Page:Cricket (Lyttelton, 1898).djvu/56

to succeed, not only because he loved the game, but also because he wished to keep his place in the county eleven, to be chosen, perhaps, for the great ten-guinea match, and, generally, because to be successful from a pecuniary point of view it is necessary to succeed as a cricketer also. If a professional does not belong to a tolerably well-known county eleven, it is almost absolutely essential that he should be a bowler, for an engagement to a school is not to be got unless the professional can bowl. To be incapacitated and unable to play, means, to the professional, loss of income. He does not like to be hit over the fingers, and if he is wise he will lead a temperate and steady life. And to his credit it must be said that the professional of to-day is far better in that respect than his predecessor, and, speaking generally, he plays the game like a professional and not like a gentleman. I do not mean that in an unpleasant sense, but the professional bat will play steadier, and will most likely not have so attractive a style.