Lord's, would sometimes stand well away from the wicket and hold the bat with one hand, being indifferent whether the ball were hit or not. This is reported by William Caffyn in the book quoted before, which is well worth perusal. Grundy evidently liked to bowl at Lord's but bat on the Oval. Once in Gentlemen v. Players, C. G. Taylor got out owing to a ball of Hillyer's hitting him on the hat and knocking it on the wicket. What would Abel and Hayward think if that occurred now? It no doubt did then require pluck and nerve to stand up to Jackson on Lord's, but it must be borne in mind that, though the bowling was as fast as it is now, up to 1864 it was not above the shoulder, and this to my mind makes the whole difference. If I had to play on a fast bumping wicket, I would far rather play a very fast bowler with a low action than I would play a fast bowler with a high action over the shoulder. I honestly believe that the bowling of Richardson, Kortright, Jessop, and Jones, the Australian, on what Lord's was sometimes in old days, would have resulted in fatal accidents.
I may take the period from 1830 to 1860 as
