1. The nervous and excitable class is perhaps the worst of all, and
sides which have the misfortune to be led by one of this division are
indeed heavily handicapped. The chief peculiarity of a captain of this
sort is that he seems never to be able to keep still for a moment in
the field. He is continually rushing about, altering the field every
over without any reason, shouting excitedly at the top of his voice
whenever a fielder has to stop or throw up the ball, and generally
creating a feeling of uneasiness and excitement among players and
spectators. He is at one moment tearing his hair distractedly because
some unfortunate fielder has let a ball through his legs, and the next
shouting and dancing with excitement and joy when some exceptionally
good catch or bit of fielding has got rid of a dangerous batsman.
2. A member of the second class may be easily recognised. He walks
slowly to his place at the end of each over with his eyes fixed on the
ground, as if in deep thought. In reality he is thinking of nothing,
or, at any rate, nothing connected with the game. He has put his two
best bowlers on, and so long as a wicket falls every thirty or forty
runs, what does it matter whether or not time is being wasted by a
series of profitless short-pitched maiden overs? It is the bowler’s
duty, not his, to get the batsmen out, and if the latter put on forty
runs without a wicket falling, why it will be time enough then to try
someone else, and perhaps later on he himself might have a turn with
lobs if things get into a very bad state. It does not take long, with a
captain like this, for a side to get thoroughly demoralised and slack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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