Dick was in a hitting mood

[Coffee Break]

I read this part, "Dick was in a hitting mood", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:

During the afternoon another unexpected thing occurred, this time involving the whole family and slightly upsetting them in different ways, according to their particular points of view.

They were playing an afternoon game of cricket, and as Dick was in a hitting mood Mr. Stevens had retired some distance away in the hope of bringing off a spectacular catch. Ernie was bowling and Mary was behind the wicket when Dick sent the ball soaring into the sky. Ernie shouted, “There you are, Dad—catch it!”—but to their surprise Mr. Stevens had disappeared from the place where he had been fielding, and the ball bounced harmlessly on the sands beside a girl in yellow beach pyjamas.

- R. C. Sherriff, The Fortnight in September, Chapter 23

This is a novel published in 1931, which describes a fortnight in September in which an English family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mary, Dick, and Ernie go on a holiday. At the seaside, while the Stevens are playing cricket, something unexpected happens.

In this part, I wonder what this underlined expression means.
What would it mean that someone is in a "hitting mood"...? Did they feel like (wanted to) hit the ball...? Or, would it be that they were in the midst of a motion of hitting the ball...? (Though these are just my guesses. )

 

[jutfrank]

That day, he was in the mood to attack the ball. He wanted to play aggressively.

 

[Barque]

In cricket, unlike baseball where people seem to try to hit the ball hard every time, it's quite common to play defensive shots, or just push or nudge the ball around.

That day Dick was in the mood to try and hit every ball he received hard.

 

[Coffee Break]

@jutfrank and @Barque,

Thank you very much for the explanations!
Oh, so it means that he wanted to hit the ball aggressively, hard, fiercely, that day.

Then this sentence would mean:

They were playing an afternoon game of cricket, and as Dick was in a hitting mood Mr. Stevens had retired some distance away in the hope of bringing off a spectacular catch.

= They were playing a game of cricket in the afternoon, and, because Dick was in the feeling of hitting the balls hard and aggressively today, Mr. Stevens had retreated some distance, expecting the ball to fly a long distance, in order to catch the flying ball in a spectacular manner.

I sincerely appreciate your help.

 

[Tarheel]

@Coffee Break Say he was in the mood to or felt like or wanted to hit the ball hard. (There's no need to add anything.)

He wanted to catch the ball. (Not flying ball.)