The Theory and Practice of Cricket. By Charles Box. (Warno.) —
Mr. Box hardly fulfils the large promise of his title, but contrives, nevertheless, to make a sufficiently amusing book out of the scraps of a cricket learning which seems very ostensive. Ho is happiest, we think, in his commentary on the laws of the gamo, introducing into it some shrewd remarks, some very strange incidents, and not a few difficult questions in what may be called the casuistry of cricket. Here is one of the facts which are stranger than fiction. A batsman played the ball into his own breeches-pocket. He might not touch it with his hands, any one of the field that got hold of it would be considered to have caught him out. Accordingly, ho set off, followed by the field, endea- vouring to work it out with his bat, an effort in which, very much to his credit, he succeeded. And here are two questions which it would not be easy to answer. Can it be said that a ball is " lost " when it is lodged in a furze bush, and can be seen, but cannot be got out ? Is a bishop, fielding as long-stop, justified in stopping the ball with his apron.
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