KNAVISH TRICKS AT CRICKET.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 656, 1 April 1914, Page 6

KNAVISH TRICKS AT CRICKET.

SHARP PRACTICE IN THE SUMMER GAME. ; | Cricket, on the whole, is much freer from knavish tricks than football. At the same time, overvretn competition sometimes leads to shady tactics. Of course, it is not always easy to draw the line between fair and unfair manoeuvres. Controversy sli'l rages around Mr. C. B. Fry!s action last summer in appealing aga ; nst Blythe's lowling on ths ground that the latter was deliberately tossing the ball up against the sun so as to prevent Mr. Fry from seeing it. Then it is hard to say to what extent a fast howler is justified in bumpiag them down on a fi3ry pitch with the idea of scaring the ta*sman. IS IT JUSTIFIABLE? Again, is a bowler justified in protending to deliver the ball in order to run out a batsman who backs up prematurely ? Some say he ought to warn the offender, while others hold that there is no need for him to do so. But there are some tricks that are absolutely indefensible. Some years ago a certain Southern county had an unenviable reputation for making frivolous appeals, and attempts to bluff the umpire are not so uncommon as they should be. In the majority of cases it is either the bowler or the wicket-keeper who alone can really tell whathjr a man is l.b.w. or has just touched a I all, an:l appealing should be l?ft to them. For a whole side to appeal for a catch at ths wicket or a case of leg-before is bad form, to say the least of it. Then there is the fieldsman who, on making a doubtful catch, throws up the ball as if there were no question as to the man being out, a manoeuvre also practised in cases of running out. BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. There is, too. the player who, again in cases of run out! knocks down the wicket before hs actually has the ball, though, of course,, when in doubt the umpire should always favour the batsman. Wicket-keepers Fometimes " forget " the rule against taking the ball for the purpose of stumping a man before it has passed the wicket. Th2 srjuare leg umpire should detect the manoeuvre, but he does not always do so. Then, when a ball has just shaved the stumps, wicket-keepers have been known to knock a bfiil with their hand in the act of taking the hall or to break the wicket with a sly tap of the foot, and the batsman has been given out bowled. Thci stumper is forbidden to incommode the batsman by any noise or motion, but there was a wellknown wicket-keeper who used to bluff young and nervousi. bate.men out by sotto-voce remarks just as the ball was delivered. Only, as he was an amateur and a famous player, the victims were usually afraid to protest. WASTING TIME. There are many dodges for wasting time when it is a case of playing for a draw. The batsman is not so foolish as to take more than his allotted two minutes to come in, but no sooner does he get to the wicket than he discovers that his pads need attention, which is not surprising, as he had purposely put them cn carelessly. Or he may find that the sight screen needs moving. CcntrariwJsCj if the fielding side are anxious to waste time in order to prevent the winning hit being made iin time, it is wonderful what a lot of alterations in the field will be necessary, while the bowlers will find themselves baulked in their run up, or strain themselves and have to be rubbed down before thsy can continue. A batsman '"obstructs" a fieldsman at his peril, but an umpire cannot always be certam that the obstruction was intenticnal, and there is one county cricketer who is rataer noted for his 'unfortunate habit of accidentally getting in the way of a man trying for a catch between the wickets. Sometimes players suffer from the knavish trickg pf own sicle - A dead set is made against the \i> tim. If he is 'in batting, he v. ill be deliberately rua out. If he is a bowler, catches will be purposely dropped, overthrows will be commtn, and difficult retujTSß will he s.ntto him, with the object hurting Mm.