A brief history of cricket
Cricket has a well-documented history
dating back to the late 16th century. Originating in south-east England, it
became the country's national sport in the 18th century and has since grown in
popularity around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. International
matches have been played since 1844, while Test cricket began in 1877,
according to historical records. After association football, cricket is the
world's second most popular spectator sport (soccer). The International Cricket
Council (ICC) is in charge of governance, with over a hundred countries and
territories as members, however only twelve now play Test cricket.
Cricket was most likely invented by
youngsters living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in
south-east England that spans Kent and Sussex, during the Saxon or Norman
periods. [1] The first documented reference is from Monday, January 17th, 1597.
("Old Style" Julian date, the year equating to 1598 in the modern
calendar).
Several theories have been proposed
about the game's beginnings, including the possibility that it was originated
in France or Flanders. The first of these theoretical references is dated
Thursday, March 10th, 1300, and it refers to the future King Edward II
participating in "creag and other games" in both Westminster and
Newenden. "Creag" has been offered as an Old English term for
cricket, but experts believe it was an early spelling of "craic,"
which means "joy and games in general."
Cricket is thought to have endured as
a children's game for many generations until becoming more popular among adults
around the beginning of the 17th century. Cricket may have evolved from bowls,
assuming bowls is the older sport, as a result of a batsman's attempt to
deflect the ball away from its intended aim. The original implements may have
included a matted lump of sheep's wool (or even a stone or a small lump of
wood) as the ball, a stick or a crook or another farm tool as the bat, and a
stool, a tree stump, or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket when playing
on sheep-grazed land or in clearings.
A court case in England in 1597 (Old
Style – 1598 New Style) references the game of creckett in relation to an
ownership dispute over a tract of common land in Guildford, Surrey. John
Derrick, a 59-year-old coroner, testified that he and his schoolmates had
played creckett on the location fifty years before when they were students at
the Free School. Derrick's report is the earliest commonly acknowledged
reference to the game, proving beyond reasonable doubt that it was played in
Surrey around 1550. Cricket was first
mentioned as an adult sport in 1611, when two Sussex men were prosecuted for
playing cricket instead of going to church on Sunday. Cricket was defined
as a boys' game by a dictionary in the same year, implying that adult
participation was a new phenomenon.
Up until the English Civil War, a
number of references imply that cricket had evolved into an adult sport played
by parish teams, but there is no evidence of county strength teams at this
period. Similarly, there is no indication of the game's widespread gambling
that characterised it in the 18th century. As a result, it is often assumed that
village cricket had grown by the mid-seventeenth century, but county cricket
had not, and that investment in the game had not yet begun.
Cricket arrived in North America via
English colonies in the 17th century, likely before it reached the north of England.
It spread to other parts of the world in the 18th century. In the early part of
the century, it was introduced to the West Indies by colonists and to India by
East India Company seafarers. It arrived virtually as soon as settlement began
in 1788 in Australia. In the early nineteenth century, New Zealand and South
Africa followed.
During the Seven Years' War in the
18th century, significant matches were virtually halted, and cricket had its
first true crisis. This was primarily due to a scarcity of players and a lack
of funding. The game, however, endured, and the "Hambledon Era" began
in the mid-1760s.
Cricket experienced another big crisis
at the start of the nineteenth century, when major matches were halted during
the Napoleonic Wars' final stages. The reasons for this were once again a lack
of players and a lack of investment. The game endured, as it had in the
1760s, and a steady revival began in 1815.
With the introduction of county clubs
for the first time, the game underwent a significant organisational upheaval.
All of the present county clubs were created in the nineteenth century,
beginning with Sussex in 1839. When William Clarke formed the travelling
All-England Eleven in 1846, the first county clubs were faced with what may be
described as "player activity." Despite being a commercial endeavour,
this team did a lot to popularise cricket in areas where high-class cricketers
had never been before. Other comparable teams were formed, and the trend
persisted for approximately thirty years. However, the counties and MCC were
victorious. Cricket's popularity in the mid- and
late-nineteenth century was aided by the expansion of the railway network. For
the first time, teams from far apart could play each other without having to
travel huge distances. Spectators could travel greater distances to attend
matches, resulting in larger crowds. Army troops all around the Empire had
spare time, so they enlisted the help of the locals to provide some interesting
competition. With the exception of Canada, the majority of the Empire embraced
cricket.
Another bowling revolution occurred in
1864, when overarm bowling was made lawful, and the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
was published for the first time. W. G. Grace began his long and illustrious
career at this period, with his achievements helping to boost cricket's
popularity. He pioneered technical advancements that transformed the game,
particularly in batting.
Only England, Australia, and South
Africa were members of the Imperial Cricket Conference when it was established
in 1909. Before World War II, the West Indies (1928), New Zealand (1930), and
India (1932) became Test nations, followed by Pakistan (1952). Several ICC
Affiliate Members were appointed, and three of them became full members in the
last quarter of the twentieth century: Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992), and
Bangladesh (2000). They were followed by Ireland and Afghanistan in the early
twenty-first century (both 2018).
Throughout the twentieth century, Test
cricket remained the highest level of competition, but it had its issues, most
notably in the infamous "Bodyline Series" of 1932–33, when Douglas
Jardine's England used so-called "leg theory" to try to neutralise
Australia's Don Bradman's run-scoring brilliance.
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