apparent design is to perplex the inquiring layman, they would, if cited
here, be "caviare to the general."

But come with us, in imagination, on a bright May-day to a great
match--say on the Germantown cricket-ground. You will find a glorious
stretch of velvet turf, seven acres of living carpet, level and green as
a huge billard-table, skirted on the one hand by a rolling landscape,
and hedged on the other by a row of primeval oaks. Flags flaunt from the
flag-staffs, and the play-ground is guarded by guidons. The pavilion is
appropriated to the players, and perchance the band: the grand stand is
already filling with spectators. Old men and children, young men and
maidens, are there--the latter "fair to see," and each predicting
victory for her favorite club. For it must be known that on the
Germantown ground party spirit always runs high among the belles, many
of whom are good theoretical cricketers, and a few of whom always come
prepared with blanks on which to keep the neatest of private scores.
During the delay which seems inseparable from the commencement of a
cricket-match some of the players, ready costumed in cricket apparel,
"take care," if they do not "beware," of the aforesaid maidens; others,
impatient for the call of "time," like jockeys cantering before the
race, disport themselves over the field, practicing bowling, batting,
and, in ball-players' parlance, "catching flies." The whole picture is
one of beauty and animation, and that spirit must indeed be dull which
does not yield to the exhilarating influences of such a scene.

Cricket is usually played by eleven players on each side, the tactics of
each party being directed by a captain. Two umpires are appointed, whose
decrees, if sometimes inscrutable, are always irreversible, and whose
first duty it is to "pitch the wickets." Having selected the ground,
they proceed to measure accurately a distance of twenty-two yards, and
to erect a wicket at either extremity. Each "wicket" consists of three
wooden "stumps," twenty-eight inches long, sharpened at the bottom,
whereby they may be stuck perpendicularly in the ground, and grooved at
the top, in order to receive two short sticks or "bails," which rest
lightly across their tops. When pitched, the wickets face each other,
and each presents a parallelogram twenty-seven inches high by eight
inches broad, erect and firm-looking, while in fact the lightest touch
of the ball or any other object would knock off