Page:Cricket (Lyttelton, 1898).djvu/57

I have briefly described the natural and perhaps ideal definition of what the gentleman and the player should be; but the development of the game has brought about a great change in the respective positions, some of which are inevitable and not altogether for the worse, while others, I think, are both bad for the individual and for the game. Money in this, as in most other departments of life, is the root of all the mischief. A county to earn gate-money must win matches. To win matches they must have first-rate players, and if these players are not reared and trained in the county, they must be bought from outside. The amateur who plays for his county has so much pressure put upon him to play by the committee, for fear of losing a match without him, that he is almost forced to accede to the request, and, as a consequence, unless he is possessed of considerable private means, he must receive expenses. What is received by one amateur must for obvious reasons be received by all; and thus an amateur,