him with every conceivable kind of ball until he made a mistake. If he had a particular hit they humoured him, but they took care to have a safe pair of hands waiting for it: if they failed to beat him with a break-back, they tried a simple straight one, or tossed a full-pitch at him; in short, did everything to prevent him from feeling at home. I remember once at Cheltenham, when playing for Gloucestershire v. Nottinghamshire, placing an extra man at long-leg and bowling entirely for catches, and it was amusing to find how one after another fell into the trap and were caught out. Of course I could depend on my fieldsmen, and that is a point slow and medium-pace bowlers must always consider.
Fast bowlers depend on their pace and length to beat the batsmen, slow bowlers depend principally on their fieldsmen. I am sorry to say there are exceptions here and there. More than once I have seen a medium-pace bowler deliver a goodly number of balls, all of them a good length, who thought he had done particularly well because no runs had been scored. He felt slightly hurt when it was pointed out to him that there were ten men in the field who would not mind attempting a catch and be glad to have a little more exercise than the mere promenade at the end of each over. Most big hitters lift the ball occasionally when they are given a straight half-volley, or one slightly to leg. And remember that though the old trap of bowling outside the off-stump and causing the ball to break away from the batsman is well known, very few can resist having a smack at it some time in their innings.
An article on bowling would not be complete without some reference to slow underhand, or, to use the familiar word, "lobs." Fast underhand and daisy-cutters are seldom seen now-a-days, and would have little chance on our perfect wickets; but lobs are still as
