1st. That you can safely go in to such balls only as are straight,
otherwise you cannot present a full bat; and, only when you can step
right up to the pitch of the ball, otherwise, by a twist it will escape
you; and slow balls turn more than fast in a given space. 2ndly. You
can only go in to such lengths as you can easily and steadily command:
a very long step, or any unusual hurry, will hardly be safe with only
the said two inches of wood to spare.
Now the question is, with what lengths, against such bowling as
Clarke’s, can you step in steadily and safely, both as far as the
pitch, and with full command of hand and eye? Remember, you cannot
begin your step till you have judged the length; and this, with the
curved line of a slow dropping ball, you cannot judge till within a
little of its grounding; so, the critical time for decision and action
is very brief, and, in that brief space, how far can you step secure
of all optical illusions, for, Clarke can deceive you by varying both
the pace and the curve of his ball?--Go and try. Again, when you have
stepped in, where will you hit? On the ground, of course, and straight.
And where are the men placed? Besides, are you aware of the difficulty
of interchanging the steady game with right foot in your ground, with
that springy and spasmodic impulse which characterises this “going in?”
At a match at Lord’s in 1849, I saw Brockwell score some forty runs
with many hits off Clarke: he said to me, when he came out, “Clarke
cannot bowl his best to me; for, sometimes, I go in to the pitch of the
ball, when pitched well up, and hit her away; at other times, I make
a feint, and then stand back, and so Clarke gets off his bowling.” He
added, “the difficulty is to keep your temper and not to go in with a
wrong ball.” This, I believe, is indeed a difficulty,--a much greater
difficulty than is commonly imagined. My advice to all players who have
not made a study of the art of going in, and have not fully succeeded
on practising days, is, by no means to attempt it in a match. It is not
so easy as it appears. You will find Clarke, or any good slow bowler,
too much for you.--“But, supposing I should stand out of my ground,
or start before the ball is out of the bowler’s hand?” Why, with an
unpractised bowler, especially if in the constrained attitude of the
overhand delivery, this manœuvre has succeeded in producing threes and
fours in rapid succession. But Clarke would pitch over your head, or
send in a quick underhand ball a little wide, and you would be stumped;
and Wisden would probably send a fast toss about the height of your
shoulder, and, being prepared to play perfectly straight at the pitch,
you would hardly raise your bat in time to keep a swift toss out of the
wicket-keeper’s hands.