The_Walrus wrote:
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Unfortunately, with my lack of knowledge of cricket, I didn't understand what Brigadier Gerard was doing wrong although I'm sure he was doing something very wrong.
Gerard was trying to hit his opponent when bowling.
I remember that. He seemed rather proud of himself if I remember correctly.
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You are supposed to try and hit the wicket (the three wooden stumps). He lets himself be bowled when batting, and then only got his opponent out in an unconventional, unintentional manner.
After reading the account again (found it on the Internet) I think I see what you mean.
For those who haven't read it, here's the story online:
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Arthur_Conan_Doyle/The_Adventures_of_Gerard/How_The_Brigadier_Triumphed_In_England_p1.html. The excerpt on cricket:
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There is a game called cricket which they play in the summer, and this also I learned. Rudd, the head gardener, was a famous player of cricket, and so was Lord Rufton himself. Before the house was a lawn, and here it was that Rudd taught me the game. It is a brave pastime, a game for soldiers, for each tries to strike the other with the ball, and it is but a small stick with which you may ward it off. Three sticks behind show the spot beyond which you may not retreat. I can tell you that it is no game for children, and I will confess that, in spite of my nine campaigns, I felt myself turn pale when first the ball flashed past me. So swift was it that I had not time to raise my stick to ward it off, but by good fortune it missed me and knocked down the wooden pins which marked the boundary. It was for Rudd then to defend himself and for me to attack. When I was a boy in Gascony I learned to throw both far and straight, so that I made sure that I could hit this gallant Englishman.
With a shout I rushed forward and hurled the ball at him. It flew as swift as a bullet toward his ribs, but without a word he swung his staff and the ball rose a surprising distance in the air. Lord Rufton clapped his hands and cheered. Again the ball was brought to me, and again it was for me to throw. This time it flew past his head, and it seemed to me that it was his turn to look pale.
But he was a brave man, this gardener, and again he faced me. Ah, my friends, the hour of my triumph had come! It was a red waistcoat that he wore, and at this I hurled the ball. You would have said that I was a gunner, not a hussar, for never was so straight an aim. With a despairing cry--the cry of the brave man who is beaten --he fell upon the wooden pegs behind him, and they all rolled upon the ground together. He was cruel, this English milord, and he laughed so that he could not come to the aid of his servant. It was for me, the victor, to rush forward to embrace this intrepid player, and to raise him to his feet with words of praise, and encouragement, and hope. He was in pain and could not stand erect, yet the honest fellow confessed that there was no accident in my victory. "He did it a-purpose! He did it a-purpose!"
Again and again he said it. Yes, it is a great game this cricket, and I would gladly have ventured upon it again but Lord Rufton and Rudd said that it was late in the season, and so they would play no more.
03 Aug 2013, 5:12 am
, yeah cricket was a game for the officer classes back in the day and when the british colonised countrys they took the game with them,ie india,pakistan,sri lanka,south africa,australia, new zealand and the caribbean. Just seems the u.sa was the only one who didn't take it up 
. By the way, love the conan doyle stories ,just been reading some on line 
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