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The sport of cricket has a known history beginning in the late 16th century England. It became an established sport in the country in the 18th century and developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries. International matches have been played since the 19th-century and formal Test cricket matches are considered to date from 1877.
- Overview
- Origin
- The early years
Cricket is believed to have begun possibly as early as the 13th century as a game in which country boys bowled at a tree stump or the hurdle gate into a sheep pen.
When was the first Test match played?
The first Test match was played between Australia and England in Melbourne in 1877, with Australia winning. When Australia again won at the Oval at Kennington, London, in 1882, the Sporting Times printed an obituary notice announcing that English cricket would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia, thus creating the “play for the Ashes.”
When was the International Women’s Cricket Council formed?
The International Women’s Cricket Council was formed in 1958 by Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Africa, and later included India, Denmark, and several West Indian islands.
How many players are there on a cricket team?
Cricket is believed to have begun possibly as early as the 13th century as a game in which country boys bowled at a tree stump or at the hurdle gate into a sheep pen. This gate consisted of two uprights and a crossbar resting on the slotted tops; the crossbar was called a bail and the entire gate a wicket. The fact that the bail could be dislodged when the wicket was struck made this preferable to the stump, which name was later applied to the hurdle uprights. Early manuscripts differ about the size of the wicket, which acquired a third stump in the 1770s, but by 1706 the pitch—the area between the wickets—was 22 yards long.
The ball, once presumably a stone, has remained much the same since the 17th century. Its modern weight of between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (156 and 163 grams) was established in 1774.
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The earliest reference to an 11-a-side match, played in Sussex for a stake of 50 guineas, dates from 1697. In 1709 Kent met Surrey in the first recorded intercounty match at Dartford, and it is probable that about this time a code of laws (rules) existed for the conduct of the game, although the earliest known version of such rules is dated 1744. Sources suggest that cricket was limited to the southern counties of England during the early 18th century, but its popularity grew and eventually spread to London, notably to the Artillery Ground, Finsbury, which saw a famous match between Kent and All-England in 1744. Heavy betting and disorderly crowds were common at matches.
The aforementioned Hambledon Club, playing in Hampshire on Broadhalfpenny Down, was the predominant cricket force in the second half of the 18th century before the rise of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London. Formed from a cricket club that played at White Conduit Fields, the club moved to Lord’s Cricket Ground in St. Marylebone borough in 1787 and became the MCC and in the following year published its first revised code of laws. Lord’s, which was named after its founder, Thomas Lord, has had three locations over its history. Moving to the current ground in St. John’s Wood in 1814, Lord’s became the headquarters of world cricket.
Cricket is a multifaceted sport with multiple formats that can effectively be divided into first-class cricket, limited overs cricket, and historically, single wicket cricket.
The first evidence of cricket dates back to 1550 when a game was played by pupils of Royal Grammar School in Guildford, England. The next record of the game comes from 1598 when cricket was...
Mar 6, 2006 · The origins of cricket lie somewhere in the Dark Ages - probably after the Roman Empire, almost certainly before the Normans invaded England, and almost certainly somewhere in Northern Europe.
Apr 16, 2022 · Cricket had an early start in India, with the game being introduced by British sailors in the early 1700s. Although the infrastructure and eagerness to play the game were prevalent, India was not afforded the same freedoms as Britain’s other dominions.
People also ask
When was cricket first played?
When did cricket become popular in England?
When was cricket introduced to North America?
When did women's cricket start?
Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies as early as the 17th century, and in the 18th century it arrived in other parts of the globe. It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists and to India by British East India Company mariners.
