We have already mentioned the common error of men standing too far to save One, and not as far as is compatible with saving Two.
With a free hitter, a man who does not pitch very far up answers best; short leg-balls are not easily hit. A lobbing bowler, with the Longstop, and four men in all, on the On side, will shorten the innings of many a reputed fine hitter.
A good arrangement of your men, according to these principles, will make eleven men do the work of thirteen. Some men play nervously at first they come in, and it is so much waste of your forces to lay your men far out, and equally a waste not to open your field as they begin to hit.
We must conclude with comments on the Laws of the Game.
I. The ball. Before the days of John Small a ball would not last a match; the stitches would give way. To "call for a new ball at the beginning of each innings" is not customary now.
II. The bat. Here, the length of the blade of a bat may be any thing the player likes short of thirty-eight inches. As to the width, an iron frame was used in the old Hambledon Club as a gauge, in those primitive days when the Hampshire yeomen shaped out their own bats.
V. The popping crease must be four feet from
