Related article: stands between this desirable con- summation and the increased en- joyment of the general cricketing public. Modify the law as sug- gested, and the sameness of the one limited style of bowling on the off-side will disappear. Let the cardinal principle of an "open wicket" be adopted, and though the bowler will gain a much- needed advantge, we will make bold to say the batsman will not be harmed and the umpire will have far less trouble. One word now as to the umpires. It was mentioned at Lord's during the l.b.w. discussion that — not- withstanding Captain Denison's deeply reasoned caveat^the first- class umpires were in favour of the proposed change. No wonder! For it is simply a question between a rapidly-moving diminutive object pitching within a very narrow parallelogram of eight inches wide and a large object within the same space, more or less stationary — i.e., between Buy Malegra Dxt the cricket ball and the man*s leg or person. No wonder, we say, that an umpire should prefer the larger object which gives him the longer view ! But this point has, we believe, been very generally misappre- hended, even among cricketers ; and the opposing case has been argued upon the fallacy, that the supporters of the proposed altera- tion desired to go back to the old time before the present law — ».^., long before the Flood — '.vhen every- thing was given out — no matter where the ball pitched or where the man stood — if, in the umpire's opinion, it would )iave hit tb& wicket. It cannot be too generally knowa or too often affirmed that the M.C.C. Committee, in the case at issue, proposed nothing of ths kind. Mr. Mitchell's statement at the meeting was in this respect very telling, when he appeated— as well he might — to his Buy Malegra Dxt Online own Icmg and continuous exp>erience as as umpire at Eton and elsewhere. He declared that to locate the exact pitch of the ball was at times most difficult, but that the location of the man's leg ^^as com- paratively an easy matter. In fact, there could be no doubt of the advantage to any first-class umpire, in his opinion. Nor does it seem reasonable to assume that second - class or country umpires would be liable to err, as they did formerly. Why should they not also benefit by the definition of the straight line — tj., between wicket and wicket — in which a batsman must not stand ? In the early part of last century, he might have stood a foot wide of this straight line on either side; and yet, because the umpire chose to fancy so — in his biased or unbiased opinion, as the case might be — he might be given oat **leg before wicket." Even the most complacent umpire could not order an opponent out under the proposed new rule, without the most flagrant abuse of his powers and duty. Let us give the most thick-headed lubber of a country umpire his due under the proposed altered rule, and some credit for a desire to be honest and true ; and it must then be confessed, that the new rule would impose upon him the easiest possible questions — (i) Was the man (the batsman^ in the straight line between the wickets, or was he not ? And if he was, would the ball which hit him have hit the wicket ? lOI.] A WORKING L.B.W. MAJORITY. 411 \Ve trust that the umpire bubble Has now been sufficiently pricked. Of more importance it is, what course is to be pursued in view of the recent decision at Lord*s. There are three courses which occur to our mind at present. The first and preferable one in our opinion — although we are neces- sarily helpless and at the mercy of Order Malegra Dxt the other side as to this— would be, that the minority should Purchase Malegra Dxt Online bow to the majority, considering the great weight of first-class cricket authority to which we have re- ferred — the very considerable ma- jority expressed by the numbers in the division upon the proposition of the M.C.C, Committee — and also the strong and preponderating ex- pression of opinion in the organs of the daily and sporting press. It would be but a graceful tribute on the part of the minority, who are principally juniors, not to stand upon their legal claim for a two- thirds majority. In default of such an act of recognition on their part of the general bent of prevailing public opinion, of course, the whole question would have to abide fresh debates and divisions, and the issue of recurring conflicts from year to year. We should deprecate this, both for the peace of cricketers and for the good of cricket. It could not be for the advantage of either, we think, that the friends of the game should be henceforth divided into two camps or parties of the elders and the juniors — the Solo- tnons and the Rehoboams. There is a third course which we suggest might be possible, and that is, to call our kinsmen of the antipodes into conference over this matter, and let it be decided by the joint judgment of England and Australia Order Malegra Dxt Online upon the occasion of the next visit of the Australians in 1902. The Australians have fairly attained and asserted the standard of first-class cricketers, and the International and Colonial matches of the last twenty years have given them an entirely ex- ceptional position. Neither South African, Purchase Malegra Dxt nor Indian, nor American cricketers have any such claim. But the matter should not, and cannot, rest where it is. It is not so altogether unlikely that with the cry in everybody's mouth, '* Something must be done to check excessive scoring," other proposers and other seconders of a different type to Mr. Alfred Lyttelton and Mr. Shuter may arise. It is not always that sedate and wise advisers are the most persuasive with an audience. We should be sorry to see other sup- posed remedies, such as a narrower bat, higher or wider stumps, innings by time, or decisions by first innings only, or any other nostrum carried by a strong breeze oi popularis aura. We do not say that none of these things are good ; but they are in the nature of radical changes, more or less, whereas the proposition that a man shall not put his padded legs deliberately in front of his wicket is little more than a reminder that cricket is a game of Bat and BalL We observe, indeed, that the last-mentioned of these re- medial ideas — the one innings — is having a practical trial given to it by the London County Club at the Crystal Palace ; but it seems to us at least to be the very worst of all of them, because it cuts at the time-honoured fundamental principle — the chief element in the ** glorious uncertainty " — that