That idea was batted about.
Such parents and children have terrible problems in that they are often batted from pillar to post between health service trusts, social services departments and the county council's education department.
The teacher was asking us to define a yard, and immediately batted back all the definitions such as "three feet" on the grounds that they were simply tautological and circular.
We do not know the manner in which he batted.
I was not speaking without having studied them, timed them, and listed the order in which people batted.
That case cannot go on for ever being batted back and forth, with huge amounts of new evidence being produced.
He never batted on a worse wicket in his life.
So the responsibility is batted backwards and forwards.
