Happy to fill you in, Doug. A batsman (batter these days to be politically
correct) is armed with a bat and when attacked by ball sent down by the
ferocious bowler, he defends his castle (set of three upright stumps with
two horizontally set bails sitting in the top grooves of the stumps). If,
in his judgment, he decides the ball will not hit the stumps, passing down
the off side, (the side nearest his bat) or will be going down leg (side),
he may elect to lift his bat up and out of the way, in effect, shouldering
his weaponry. This requires confidence and skill when the ball is rocketing
down at pace even on suburban cricket grounds.
Bill
On Thu, 5 Sep 2019 at 2:26 am, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Well, I get the fun part, Bill, & the sense of insiderness in all those
> terms. Don’t quite see the 'shouldering of arms’; what that means…
>
> doug
>
> > On Sep 4, 2019, at 1:50 AM, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks Sheila, Patrick. Looking forward to being an armchair spectator in
> > the fourth Ashes Test starting in Manchester tonight, our time.
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > On Wed, 4 Sep 2019 at 5:23 pm, Patrick McManus <
> > [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> >> ha takes me back 65 years thanks Bill P the hopeful swiper often misser!
> >>
> >> On 04/09/2019 01:09, Bill Wootton wrote:
> >>> Sorry, Doug, cricket again.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Whereas there exists
> >>>
> >>> a vast array of shots open
> >>>
> >>> to a batsman of calibre -
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> the imperious cut shot,
> >>>
> >>> the swashbuckling sweep,
> >>>
> >>> the full-blooded drive,
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> the pull shot, the hook,
> >>>
> >>> the subtle glance,
> >>>
> >>> the flick, the nudge even -
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> only two shots
> >>>
> >>> were available to me:
> >>>
> >>> the block and the hit.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Just wanted to get
> >>>
> >>> bat on ball. The lurch forward
> >>>
> >>> or the lash out.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> The other option
> >>>
> >>> denied mugs like me
> >>>
> >>> was the leave,
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> the assessed ball
> >>>
> >>> rocketing towards you
> >>>
> >>> or digging in and jagging
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> to leg or off, the delivery
> >>>
> >>> dismissed as unthreatening
> >>>
> >>> treated with a disdainful
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> shouldering of arms or simply
> >>>
> >>> sniffed at. Unreachable wides
> >>>
> >>> don’t count as leaves
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> We mugs we just
> >>>
> >>> stood before stumps
> >>>
> >>> blunting or swatting
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Who’s to say
> >>>
> >>> we didn’t have
> >>>
> >>> just as much fun
> >>>
>
> Douglas Barbour
> [log in to unmask]
> https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
>
> Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations
> 2 (UofAPress).
> Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
> Listen. If (UofAPress):
>
>
> ON THE LAKE
>
> reeds
>
> stalk
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> reeds
>
> Nelson Ball
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