practice, as distinct from casual and persistent
plugging, may work wonders.
Anyhow, all should learn to bowl a bit, not only for their own pleasure
and in order to get a place in a team, but also because the future of
Cricket largely depends on the excellence and the variety of the
bowling.
More and superior bowlers are urgently wanted, whether wicket-keeping
and fielding be improved or not (of course the worse the fielding is,
the better the bowling must be); whether batting be cramped or not (see
the Chapter on Reforms); and whether the conditions of bowling be
improved or not, as by the smaller bat, the larger wicket, the shorter
innings, the artificial pitch to take the full break, and so on.
There is a great opening for every one who can learn to bowl. Is there
no _practical_ advice to be offered besides such hints as: “Bowl
naturally,” “Have an easy swing,” “Get the length,” “Put on a break,”
“Use a high action,” “Vary and conceal the pace, etc.”? At present no
writer says, “Develop the right muscles rightly first.” No writer seems
to have sought what muscles are used by most good bowlers, and how they
may best be developed. As to the exercisers and developers, they are in
my opinion excellent for mere increase in the size of certain muscles,
for weight-lifting, for rowing, for gymnastics, for pushing in the
football scrum, but infamously worse than useless for bowling purposes
until speed has already been acquired. Later on, we shall expose a few
fallacies about bowling, especially the fallacy that premature failure
means perpetual disability, whereas the real fault may lie with the
undeveloped mechanism of bowling; thus I myself after a few weeks of
bedroom-practice had added an inch to the upward extension of my arm,
and can move my wrist and fingers freely in more directions than before.
The first thing is to find out what muscles are used and how. This we
may do by watching good bowlers like Hirst, and by asking them, at the
beginning of the season, where they _ache_. These muscles we may
practise by fast full movements and fast arrested movements, not by
strain-exercises. Thus, when we find the first finger of the expert
nearly worn out, we may conclude that this finger is a potent factor in
success. Till we can use it, let us not despair. This is only one
example. Personally I do not see how any one could expect to bowl
decently with trunk, shoulder, wrist, and fingers as stiff as mine were.
Having found out the mechanisms, we must secure them; we must be content
with nothing short of mastery, especially in these days of
plumb-wickets. The beginning need not be too fast; medium bowlers have
succeeded as well as fast, and have lasted longer.
And now as to the
ORDER OF LEARNING.
Bowling is in Cricket very much what serving is (or should be) in
Racquets and Tennis; very much the same order can be observed as in
these games, apart from the bowling at nets, at a stump, and against a
wall--all of which are useful afterwards.
1. First comes _the mechanism_, the control of the requisite muscles and
combinations of muscles. For this control certain exercises may be
outlined; they are suggestive rather than complete. Let each reader and
teacher add his own. But the mechanism must become easy before the
would-be bowler decides which style he will adopt. Otherwise
[Illustration: XX.--Bowling, third position: bowling arm extended fully
forwards and downwards, body facing forwards, back leg fully extended.
[_To face page 61._
]
[Illustration: XXI.--Bowling, second position: bowling arm extended
fully upwards, body coming round with arm.
[_To face page 61._
]
what is naturally easy may be practically uneconomical or risky, as
almost every one of my “natural” movements at any game seems to have
been. Let the beginner begin without a ball.
_a._ Notice the extension of the back leg in Hirst’s photograph (XX.);
that is a simple yet important item. The hand and shoulder are extended
fully backwards and downwards.
_b._ The arm reaches upwards and, in some cases, outwards. Try that,
without straining. Having formed the full extension (do not neglect the
extra inch that the _shoulder_ can give), then point upwards with your
first and middle fingers, and, keeping them as far as possible in the
same direction, turn the arm round quickly in both ways. It is as if you
wished to visit a distant possession of your kingdom and were not
content merely to reach it but wished to take an excursion when you had
reached it--to become more familiar with it. The top of the stretch will
be seen in Ranjitsinhji’s book, in the photographs on pp. 76, 79, 90,
99, 101, 104 (First Edition), as well as in the one of Hirst in this
volume (XXI.). Abel says:--
“Before you settle on any particular style of bowling, try various
plans, and that which is easiest and most effective you should
practise continually, but I should strongly recommend the high
delivery.”
An exception is when you have some good leg-fielders, and dare to
imitate W. G.’s effective low action round the wicket.
_c._ The sideways position of the body during the moment of delivery
(see Hirst) seems more usual than the position facing the batsman. This
means some of that body-swing which the golfer uses, in common with the
tennis-player, the mower, the pitch-forker, and others. It is described
in the Volume on Training.
_d._ After the bowling and (see Hirst), in the case of some experts,
before it also, the hand comes right down in front, near the left knee.
Let the arm come down from the full upward extension to this position,
preserving the outward stretch as long as possible. The shoulder comes
with it.
_e._ The wrist is important. Hold your elbow close to your side, and
your palm, fingers upwards, in front of your face, as if you were going
to read your own fortune. Then twist it round smartly as far as it will
go, the thumb moving across to your left, the little finger away to your
right. Recover the first position smartly, and repeat many times.
Another wrist-exercise is the one straight up and down. Starting from
the first position, bend the hand briskly towards you, as if to fan
yourself; then briskly back again.
_f._ The fingers and thumb, but especially the first finger, must
acquire full extensions, full contractions, and the power of rapid yet
strong movements in various directions. For example, imagine yourself to
be spinning a peg-top with your first finger, now in one direction, now
in the other. A second exercise is to move the tips of all the fingers,
separately, sharply down towards the palm, and sharply back again.
We need a teacher to tell beginners and others which part of their
mechanism is weak or slow, which part is not doing its share of work,
which part is working wrongly, and so on.
As a change, the exercises may be applied, _mutatis mutandis_, to
left-hand practice.
THE ACTION OF BOWLING
has already been hinted at in these exercises. But, before the ordinary
action, may come a few words about the lob, the use of which Mr. Edward
Lyttelton advocates so well. The following ideas are mostly his.
We seldom see lob-bowlers to-day. Perhaps many promising boys have been
discouraged by too much hitting of their lobs, or too bad fielding (or
badly-placed fielding), or too little practice (at a stump and onto a
small piece of paper). Yet lobs may be very useful when runs are coming
fast; they are like slow twist-services at Tennis or Lawn Tennis--one is
ashamed not to kill them. As a change at any time they may pay, since
unlike most bowling they break either way and hang.
They must _not_ be long hops; they must _not_ be too slow. The slowest
ball should be the one outside the off-stump, and twisting away. The
spin is like that which one gives to a billiard ball with one’s fingers;
or we might imagine the fingers to be doing to the ball what Pettitt’s
racket sometimes does in one of his services at Tennis, and Mr. A. W.
Gore’s in his forehand drive at Lawn Tennis. The high full pitch does
not need any spin, except perhaps some drag in the air if one can manage
that. The bowling should generally be round the wicket, and have a long
run: its exact length should be measured and a mark made where one is to
start. A stop must not be made at the crease except in order to vary the
pace.
By practising lobs, at games of snob-cricket if not elsewhere, one can
learn a great deal about the twist, the pace, the length, the height of
the ball for various purposes. It forms an easy apprenticeship. If the
bowling be with an indiarubber ball, and the batting be with a stick,
then we have excellent practice for batting also, since the indiarubber
ball gives confidence to the shrinking right foot and yet receives all
the break that is given to it and so encourages the bowler.
The next kind of bowling to learn is the low-action round-arm type, such
as W. G. and many of the old cricketers home from India indulge in. It
breaks from the leg to the off, coming with the arm as well as with the
wrist and perhaps the fingers also. It tempts to leg-hits, and needs
good on-side fielding of the kind that E. M. Grace used to show at leg.
Then comes orthodox bowling with the high action, when the needed
muscles are well under control. Do not settle on your action--unless you
are a genius-bowler--until you have mastered the mechanism. If you do,
you may throughout your career fail because some one or more of the
important elements have not been brought into the work--perhaps those
shoulder-muscles. Stretch your arm up and out and see if it is limber:
mine used to be shockingly rigid and cramped. But having exercised the
required parts fully and briskly, then find _your_ action after
experimenting with several. It is not likely that you will be able to
bowl well with several actions, though in Tennis I find that at least
three utterly different types of service (like those of Saunders or
Fairs, Latham or Lambert, and Pettitt) can and almost must be used in
the same set. And serving at Tennis is no less elaborate than bowling at
Cricket. Indeed the two are closely parallel. At Racquets also I
distinguish three or four different actions without appreciable
disadvantage. Theoretically I do not see why a moderately good bowler
(as distinct from the very best) should not vary his action.
[Illustration: XXII.--Bowling, first position; bowling arm back and
down, body facing sideways, weight on back leg.
[_To face page 67._
]
We may consider first the medium-paced bowler with a run of let us say
five or six yards. This should probably be from a fixed spot, and should
not be checked at the wicket except occasionally for the sake of variety
of pace. Perhaps the action should begin as it will end, for example
with the hand down near the left knee (see Hirst): at Racquets and
Tennis I find I serve better--and service here is analogous to bowling
at Cricket--if I begin with the position of the racket with which I want
to finish up. The principle is _Respice finem_. Others begin with the
hand outstretched to the full as it will be at the moment of delivery.
These are two plans that are worth trying. Probably the body should be
sideways as the bowling starts, not only in order to conceal the ball,
but also in order to add the extra body-swing from the hips. And before
the arm is lifted it is brought far back and down by many bowlers, as is
shown in Photograph XXII., of Hirst. This may be compared with the
backward swing of the driver at Golf. Perhaps here, as in Golf, there
should be no interval or stop between the swinging back of the hand and
the swinging of it forward again for the delivery.
It is generally agreed that the action itself shall be high, somewhat as
a server at Lawn Tennis has more chance of serving into the court and
well if he takes the ball high in the air: the ball from above--and, as
we have said, a man can by daily stretching of shoulder and of arm, of
leg and foot, add an inch or two to his bowling stature--comes with more
bump, more devilry, more break; is harder to smother, often harder to
drive; whereas the low delivery can usually be played forward with
safety and confidence (except the W. G. round-arm round the wicket), and
is easier to see.
With the delivery let the right hand and shoulder and the head come well
forward and downward, the head having previously been back and up, to
give full sight of the pitch and batsman.
The back leg, from the hip to the ball of the foot, is stretched at full
tension without loss of balance. For there must be immediate recovery in
case of a sharp return or a quick run, in which latter case one moves
behind the wicket and away from the direction of the stroke. We shall
come back to this directly.
We have already suggested how much can be learnt about length and
break, etc., from lobs, and about break and drag, etc., from the W. G.
action round the wicket. Here we may add that every bowler should be
able to bowl round the wicket as well as over it. At first the action is
likely to be uncomfortable, and the arrangement of fielders on the
leg-side needs care. But bowling round the wicket is almost as good as a
complete change; it nearly turns one bowler into two. The batsman has to
face differently, and probably he tends to send out his left leg in the
wrong direction. I have noticed that, against left-hand round-the-wicket
bowlers like Hirst, the batsman generally sends out his left leg far too
much towards the left and “away from the batting business” (as Abel
calls this fault). Moral: learn to bowl left-hand round the wicket.
As to the _ways of holding the ball_, these actions may at first be
tried without a ball at all; to grip a ball would probably cramp the
free swing. Let the free swing first be formed. In the same way I found
that in Tennis services I got the best training without a racket at all;
the actions then went with a pleasant and easy rapidity, until they
became habitual at that pace. Then I added the cramping racket-handle,
having already acquired freedom as my own. Get correctness and pace and
ease before adding anything that might cramp and fetter not only the
small extremity, the hand, but also the large basic and motor muscles.
Certainly do not grip the ball before the action; that would tire you
and might stiffen your whole apparatus. As a rule, let the tightest grip
come just before the very moment of delivery.
There are various grips, of which Photographs XXIII.-XXVI., of Hirst’s
hand, will show two. A study of these will be more useful than any
verbal description. Notice, however, that (1) the little finger is
scarcely used at all; (2) the third finger is not always used; (3) the
first finger and the thumb do most of the holding and moving; (4) the
ball is not held in the palm (except for the sake of a change)[5]; (5)
the seam is the part by which the fingers secure their grip and movement
(again except for the sake of a change).
The grips can easily become familiar
[Illustration: XXIII.--One of Hirst’s grips when he bowls: the little
finger does not touch the ball, and only the knuckle of the third finger
does.
[_Between pages 70 and 71._
]
[Illustration: XXIV.--Same grip for right hand bowler.
[_Between pages 70 and 71._
]
[Illustration: XXV.--Another of Hirst’s grips: all the fingers touch the
ball, the little one only just with its side.
[_Between pages 70 and 71._
]
[Illustration: XXVI.--Same grip for right hand bowler.
[_Between pages 70 and 71._
]
friends if a ball be held in the hand at odd moments. I recommend a Lawn
Tennis ball to begin with, until the fingers become accustomed to the
stretching.
Both hands should be trained, just as both right-hand and left-hand
actions should be assimilated. The chance of becoming a left-hand bowler
(for occasional variety if not regularly) is not one to be missed,
especially in these days of billiard-table wickets.
DIRECTION.
The direction should at first be regulated chiefly by the position of
the body, especially the feet, and by the larger muscles; without loss
of the free swing, however. Aim at a chalk wicket on a wall--an old Lawn
Tennis or Squash ball will do to begin with--or try to get someone to
stand at the further side of a wicket on a level bit of ground: then you
two bowl at that wicket alternately. Correct your mistakes by
_exaggerating in the opposite direction_ (a principle invaluable for
self-correction throughout games and athletics and life). If you are
bowling too much to the off-side, then either keep your body turned
further to the (batsman’s) on-side, or else make your shoulder and arm
and hand swing less freely and extendedly and fully to the off, and more
fully out to the on. Stretch out and away at the end of the swing, and
“follow through.” But probably you will be bowling too much to the on;
in that case either alter your feet or else make your shoulder and arm
and hand swing more fully over and across to the off. For practice, keep
it extended out there. Hold it at its extreme limit, and then add
another inch to the reach. Exaggerate, but always follow well through. I
have never seen this last and most important point mentioned in any book
or writing.
Of course in actual practice and play one must be able to bowl
persistently to the off. To keep the ball to the off, one must bowl at
an imaginary wicket there. One needs the power of forming a picture in
the mind’s eye. (In Tennis I picture an imaginary net two inches above
the real one; that is _my_ net, and I ignore the real one.) The reasons
why orthodox bowlers bowl to the off are that balls off the wicket are
harder to meet in their own line with a straight bat, so long as the
right foot is kept rigid. The orthodox bowler has most of his fielders
to the off, for catches owing to the crooked bat. If the batsman tries
to pull into the desert on the on-side, so as to escape the forest of
fielders on the off-side, he generally runs a risk. That is what the
bowler wants.
Besides, “it is worth remembering, when bowling to a quick-footed
player, that he can run out with more safety to a dead straight ball
than to one upon the off. It is very difficult to keep a ball down when
it pitches some distance to the side of you.” (The writer adds “after a
big drive, or after a couple of big drives, it is bad tactics to drop
the next ball very short.”)
Having acquired a free bowling swing with full extension of hand and arm
and shoulder and back muscles and left leg, and in an accurate line
towards the imaginary stump on the off-side, one can then learn to vary
the line slightly, using for this purpose not only the general direction
of the feet and body and arms, but also the smaller movements of the
wrist and even of the fingers.
But first get the line safe and sure. Don’t yet bother about length or
pace or break. Get direction. Concentrate on that.
LENGTH AND HEIGHT.
Though there is no absolutely good length in bowling, yet the following
is useful as a general rule:--“For a fast bowler a ball that pitches on
a spot within from five to seven yards from the batsman’s wicket is
‘good-length’; for medium pace, the spot lies between four and five
yards; for slow, between three and four yards. Notice that the faster
the bowling the wider is the margin of ‘good-length.’”
This general rule must be altered according to the state of the ground
(wet, dry, etc.), the reach of the batsman, which depends not only on
his size but also on his use or non-use of his feet, his “class”
(witness the rule, keep a good player playing forward, a bad player
playing back), the previous balls which have led up to a certain ball,
and so on.
A more comprehensive definition of a good-length ball is that it is just
beyond the spot at which a player can play forward with safety, and yet
is not a long hop. It is the ball which puts the player in two minds;
the ball of which he loses sight; the ball to which he may pay the high
compliment of the “half-cock” stroke.
The obvious exceptions are yorkers and full-pitches, which may be
excellent balls in due season, and balls to elicit catches.
The yorker is admitted by most authorities to be a useful length to
begin with--except with a few batsmen like W. G. It “masquerades” as a
full-pitch or half-volley, and succeeds because it is despised as such.
As to the full-pitch, it has several useful varieties. There is the ball
which will fall on the top of the wicket--few batsmen like that. Such a
ball need not be led up to. Let it be fast, and it is an important unit.
It should be frequently practised, after the direction has been
mastered. For it is hateful alike to most sloggers, pokers, and well-set
batsmen. Then there is the slower full-pitch about the height of the
knees. But the fielders must have been carefully placed.
How can one learn to get good lengths--for there are many? How can one
learn to use any length at will? For, obviously if the wicket be
“plumb,” then it may be the bowler’s only hope either to keep a fair
length and trust in the impatience of human nature, or else to try
different lengths.
[Illustration]
Bowl a ball lazily, not too high; it will fall short. Bowl another with
a full upward stretch of arm and shoulder; you then have a larger
circle. If you let the ball go at the right moment, it will not fall
short. You can regulate the length, then, by the amount of extension
that you employ to give a greater or smaller curve to your hand and the
ball, and by the place (within the curve) at which you let the ball go
from your hand. While the hand is rising, the sooner you let the ball go
the higher that ball will fly; during the downward curve, while the hand
is falling, the same is true. Grip the ball till the end of a falling
swing, and it may drop quite near to your feet (though there is a swing
which scarcely falls at all). The ball which is shorter should generally
be bowled a little higher: it was thus that Shaw used often to vary his
length and height. He was able to hit any spot on the ground. It is
good practice for length and height to put a handkerchief or (later) a
small piece of paper or a silver coin now on this spot and now on that,
and to make sure of pitching the ball on it with reasonable frequency.
The length may be regulated not only by the extension of the arm and
hand, and the moment at which one releases the ball, but also by the
rest or action of the fingers at this last moment. After one is able to
hit a small spot at will, one can bowl for an imaginary spot, just as
one can bowl for an imaginary off-wicket.
PACE.
With regard to regulating the pace of the ball, perhaps the medium pace
is the best to acquire first. Anyhow, the increase in speed should be
gradual. Control of direction and of length should precede control of
pace, though it would be impossible to separate the three arts
altogether.
In answer to the question of how the pace can be regulated, Mr. Edward
Lyttelton writes as follows, with special reference to lobs:--
“There are various ways of doing this. One is to increase the
length or speed of your run. It is a plain truth that the pace of
the ball depends on the run, as well as on the swing of the arm; as
can be verified by observing the impetus given to projectiles
thrown from a railway-carriage window. Now the pace of the run up
to the crease before the ball leaves the hand is of small
importance; the difference depends on the ball being propelled by a
body in fast motion or by one hardly moving at all. So you can run
fast up to the crease, and, just at the moment of bowling, stop
dead. This will give the ball a slow flight, even though your arm
moves through the air at its ordinary rate. Or you may take your
usual number of strides, but each a little longer than usual. This
gives extra speed to the run, and consequently to the ball, but the
batsman can hardly perceive the reason why. His eyes are fixed on
the bowler’s arm. Lastly, there is the trick of giving the ball a
forward spin with the tips of the fingers as it leaves the hand,
which causes a fast bound from the pitch. Combined with a fast run,
this spin makes a ball come along at a surprising pace, without the
arm doing anything out of the common. Certain it is that very few
lob-bowlers study the run up to the wicket sufficiently. It ought
not to be mechanically uniform.”
Slow bowling, as Mr. A. G. Steel points out, may have numerous
advantages. It may curve in the air. The batsman has to hit with more
force, with more risk of hitting up, more chance of being stumped if he
runs out, more chance of being caught at the wicket; the slow bowler has
greater control over the pitch of the ball and its spin; he can recover
his balance so quickly and so thoroughly that himself he becomes an
extra man in the field, having plenty of time to stop a drive and to get
behind and put down the wicket when the ball is thrown on; he can last
longer.
But he must pitch the ball further up, nearer to the batsman’s reach; he
may be hit hard and placed anywhere unless he can make his ball hang in
the air or otherwise deceive the batsman, as when the bowler sends it
from the palm of the hand, not from the fingers.
Slow medium bowling is safer; and as a general rule medium bowling
should be practised before very slow or very fast be attempted. Perhaps
for most ordinary bowlers it should form the staple pace, so easily can
it be made a little faster or a little slower. It has this advantage
over very slow bowling: that it need not be pitched so far up. It has
this advantage over very fast bowling, that it can use the break both
ways, and can be kept up without much fatigue. He who bowls well within
his pace runs little risk of straining himself, although every now and
then (like the slow bowler) he can put in an occasional fast ball for a
change. No one should ever bowl so fast as to endanger the swing and the
knack, as so many boys do; or so fast that he dare not return to the
slower for the silly fear of being hit.
Nevertheless--as I once heard a coach remark--if you’re a fool perhaps
you’d better bowl fast.
Pace may be varied, somewhat as length may be varied (see above); for
example, by a longer or shorter, quicker or slower run; by a run
arrested; by a quicker or slower or arrested movement of some part of
the mechanism--shoulder, wrist, etc. Spofforth used to hold the ball
loosely for slow bowling, tightly for fast, as if he were a train which
gives an impetus to the jumping-off passenger by holding on to him till
the last moment. Spofforth’s pace as a rule was medium rather than very
fast.
BREAK, SPIN, CURL, ETC.
Anyone who has practised bowling in this order--mastering direction,
then length, then pace, will now wish to add some sort of break, as the
baseball pitcher wishes to add some sort of curl. But here again, as
with pace, it is a great error to acquire in excess, so as to “endanger
the knack.” I remember a boy who got into his school XI. at the end of
the term simply because he could put on a huge break. He had no other
merits; in his only match he failed miserably. As a high authority
says:--
“The best ball is not the one that breaks most but the one that
just breaks enough--enough to beat the bat but not the wicket, or
else enough to beat the centre of the bat and just touch its edge.”
The general mechanism of the break has been best described by Mr. A. G.
Steel in his now classical chapter of the “Badminton Volume”:--
“The spin or rotary motion from right to left is gained by grasping
the ball chiefly with the thumb and the first and second fingers,
the third and fourth fingers being placed altogether round the
other side of the ball. The moment the ball leaves the hand, the
latter is turned quickly over from right to left, and at the same
time the first and second fingers and the thumb, coming over with
the hand, impart a powerful twist to the ball, which leaves the
hand when the latter is turned palm downwards. There is also, at
the time of delivery, an outward and upward movement of the elbow,
which gives the arm the shape of a curve, or almost a semicircle.
The ball goes on its way spinning rapidly from right to left, and
the moment it touches the ground twists very sharply toward the off
side of the batsman. This ball (termed in cricket parlance the ‘leg
break’), when well bowled, is perhaps one of the most deadly of all
balls, but it is also the most difficult for a bowler to master. It
is always a slow ball, as to bowl it fast with any accuracy of
pitch is an impossibility; at any rate, it may be assumed to be so,
as no bowler has ever yet appeared who could bowl it otherwise than
slow.... There are some slow bowlers who have become fairly
proficient at it, and who have enjoyed at various times--especially
against batsmen they had never met before--a certain amount of
success; but it is a style of bowling which should be encouraged
only to the extent of enabling every bowler to use it
occasionally.”
There are at least three different kinds of break; they may be combined
in various ways. The American baseball pitching is developed to a higher
point of skill than our bowling, and can probably teach us not a few
lessons.
(1.) The first break is called the natural break; it is usually from the
off to the leg (from the leg to the off in the case of the left-hand
bowler). It comes almost or quite of its own accord with the action
itself; indeed one can scarcely ever bowl a ball without _some_
action-break, any more than one can easily hit a billiard ball without
any break. This kind is often called the break “with the arm.”
(2.) The wrist-break cannot be altogether separated from this; some such
break also is almost natural if not inevitable.
(3.) The third kind is the finger-break (including the thumb-break). It
is a spin given at the last moment. The fingers move round in one
direction or in the other, _the first finger_ being as a rule the most
important factor. This finger needs to be exercised by itself. When one
looks at a professional bowler’s hands one finds this finger especially
hardened or worn or blistered.
The finger-break (with some wrist-break) can be partly given by the grip
itself. Hirst’s two grips in the photographs should be carefully studied
and imitated. C. T. B. Turner, the great Australian, used to bowl quite
a different ball according to the special grip. Shrewsbury tells of a
match in which the Notts wickets fell before Turner, because the men did
not notice the change of grip. Shrewsbury noticed it, and did not fall a
victim. The middle and third fingers were sometimes bent not round the
ball, but in upon the palm of the hand. Again, the spin will be absent
or lessened if the ball be held, not by the seam, as it usually is, but
by its ordinary skin. For the American baseball grip with a view to curl
in the air (and also affecting twist off the ground) see below.
The least important finger is the little finger; then comes the third
finger.
The break can be partly given by this or that special movement of
fingers and thumb, or chiefly fingers, during the moment when the ball
leaves the hand. The effect of the varied grip, upon pace, has already
been described. There are the over-spins for extra pace; the drag-spins;
and the side-spins. Every billiard player will realise what these terms
mean.
The balls with arm-and wrist-and finger-breaks do not come off the
ground in the same way; the right-hand bowler’s artificial (wrist and
finger) break from the leg to the off will have a different effect from
the left-hand bowler’s “natural” break from the leg to the off. And
results vary also according to the wicket, the wet and slippery (as
distinct from the drying and caking wicket) scarcely imparting any break
at all; there is no “bite.”
The commonest break (of the right-hand bowler) is from the off to the
leg. Most bowlers and throwers have it. It is often said that the
reverse-break, from the leg to the off, is impossible as a safe and
reliable ball for a fast bowler, except in so far as it comes with the
action of bowling. Be this as it may--and I see no anatomical reason
for the impossibility--the leg-break is easy for a medium or slow
bowler, and is especially effective round the wicket, as many old
bowlers have frequently proved. Mr. A. G. Steel’s excellent description
of the action must be quoted from the “Badminton Volume”:
“The ball was delivered round the wicket, at the very extent of the
crease, in order to make the angle from the hand to an imaginary
straight line between the two middle stumps as great as possible.
The hand was very little higher than the hip when the ball was
delivered, and instead of the hand and wrist being completely
turned over at the moment of delivery, as in the slow leg-break,
the fingers imparted a right to left spin to the ball. The ball,
coming from a great distance round the wicket and with a
considerable amount of leg-spin, would be gradually working away to
the batsman’s off-side every inch of its journey, both before and
after pitching.”
Such a break would be liable to lead to a catch at the wicket or in the
slips. It is especially useful in school cricket. School bowlers--and
others--should acquire this action. It is not difficult or exhausting,
but it needs a careful study of field-placing on the on-side.
(4.) To the break given by arm, wrist, and fingers, we may now add the
curl, which some bowlers have or occasionally have, but which few if any
bowlers know how to teach. The following remarks about the American
baseball-pitcher’s curl in the air, produced _by a throw_, are worth
studying. They are from Mr. Walter Camp’s “Book of College Sports.” I
think I am right in saying that the American curve usually does not come
till towards the end of the ball’s flight.
“The easiest curve, and the one to be acquired first, is the out-curve.
The simplest method is to take the ball in the hand between the extended
thumb and the first and second fingers, the third and little fingers
being closed. The ball rests against the (side of the) middle part of
the third finger, but is firmly clasped by the first two and the thumb.
If the arm be then extended horizontally from the shoulder, with the
palm of the hand up, it will be seen that if the ball were spun like a
top by the two fingers and thumb it would turn in the way indicated by
the arrow in the diagram. This is the way it must twist to accomplish
the out-curve. The simpler way to impart this twist is not the spinning
motion, but rather a snap as the ball is leaving the fingers, performed
almost entirely without the aid of the thumb. The sensation is that of
throwing the ball hard, but dragging it back with the ends and sides of
the fingers just as it leaves the hand.” For further instructions the
reader should consult this excellent work, published by the Century
Company of New York.
The writer goes on to remark:--
“The most logical explanation of the curvature of a ball depends
upon the supposition of the compression of the air just in front of
the ball and a corresponding rarefaction immediately behind it, so
that the ball by its friction is deflected from its true course.”
It is interesting to notice that, in contrast with our “batting versus
bowling” problem, “in spite of all restrictions, such is the growing
skill of pitchers that the problem is constantly under discussion how to
legislate in favour of the batsmen.”
(5.) Additional curl or break may be added by the wind, slope of the
ground, and so on.
In all cases, the break must be given especially at the last moment, and
must not be expended in the previous action, unless the object be to
deceive the batsman. Obviously one should not always put on the same
amount of break; one should appear to do so. A straight ball following
many breaks from the off is apt to be very effective.
Now as to the learning of the break, two or three notions seem to me
sheer common sense.
(1.) The muscles of the various mechanisms, and especially of the wrist
and fingers, must be exercised in various ways: by full extensions in
different directions, by full contractions, by partial movements in
different directions, and so on. A certain amount of strength is needed,
but let litheness not be sacrificed.
(2.) Underhand bowling of breaks in either direction not only exercises
these mechanisms, and makes them habitual and easy, but it also shows
effects very clearly. Stump-cricket with an indiarubber ball and
underhand bowling is good training for the bowler’s break as well as for
the batsman’s straight bat.
(3.) Slow bowling is fine for the same reasons. During it the ball is
held longer in the fingers; after it the ball is “held” longer by the
ground. Hence it also shows its effects clearly and encourages the
beginner. Moreover, the slow breaking ball is useful as a change for the
medium-paced bowler. Some of the break thus acquired as an easy habit
may be transferred to medium or fast bowling.
_Concealment_ is of the utmost importance. The extra Commandment, “Thou
shalt not be found out,” is of great moment when once the bowler has
control of the ball’s flight and spin.
To hide direction is hard, unless the curl be used. To hide length and
pace, as Shaw, Spofforth, Lohmann and others used to, is easier: one or
two helps have been offered above. We may notice that Shaw used to alter
the height of his hand: this had several important results; for example,
the low delivery made the ball bump less and “skim” more. Shaw again
would bowl a very effectively concealed variety, a ball _rather_
shorter, _rather_ slower, _rather_ higher. A great change is not usually
so effective as a small one, except when a very slow or medium bowler
occasionally bowls a very fast ball. In masking these changes, as well
as the break, the bowler needs what
[Illustration: XXVII.--Bowler waiting for ball to be thrown in: he is
standing well back from the wicket.
[_To face page 91._
]
Mr. A. G. Steel alludes to as the wiliness of the serpent with the
apparent harmlessness of the dove. He needs complete mastery of this or
that part of the mechanism by itself, so that he may or may not turn his
wrist or fingers at the last moment either completely or partially, but
anyhow “with intent to deceive.” Need a skilful bowler be a skilful
liar?
The art of _taking balls at the wicket_, like the art of fielding balls,
demands a rapid recovery of balance. After his effort the bowler must
either field the ball or else get ready with his wicket between himself
and the fielder. As the photograph (XXVII.) of Hirst shows, he should
not stand too near the wicket, for it is easier to move forward than to
move back. He must also be prepared for a bad throw, either too high or
else too low--perhaps a half-volley or what would be to a batsman a
“good length” ball.
The “Badminton Volume” gives this useful advice:--“A golden rule for
every bowler to observe is--after the batsman has played the ball, get
back to the wicket as quickly as possible. Neglect of this rule loses
many a ‘run-out.’ If a bowler does not get back to his wicket, there is
no one to take the ball and knock the bails off should the batsman run
and the ball be returned to the bowler’s end. When the ball is thrown
up, the bowler should not take it till it has just passed the wicket; he
should then seize and sweep the ball into the stumps in one and the same
action.”
For the purpose of taking the ball and putting down the wicket
rapidly--in fact almost by a single movement--he cannot do better than
practise wicket-keeping now and then. This should give him hints for
bowling also. It should help him to keep his real eye on the ball and
his imaginary eye, his mind’s eye, on imaginary wickets. He must sense
by imagination, and by “feel,” precisely where the wickets are, just as
at Tennis. I have to sense where the “Grille” or “Dedans” is, even while
my real outward eye is on the ball.
The bowler, like the wicket-keeper, should be an adviser (but with
judgment and tact) to the captain, especially with regard to the
throwing in and backing up by this or that fielder, and the correct
placing of all the fielders, which must depend on circumstances and
individual batsmen. This has brought us to more general remarks on
bowling.
GENERAL HINTS.
The first and foremost piece of advice to the would-be bowler, that is
to say to every cricketer, is to read what the great authorities,
Messrs. A. G. Steel, Ranjitsinhji, Grace, the Lytteltons, and others say
about the importance of bowling, and of learning to bowl well or better,
not only for the sake of the game’s future and of the team’s success,
but also for the sake of personal enjoyment. Let the reader digest what
Mr. Edward Lyttelton says about practice in the bedroom, and what Mr. C.
B. Fry (in the “Strand” for July, 1902) says about the helps which he
used to his grand athletic success--for instance, kicking a small ball
in a courtyard, and jumping over an arm-chair. Let every cricketer read
how the Americans train for baseball. Then let him not despise the
mastering of the mechanism in his bedroom or elsewhere, if possible
before a large looking-glass. There should be one or two in every
pavilion.
The following advice is not new, but it will all bear repetition. No
amount of honest care spent in suggestions about bowling can be
considered as wasted. The future of enjoyable cricket lies largely with
improvement in bowling.
Be able to bowl round as well as over the wicket, for such a change of
starting-point is almost as good as a change of action. In view of what
certain Americans have achieved in Philadelphia and elsewhere by being
taught the use of the left side (for drawing, modelling, etc.) in early
childhood, I do not hesitate to say, learn to bowl fairly well with the
left hand as well as with the right. The control of the left side would
add power to batting and fielding even if it led to little success in
actual bowling.
When you have got the direction and _can_ bowl persistently to the off,
practise the straight and fast yorker as well as the good length ball to
the off. In fact, practise intentional variety; do not rely on the
variety which is incidental to careless and “undisciplined” bowling.
You must have firm feet--the left foot must have nails that bite the
ground well, especially near the boot’s toe; you must have strong
hands--they may be hardened by salt, etc., or, in case of sore places,
may be protected by adhesive plaister round the finger or hand (this
prevents painful friction). Sprains may be treated by water or massage
or radiant light and heat.
Having attended to such things, study pitches--their soft or hard spots,
the trees, etc., behind the bowler’s arm, the direction of the sun, of
the wind--in fact, all details that a careful general _must_ notice.
Spofforth used to make a point of finding out “the pace of the wicket,
even if his first effort cost him dear.” One or two balls just off the
pitch, before play begins, may save such runs. Don’t bowl these or the
early ones too fast; the Public School Racquet representatives at
Queen’s slash about from the very moment that they enter the court. This
is silly. Start gently; increase the severity by degrees.
At the beginning of an innings or of a new batsman’s innings pitch the
ball well up. A yorker is among the most effective attacks (except to W.
G. and a few others); even a half-volley is often useful, or a
full-pitch on the body, but _not_ a long hop.
Correct your mistakes of direction, length, and so on, by exaggerating a
little in the opposite direction.
To a slogger a straight ball--unless it be a yorker--is not the best,
as a rule, especially if he runs out; a ball to the off may be most
useful, for a slogger generally runs out straight down the pitch rather
than towards the side (in which case he would turn an off-ball into a
straight ball). With W. G.’s action round the wicket, a ball on the
leg-side may be just the thing. A break to the off is generally needed,
so as to tempt a catch to cover or third man.
Do not mind having your “head-balls” hit. Mr. A. G. Steel’s words must
be borne in mind constantly, at least for ordinary occasions when the
main object is not to keep the runs down. He says:--“When a bowler is
put on to bowl by his captain, it is his duty to do everything in his
power to dislodge the batsman. It is really quite a secondary
consideration for him whether many or few runs are being made off his
bowling.” As a sequel to this, he urges that “a slow bowler should try
every wile that can possibly be attempted. By adopting slow bowling he
has undertaken to use ‘the wisdom of the serpent’ in the guise of the
‘harmlessness of the dove,’ and has sacrificed pace to cunning and
thought.”
If the bowler be very brave, he will feed the strong stroke of the
batsman. I often find this plan effective in Racquets and Tennis. The
opponent tries “just one too many,” or tries to excel beyond his
ability. But of course it would be a greater error to forget the
fieldmen’s poor hands and to bowl the batsman into practice and sure
sight, than it would be to bowl merely for maidens, unless the other
bowler is playing ninepins with the stumps, or unless defensive bowling
is required at the close finish to a match, or in order to excite a
batsman to impatience.
Most experiments should have been already made at the nets or in
practice-games. It is there that you should learn how to lead up to a
killing ball, as the Lawn Tennis or Chess player does, rather than
always to spring the very best on the batsman at once. To plan each ball
deliberately beforehand, to let each have a definite purpose, involves
not only these previous trials, but also a good memory, an absence of
hurry, a refusal to despair.
Despair is almost natural when chances have been missed. I remember a
season of College Cricket during which I got about 130 wickets, and had
over 60 chances missed. I had to console myself by imagining each
chance--mostly to the sleepy slips--to be a wicket. That may console one
slightly.
Another consolation is to remember that each fresh batsman is a fresh
beginning to the game. He comes in unready, a hope to the bowler.
Observation and memory have been invaluable helps to me at my own games.
I translate my experiences into Cricket language. From behind the wicket
and elsewhere, observe the commonest hits off the commonest balls with
this or that break, especially when the batsman shapes thus or thus.
Observe how the poking potterer is dismissed by the high full-pitch or
by the ball to entice a catch in the slips--for him you will note in
your mind, “Two short slips and perhaps two square legs.” Watch the
fingers of the nervous batsman grip the bat tight; watch the feet and
body shuffle in anxiety; watch the feeble strokes that result; watch the
balls that worry him most before he gets confidence.
The weak point of a batsman should be the point of most frequent attack,
and that weak point may differ on different days, and according to the
individual batsman’s special frame of mind. “Ah,” I have often thought
when I faced an old opponent, “if only I could tell your strongest and
weakest strokes _to-day and now_! Will you be slow on your legs now?
Will you neglect that right foot, oh, mine enemy?”
Observe whether the batsman himself is intelligent and observant,
or--what generally amounts to the same thing--practised to the verge of
automatism. Do not assume that every batsman will notice everything that
you are doing. Excessive wiliness is often wasted.
Observe how a player with a certain “stance” will tend to show a certain
fault--as to draw away his right foot. Classify players in groups. Then
when the hitherto new and “unseen” batsman arrives, you may start at an
advantage; you may save yourself unnecessary experimentation.
Make notes of these and other “tips.” Cricket is as well worth notes as
Tennis and Racquets, and my notes for these games have proved of yeoman
service in matches. “How they would give my whole show away!” was the
remark of an American player. “Yes,” I replied, “if anyone had the
patience to use them, he might very soon beat me.” Work out theories;
remember the keenness of Spofforth, who lay awake at nights plotting and
planning. Such imaginations are good for the intellect and (in an
obvious way) “a very present help in time of trouble.” Read, observe,
ask pros., veterans, wicket-keepers. Make notes, recollect, use. Judge
by results.
For instance, work out where you will want this and that fielder placed.
Most books give excellent diagrams: Ranjitsinhji’s are the fullest. But
do not be tied down by any such diagram. Be ready to change the
positions--by a word or a movement of the hand--according to individual
grounds, days, batsmen, and so on.
One need not confine one’s practice to the nets and games. These are
indispensable in their place, but not self-sufficient. Practice with a
smaller and softer ball is not to be despised; it will give one freer
movements, more obvious effects in break, and thus more knowledge and
confidence. And one should do the special exercises--and others devised
by wiser heads than mine--before one dares to despair. One must first
master the mechanisms, try several actions, practise with a friend
(putting a stump between oneself and him, and bowling at it alternately
with him, a third enthusiast acting as wicket-keeper), practise needless
variety (with wrist or fingers stiff or loose, and so on). One can give
oneself every chance, every benefit of the doubt. It was years before I
learnt to serve at Racquets or Tennis. I am not nearly at my best yet.
When one is at the nets, one must be independent. One must imagine
oneself bowling in actual overs. One must notice where each ball, sent
with a special purpose, is generally hit. In my practice of Cricket I
never did this; in my practice of my own games I do it with marked
results.
Boys should certainly practise, even if they do not regularly play, with
a smaller ball, a smaller bat, a shorter pitch. I wish that the M.C.C.
Committee would study the expressed opinions of Messrs. A. G. Steel,
Ranjitsinhji, Grace and others--elicit the hitherto unexpressed opinions
of other experts; discuss the matter, and then, if it seemed good, issue
an _authoritative advice_ to schoolmasters and others, urging the use of
adapted ball, bat, and pitch. Though any one single measure would not
suit all, yet it would be convenient, and would be a step in the right
direction. Let there be light and small bats and balls.
It would be well also if old players would tell the young player to
practise lobs, to try the W. G. action round the wicket, to master the
mechanisms of ordinary overhand bowling, to avoid excessive pace, and
break; to practise at the nets as if he were bowling in an actual game,
only with more experimentation--to bowl an over, then have a rest; to
make notes; to work out theories; to be keen. A few words from a famous
expert come with a thousand times more force than any amount of advice
from the present writer, even though the latter be stating only most
obvious and incontrovertible truths. For the word of a successful man
availeth much.