play straight and fairly Off;—and, should not they learn to hit On also? Certainly: but while in a transition state, they are not fit for a county match: and some men are always in this transition state. Horace had good cricket ideas, for, said he,
"Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge."
Either play for show off, and "that's villanous," says Hamlet, "and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it;" or, adopt a style you can put well together—and sumite materiam—æquam viribus, adopt a style that suits your capabilities; cui lecta potenter erit res; try at no more than you can do—nec deseret hunc,—and that's the game to carry you through.
"A mistake," said an experienced bowler, "in giving a leg ball or two, is not all clear loss; for, a swing round to the leg often takes a man off his straight play. To ring the changes on Cutting with horizontal bat, and forward play with a straight bat, and leg-hitting, which takes a different bat again, this requires more steady practice than most amateurs have either time or perseverance to learn thoroughly. So, one movement is continually interfering with the other."
