The Cricket Field: Or, the History and Science of the Game of CricketPycroft, James
History
The Cricket Field: Or, the History and Science of the Game of Cricket
Pycroft, James
Cricket
Again, “the best piece of stumping I ever saw was done by Mr. Anson,
in the Players’ Match, in 1843. Butler, one of the finest of the
Nottingham batsmen, in trying to draw one of Mr. Mynn’s leg shooters,
just lifted, for an instant, his right foot; Mr. Anson timed the feat
beautifully, and swept the ball with his left hand into the wicket. I
fancy a feat so difficult was never done so easily.”--“I also saw Mr.
Anson, in a match against the Etonians, stump a man with his right,
catch the flying bail with his left, and replace it so quickly that
the man’s surprise and puzzle made all the fun: stumped out, though
wicket seemingly never down!” Mr. Jenner was very clever in these
things, skimming off one bail with his little finger, ball in hand, and
not troubling the umpire. Once his friend, Mr. R. K., had an awkward
trick of pulling up his trousers, which lifted his leg every time he
had missed a ball: Mr. Jenner waited for his accustomed habit, caught
him in the act, and stumped him. “A similar piece of fun happened in
Gentlemen of England _v._ Gentlemen of Kent in 1845. A Kent player sat
down to get wind, after a run, his bat in his ground but with seat of
honour out, and for a moment let go the handle, and the wicket-keeper
stumped him out. He was very angry, and said he never would play again:
however, he did play the return match at Canterbury, where he was put
out in precisely the same manner. Since which, like Monsieur Tonson, he
has never been heard of more.”
That a fieldsman wants wits to his fingers’ ends, was shown by
Martingell one day: being just too far to command a ball he gave it a
touch to keep it up, and cried, “Catch it, Slip.” Slip, so assisted,
reached the ball.
The great thing in Wicket-keeping is, for hand and eye to go together,
just as with batting, and what is exercise for the former, assists the
latter. Any exercise in which the hand habitually tries to obey the
eye, is useful for cricket; fielding improves batting, and batting
improves fielding.
Twelve of the principal wicket-keepers of the last fifty years were all
efficient Batsmen; namely, Hammond, Searle, Box, Wenman, Dorrington, C.
Brown, Chatterton, Lockyer, with Messrs. Jenner, Anson, Nicholson, and
Ridding.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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