1st. As in making a catch, every fieldsman finds that, in proportion
as the ball has been hit up in the air, it is difficult to judge where
to place himself: by the same law of sight, a fast ball that goes
almost point-blank to its pitch, is far easier to judge than a slow
ball that descends in a curve.
2ndly. As the slow ball reaches the ground at a greater angle, it
must rise higher in a given space; so, if the batsman misjudges the
pitch of a slow ball by a foot, he will misjudge the rise to a greater
extent than with a fast ball, which rises less abruptly. Hence, playing
forward is less easy with slow, than with fast, bowling.
3dly. As to timing the ball, all the eye can discern in a body moving
directly towards it, is the angle with the ground: to see the curve of
a dropping ball you must have a side view. The man at Point can see the
curve clearly; but not so the batsman. Consequently, the effect of the
curve is left out in the calculation, and the exact time of the ball’s
approach is, to that extent, mistaken. Every one knows the difficulty
of making a good half-volley-hit off a slow ball, because the timing
is so difficult: great speed without a curve is less puzzling to the
eye than a curvilinear movement, however slow. It were odd, indeed,
if it were harder to hit a slow than a fast ball. No. It is the curve
that makes difficult what of its pace alone would be easy. All forward
play, with slow bowling, is beset with the great difficulty of allowing
for the curve. And what style of play does this suggest? Why, precisely
what Clarke has himself remarked,--namely, that to fix the right foot
as for fast bowling, and play with long reach forward, does not answer.
You must be quick on your feet, and, by short quick action of the arms,
hit the ball actually as it is, and not as you calculate it will be a
second later. This is the system of men who play Clarke best; of Mr.
Vernon, of Fuller Pilch, of Hunt of Sheffield, and of C. Browne: though
these men also dodge Clarke; and, pretending sometimes to go out,
deceive him into dropping short, and so play their heads against his.
The best bowling is sometimes hit; but I have not heard of any man who
found it much easier to score off Clarke than off other good bowlers.
To play Clarke “on any foregone conclusion” is fatal. Every ball must
be judged by its respective merits and played accordingly.
Again, as to cutting, or in any way crossing, these dropping or
curvilinear balls. As a slow ball rises twice as much in a given space
as a fast ball, of course the chances are greater that the bat will not
cover the ball at the point at which, by anticipation, you cut. If you
cut at a fast ball, the height of its rise is nearly uniform, and its
course a straight line: so, most men like very fast bowling, because,
if the hand is quick enough, the judgment is not easily deceived, for
the ball moves nearly in straight lines. But, in cutting or in crossing
a slow ball, the height of the rise varies enough to produce a mistake
while the bat is descending on the ball.
Once more, in playing at a ball after its rise, a safe and forcible hit
can only be made in two ways. You must either meet the ball with full
and straight bat, or cut horizontally across it. Now, as slow balls
generally rise too high for a hard hit with perpendicular bat, you are
reduced generally to the difficulties of cutting or back play. Add to
all this, that the bias from the hand and from the inequalities of the
ground is much greater, and also that a catch, resulting from a feeble
hit and the ball spinning off the edge of the bat, remains commonly
so long in the air that every fieldsman can cover double his usual
quantity of ground, and then we shall cease to wonder that the best
players cannot score fast off slow bowling.