History of cricate:

The origins of cricket are very vague, and many theories have been put forward suggesting its origins. Extensive studies and research have been conducted to trace its history and they have come out with different versions. However it is commonly accepted that the game originated from a very old leisure activity indulged by shepherds. The shepherds used crook and other farm equipments to hit a ball like deceive which used to be made up of wool or stone.

The first evidence of cricket being played was recorded in the year 1550, by the pupils of Royal Grammar School, Guildford. In the year 1611 it is reported that two young men from Sussex were punished for playing cricket instead of going to the church. The first match is recorded to have been played at Coxheath in Kent in the year 1646.

Earlier cricket used to thrive greatly as a gambling game. People used to place huge amounts of bets in matches and thus the game started to get recognition. Cricket was in fact a major gambling sport towards the end of the 17th century. It is recorded that in the year 1679, a 11-a-side match was played with stakes as high as 50 guineas per side.

During the 18th century cricket survived and thrived due to the huge amounts of money via monetary backing and gambling. The first instance of a match to be played between counties in England is recorded to be on 29th June in the year 1709. This match was played between Surrey and Kent at Dartford Brent.

The 18th century also witnessed the emergence of two types of cricket players. They were known as the retained player and the individual player. Generally the retained player was the servant of the lord and a cricketer as well. On the other hand the individual player was free to play anywhere with his skills. Basically it was something like the player could play anywhere with the amount of skill he possesses.

In the year 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club also known MCC was created. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent bodies in world cricket. Cricket in its initial days were restricted to the aristocratic class of England. Cricket gradually went on to become the national game of England.

The late 18th century was a very crucial phase for the development of the game, both within and outside Britain. The game was spread far and wide mainly due to England’s imperialism. Wherever they went, the game went with them and thus spread outside England. The first official match was held between Canada and United States was held in the year 1844.

In the present times, cricket has its own following of loyal fans. The International Cricket Council, better known as the ICC is the governing body in world cricket. The ICC was founded on the 15th of June in the year 1909. All laws relating to ODIs and Test Cricket are framed and implemented by the ICC.

WAS THIS HOW CRICKET EVOLVED

The origins and facts about cricket

They say you have to be born into cricket, me,I love it, an American friend once described it as “baseball on valium”.

The origins of the game of cricket are lost in the mists of time. There is a reference in the household accounts of King Edward I in 1300 of a game much like cricket being played in Kent.

The English game originated in the sheep-raising country of the South East, where the short grass of the pastures made it possible to bowl or roll a ball of rags or wool at a target. That target was usually the wicket-gate of the sheep paddock, which was defended with a bat in the form of a shepherd’s crooked staff.

In reality there was actually a large number of different games played under a variety of local rules. The idea of a single past time evolving seamlessly into the sport we know and love is appealing but not very likely. However, hitting a ball with a stick does seem to have been a popular past time. Whatever the variety or origins of games played, records show Edward II wielding a bat, and it was suggested that Oliver Cromwell also played the game. In fact, “bat” is an old English word meaning stick or club. The earliest types of bat were much like a hockey stick – long, heavy clubs curved outwards towards the bottom. The design of the bat reflected the type of bowling that was prevalent at the time – fast, underarm bowls rolled along the ground. By the eighteenth century, the bat had developed into a heavier, longer, curved version of our modern bat – the handle and blade were carved out of a single piece of wood.

The 1st recorded cricket match took place in Kent in 1646 and, by the late 1600s fines were actually handed out for those missed church church to play. Cricket was popular and widely documented in England during the 1700s. In 1706 William Goldwyn published the 1st description of the game. He wrote that 2 teams were 1st seen carrying their curving bats to the venue, choosing a pitch and arguing over the rules. They pitched 2 sets of wickets, each with a “milk-white” bail perched on two stumps; tossed a coin for 1st knock, the umpire called “play” and the “leathern orb” was bowled. They had 4-ball overs, the umpires leant on their staves (which the batsmen had to touch to complete a run), and the scorers sat on a mound making notches.

The 1st written “Laws of Cricket” were established in 1744. They stated, “the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present 2 umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The stumps must be Twenty-two inches high and the bail across them six inches. The ball must be between 5 & 6 ounces, and the two sets of stumps Twenty-two yards apart”. There were no limits on the shape or size of the bat. It appears that 40 notches was viewed as a very big score, probably due to the bowlers bowling quickly at shins unprotected by pads. The world’s first cricket club was formed in Hambledon in the 1760s and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787.

During the 1760′s and 1770′s it became common to pitch the ball through the air, rather than roll it along the ground. This innovation gave bowlers the weapons of deception through the air, length, plus increased pace. It also opened new possibilities for spin and swerve. In response, batsmen had to masters shot selection and timing. One immediate consequence of this was the replacement of the curving bat with the straight one. All of this raised the premium on skill and lessened the influence of rough ground and brute force. It was in the 1770′s that the modern game began to take shape.

The weight of the ball was limited to between 5 and a 1/2 and five and 3/4 ounces, and the width of the bat to 4 inches. The latter ruling followed an innings by a batsman called “Shock” White, who appeared with a bat the width of the wicket. In 1774, the first leg before law was published. Also around this time, a third stump became commonplace.

By 1780, 3 days had become the duration of a big match, and that year also saw the creation of the first 6-seam cricket ball. In 1788, the MCC published its 1st revision of the laws, which banned charging down an opponent and also provided for mowing and covering the wicket to help keep things fair.

The desire for standardization reflected the big increase in the popularity of the game during the eighteenth Century. Between 1730 & 1740, one hundred and fifty cricket matches were recorded in the newspapers of the time. Between 1750 &1760, this figure rose to two hundred and thirty, and between 1770 & 1790 over five hundred.

The nineteenth Century saw a series of significant changes to the game. Wide deliveries were banned in 1811. The circumference of the ball was specified for the first time in 1838 (its weight had been decided sixty years earlier). Pads, made of cork, became available for the first time in1841, and these were further developed following the invention of vulcanized rubber, which was also used to introduce protective gloves in 1848. In the 1870′s, boundaries were introduced – previously, all hits had to be run, and if the ball went into the crowd, the spectators had cleared a way for the fieldsman to get to the ball. The biggest change, however, was in how the ball was delivered by the bowler.

At the start of the century, all bowlers were still bowling the ball under-arm. However, so the story goes, John Willes became the first bowler to use a “round-arm” technique after practicing with his sister Christina, who had used the technique, as she was unable to bowl underarm due to her wide dress impeding her delivery of the ball. In 1816, responding to the increasing number of bowlers who were now using “round-arm”, the MCC ruled “the ball must be delivered underhand, not thrown or jerked, with the hand underneath the elbow at the time of delivering the ball”.

Previously, no such legislation had been needed. However, by the 1830′s, round-arm had become increasingly popular and eventually it was permitted by the MCC who, in 1835, deigned to allow any delivery “not thrown or jerked in which the hand or arm did not go above the shoulder”. By the 1860′s matters had developed further and some bowlers were experimenting with over-arm, although it was still outlawed by the rules of the game. In practice, some umpires allowed it whilst others called “no-ball”.

As you can see the practitioners of under-arm and round-arm stayed in the game, and were by no means unsuccessful. However, the majority of new players used over-arm and, by the 1880′s that was the most favored way of delivering the ball. Interestingly, round-arm disappeared before under-arm, which was still being employed until World War 1. Given that Australia first fielded an entirely over-arm attack in 1878, it now seems extraordinary that England occasionally selected under-arm bowlers even in the early part of the 20th Century. Most famously, Simpson-Hayward toured South Africa in 1909-10 and the “lobster” was England’s most successful bowler with 23 wickets at 18 a piece.

Thereafter, cricket became recognizably the game that is played today, despite many changes regarding leg before dismissals, intimidatory bowling, no balls, the weight of the bats, covered wickets and protective clothing. In the wake of England’s recent tour of South Africa, the thought of Harrison strolling up to the wicket and delivering the ball under-arm does have a certain appeal, and it’s tempting to suggest that he could scarcely have achieved worse results with the old fashioned technique.

Trescothick would surely love to have used Shock White’s oversized bat to keep out Ntini’s delivery that made a horrible mess of his stumps in the nail-biting finish to the series. Kallis, of course, spent much of the series looking as if he was doing exactly that, but that’s another story.

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