[1] Mr. C. B. Fry, after studying the foundation-positions and foundation-movements which I have found most useful for Racquets and Tennis, was struck with their great similarity to those which he himself had found most important for Cricket.
[2] “Keep your eye on the bowler; watch how he holds the ball and runs up to the wicket before delivering it, and you may be able to detect any alteration in length and pace. And never get flurried whatever his action may be; for if you take your eyes off his arm or lose your head for a second, he has you at a disadvantage.”
[3] Compare also Dr. W. G. Grace, who says: “Timing the ball is the secret of all good play; and timing, as far as I can make out, means the harmonious working of eye, wrist, arms, legs, and shoulders, which can only be acquired by constant practice.”
[4] Murdoch’s words will serve as a good example. “To cut well, you must be able to time the ball well, for the effectiveness of your stroke is entirely due to your proper timing and your wrist work, for you need to use your wrists more in making this stroke than in any other.”
[5] “There is a right and a wrong way of holding the ball. Good bowlers grip the ball as much as possible with their fingers—that is to say, they use the fingers and not the palm of the hand to work the ball.”
[6] The Macdonald Smith system is most appropriate for Cricket.
[7] Invented and taught by Macdonald Smith, of Steinway Hall.
[8] The following quotation from a high authority is typical:—
“The left foot precedes the advance of the bat, it being one of the first maxims of forward play that the bat must never be in front of the left foot. This rule is absolute. A neglect of it means that there is nothing to prevent the base of the bat being as near, or nearer, to the bowler than is the handle—no certainty, that is, against the ball being spooned into the air.”
[9] “If the batsman cuts up the action of the stroke into separate parts, something must be sacrificed: either the weight is not brought to bear on the ball, or balance is lost. The result is an emasculated stroke.”