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TIMING THE BALL 815
can never be forgotten. The principle was revealed to
me by a humiliating experience in France in 1878. There
was a forest-fair on at St. Germains, and while wandering
round I came upon an underground working man winning
applause by the skill with which he wielded a heavy
hammer, smiting a strong peg stuck into the ground.
Each blow was communicated to an upright post close
by, about 12 feet high, grooved, and ending in a box.
When the post was fairly hit, a bit of wood flew up the
groove, struck the box and rang a bell, while a Jack-in-thebox
poked his head out and bowed. I thought it would
be good fun to show what an English cricketer could
do as compared with the little Frenchman, who, I must
add, knocked the box every time with the greatest ease.
Twelve blows for a franc. The first, I intended, should
break the box and set the onlookers a-marvelling. The
wood only went up one-third of the way I I pounded
away for eleven shots, but never rang that bell, though I
will say that each shot was better than the last.
From this, I learnt that the bat at cricket and the
foot at football ought to impinge at the moment of the
maximum velocity of the swing. Two occasions I can
recall at cricket were in a match betweeri Trinity and
John's in 1875. One Wroughton, a freshman from
Uppingham, a real fast bowler, sent a ball which swerved
from the middle to outside the leg-stump. As the ball
carne along, I had less than a second to change my tactics
and defend my person. Instead of opening the shouldersthere
was no time-I played a mere wrist shot, and to my
amazement the ball went point-blank to the boundary a
little sharp of square leg. The other time was playing
for Gents v. Players at Lord's, and again a wholly un- -
premeditated shot. Morley, the Notts left-bander, slung
in a shortish ball on my legs, and it rose not far short of
the left shoulder. I whacked furiously, never before
having done such a thing to a left-handed bowler. The
impact on the bat sounded like a big drum close to my
ear ; the ball soared an enormous height and dropped
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