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
The Homerton Club also boasted of Mr. Ladbroke, one of the great
promoters of matches, as well as the late Mr. Aislabie, always fond
of the game, but all his life “too big to play,”--the remark by Lord
Frederick of Mr. Ward, which, being repeated, did no little to develop
the latent powers of that most efficient player.
The Montpelier Club, also, with men given, annually played Marylebone.
Lord Frederick, in 1803, gave a little variety to the matches by
leading against Marylebone ten men of Leicester and Nottingham,
including the two Warsops. “T. Warsop,” said Clarke, “was one of the
best bowlers I ever knew.” Clarke has also a high opinion of Lambert,
from whom, he says, he learnt more of the game than from any other man.
Lambert’s bowling was like Mr. Budd’s, against which I have often
played: a high underhand delivery, slow, but rising very high, very
accurately pitched, and turning in from leg stump. “About the year
1818, Lambert and I,” said Mr. Budd, “attained to a kind of round-armed
delivery (described as Clarke’s), by which we rose decidedly superior
to all the batsmen of the day. Mr. Ward could not play it, but he
headed a party against us, and our new bowling was ignored.” Tom Walker
and Lord Frederick were of the tediously slow school; Lambert and
Budd were several degrees faster. Howard and John Wells were the fast
underhand bowlers.
Lord Frederick was a very successful bowler, and inspired great
confidence as a general: his bowling was at last beaten by men running
into him. Sparkes mentioned another player who brought very slow
bowling to perfection, and was beaten in the same way. Beldham thought
Mr. Budd’s bowling better than Lord Frederick’s; Beagley said the same.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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