SONGS OF AN OVALITE.

There was a young man who said, "Hobbs

Should never be tempted with lobs;

He would knock them about

Till the bowlers gave out

And watered the pitch with their sobs."

There is no one so dreadful as Fender

For batmen whose bodies are tender;

He gets on their nerves

With his murderous swerves

That insist upon death or surrender.

When people try googlies on Sandham

You can see he will soon understand 'em;

With a laugh at their slows

He will murmur, "Here goes,"

And over the railings will land 'em.

I am always attracted by Harrison

When arrayed in his batting caparison;

If others look worried

He never gets flurried,

But quite unconcernedly carries on.

All classes of bowlers have stuck at

Their efforts to dislocate Ducat

Their wiliest tricks

He despatches for six,

Which is what they decidedly buck at.

You should never be down in the dumps

When Strudwick is guarding the stumps;

His opponents depart

One by one at the start,

But later in twos or in clumps.

"Like father like son," says the fable,

And is justified clearly in Abel

No bowling he fears

And his surname appears

An extremely appropriate label.

If I were tremendously rich

I would buy a cathedral in which

I would build me a shrine

Of a noble design

And worship a statue of Hitch