In speaking of Clarke’s bowling, men commonly imply that the slowness
is its only difficulty. Now a ball cannot be more difficult for hand
or eye because it moves slowly. No; the slower the easier; but the
difficulty arises from the following qualities, wholly distinct from
the pace, though certainly it is the slowness that renders those
qualities possible:--
1st. Clarke’s lengths are more accurate.
2dly. He can vary his pace unobserved, without varying his action or
delivery.
3dly. More of his balls would hit the wicket.
4thly. A slow ball must be played: it will not play itself.
5thly. Clarke can more readily take advantage of each man’s weak point.
6thly. Slow bowling admits of more bias.
7thly. The length is more difficult to judge, owing to the curved lines.
8thly. It requires the greatest accuracy in hitting. You must play at
the ball with short, quick action where it actually is, and not by
calculation of its rise, or where it will be.
9thly. Slow balls can be pitched nearer to the bat, affording a shorter
sight of the rise.
10thly. Catches and chances of stumping are more frequent, and less
likely to be missed.
11thly. The curved lines and the straightness preclude cutting, and
render it dangerous to cross the ball in playing to leg.
One artifice of Clarke, and of all good slow bowlers, is this: to begin
with a ball or two which may easily be played back; then, with a much
higher toss and slower pace, as in the diagram, he pitches a little
short of the usual spot. If the batsman’s eye is deceived as to the
distance, he at once plays forward to a length which is at all times
dangerous; and, as it rises higher, the play becomes more dangerous
still.
The difficulty of “going in” to such bowling as Clarke’s, depends on
this:--
The bat is only four inches and a quarter wide: call half that width
two inches of wood. Then, you can only have two inches to spare for the
deviation of your hit; therefore, if a ball turns about two inches,
while you are in the act of hitting, the truest hitter possible must
miss.