STROKES BOWLERS DO NOT LIKE. 
327 
>ody to the on, and a stroke made almost 
ntirely with the right arm and wrist will 
100k a ball most effectively. But the bats- 
nan’s right arm and shoulder should be 
)utside the line of the ball’s direction to 
mable this to be done, and here it is very 
lecessary to note that it is the angle the ball 
makes off the pitch which counts, not by 
any means the original line of the ball. A 
ball which keeps fairly straight can be 
hooked, but the ideal ball for the stroke is 
one a little short which is breaking in from 
the off. Balls which come in from the leg 
side are best dealt with by another stroke. 
The left hand and arm must not be swung 
across the body, or the whole stroke will be 
ruined. It is, as its name denotes, a “ hook ” 
with the right arm and wrist, more with the 
latter than anything else, and quickness and 
freedom of action make the stroke. 
The main points connected with the hook 
stroke have now been dealt with, and practice 
at the nets will soon give facility to those 
who are not 
petrified into 
the o 1 d - 
fas h i 0 n e d 
stance and 
style. But in 
match play, be 
careful, as 
there is hardly 
a stroke more 
easy to over- 
do than the 
hook. It is so 
pretty and 
effortless when 
it does come 
off, that bats- 
men compara- 
tively new to 
the stroke will 
try to hook 
almost any- 
thing, which is 
Vol. xlvi.— 42. 
just about as clever as attempt- 
ing to cut every other ball or 
so. Fast bowling cannot be 
hooked on hard wickets — the 
ball is on the batsman before he 
has time to make his oblique 
step and get outside the flight 
of the sphere. On slow wickets, 
however, and also on sticky 
wickets which help the bowler 
intent on “ big breaks,” the 
hook stroke is invaluable 
against slow to medium bowl- 
ing. as in these circumstances an accom- 
plished “ hooker ” can score a boundary off 
a good-length ball, and even those who are 
not by any means masters of the art can 
collect runs off balls just short of a good 
length. The more the ball breaks from the 
off the better the batsman likes it for 
“ hooking ” purposes on a suitable wicket ; 
and I need scarcely remark that the bowler 
is deeply chagrined to see his pet off-break 
not only rendered harmless but actually 
transmogrified into a means of run-getting. 
I now propose to turn to the cut, without, 
however, dilating unduly on “ the unkindest 
cut of all ” — that master stroke which cuts 
a ball clean off the bails. Such a stroke is 
simply heart-breaking to a bowler, but the 
batsmen who can make it are so marvellously 
adept at cutting that their performances 
amount to cricket miracles. Fortunately 
for the bowlers, this gift is very rare 
indeed, so rare that it is only to be 
worshipped with reverential awe by the vast 
majority of batsmen, who must be con- 
tent with such cutting as may fairly be 
called human. This provides an effec- 
tive and artistic means of scoring off 
balls otherwise 
u n assailable, 
except, pos- 
sibly, by an 
a g ri c u 1 1 ural 
pull to the on 
brought off successfully at 
times by village blacksmiths 
who do not happen to be 
cricketers. A wicket must 
be reasonably fast for cut- 
ting to be worth attempting 
at all, and on such a wicket 
an ideal ball to cut is some- 
what short - pitched to the 
off, and reaches the batsman 
at just the right height for 
the stroke. Throw the right 
foot across the wicket, and 
