"there has only ever been one perfect man, the Lord Jesus, and we killed him. I only missed a putt."
Baxter's Second Inning
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Henry Drummond, Hodder, London, 1892 (Booklet 58 pages)
The booklet is an allegory of the Christian life, written in terms of a cricket match. Baxter is playing in his first game and second ball is hit on the head. The Captain visits him and explains about the game. The bowler is called "Temptation". The batsman has three stumps to defend "truth, honour and purity".
The booklet begins with two quotations from WG Grace on the need for constant practice and sound coaching if one is to succeed in cricket and a criticism of batsmen who play only to keep their wicket and not to score.
The story of a boy who stole money is summed up as, "There stood the culprit with his middle stump - honour - as clean bowled as I ever did see". When Peter denied the Lord it was "a swift ball" that did him. [Page 19]
There is a reference to slow bowling where you can be caught if you hit the ball and bowled if you miss with the application "The average boy is fairly proof against a very big temptation; it is the little ones that play the mischief". [Page 27]
The justification for the devil's existence is expressed in the following dialogue:
"Temptation is the greatest Bowler in the world. All the same I wish I had not to play him", said Baxter "Then you would never come to anything. A boy's chance of coming to anything is when he is tempted. That is what makes a boy play up. A boy who never pushes against temptation gets no muscle in his character". [Page 46-47 and 49]
The story ends with Baxter's second innings when he began by blocking and then started scoring and went on to get the top score of the season.
The most interesting aspect of the booklet is really that anyone should have thought of writing in this way in 1892.
See also The Cricket field of the Christian life