right ball; for if a bowler has any break, and you do not smother the ball, the batsman will be beat by the break, and stumped or bowled. Some bowlers break so much that it is almost true to say you had better go on the safe side and not leave your ground, unless you can be sure of getting the ball full pitch.
To very slow bowlers it therefore follows that the really proper standard of play is to play back, or, going out of your ground, to hit full pitch; but remember one thing, never go out to a ball unless certain of making it a full pitch, that is on the off side, for it is not easy to hit it with a straight bat, since if you miss it you must be stumped. To medium pace bowling some sort of compromise must be adopted between the two methods I have recommended. You cannot go out of your ground to such bowlers; on the other hand, you ought not to play so many balls forward, and you must be very careful to observe the changes of pace. When the wicket is very hard and fast, the
