CRICKET HISTORY
Origin
No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. In medieval times, the Weald was populated by small farming and metal-working communities. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century.
It is quite likely that cricket was devised by children and survived for many generations as essentially a children’s game. Adult participation is unknown before the early 17th century. Possibly cricket was derived from bowls, assuming bowls is the older sport, by the intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball reaching its target by hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original implements may have been 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 or a tree stump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket [1].
Derivation of the name of "cricket"
A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket, which could refer to the bat or the wicket. In old French, the word criquet meant a kind of club which probably gave its name to croquet. Some believe that cricket and croquet have a common origin. In Flemish, krick(e) means a stick, and, in Old English, cricc or cryce means a crutch or staff (though the hard "k" sound suggests the North or Northeast midlands, rather than the Southeast, where cricket seems to have begun).
Alternatively, the French criquet apparently comes from the Flemish word krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church. It may appear similar to the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket, or the early stool in stoolball. The word stool is old dialect for a tree stump in a forest, but in stoolball it may well refer to the milking-stools which are believed to have been used as wickets in early times.
Stoolball is an ancient sport similar to cricket, still played in southern counties of England, especially Sussex, and is considered a precursor to cricket, rounders and baseball.
First definite reference
Despite many prior suggested references, the first definite reference to the game is found in a 1597 court case concerning dispute over a school's ownership of a plot of land. A 59-year old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played kreckett on the site fifty years earlier. The school was the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, and Mr Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey c.1550.
The first reference to it being played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. In the same year, a dictionary defines cricket as a boys' game and this suggests that adult participation was a recent development.
Early seventeenth century
A number of references occur up to the English Civil War and these indicate that it had become an adult game contested by parish teams, but there is no evidence of county strength teams at this time. Equally, there is little evidence of the rampant gambling that characterised the game throughout the 18th century. It is generally believed, therefore, that "village cricket" had developed by the middle of the 17th century but that county cricket had not and that investment in the game had not begun.
The Commonwealth
After the Civil War ended in 1648, the new Puritan government clamped down on "unlawful assemblies", in particular the more raucous sports such as football. Their laws also demanded a stricter observance of the Sabbath than there had been previously. As the Sabbath was the only free time available to the lower classes, cricket's popularity may have waned during the Commonwealth. Having said that, it did flourish in public fee-paying schools such as Winchester and St Paul's. There is no actual evidence that Oliver Cromwell's regime banned cricket specifically and there are references to it during the interregnum that suggest it was acceptable to the authorities providing it did not cause any "breach of the Sabbath".
Gambling and press coverage
Cricket certainly thrived after the Restoration in 1660 and is believed to have first attracted gamblers making large bets at this time. In 1664, the "Cavalier" Parliament passed a Gambling Act which limited stakes to £100, although that was still a fortune at the time. Cricket had certainly become a significant gambling sport by the end of the 17th century. We know of a "great match" played in Sussex in 1697 which was 11-a-side and played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.
Our knowledge of this game came about because, for the first time, cricket could be reported in the newspapers with freedom of the press having been granted the previous year. But it was a long time before the newspaper industry adapted sufficiently to provide frequent, let alone comprehensive, coverage of the game. During the first half of the 18th century, press reports tended to focus on the betting rather than on the play!
Eighteenth century cricket
Gambling introduced the first patrons because some of the gamblers decided to strengthen their bets by forming their own teams and it is believed the first "county teams" were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration. The first game we know of in which the teams use county names is in 1709 but there can be little doubt that these sort of fixtures were being arranged long before that. The match in 1697 could well have been Sussex versus another county.
The most notable of the early patrons were a group of aristocrats and businessmen who were active from about 1725, which is the time that press coverage became more regular, perhaps as a result of the patrons' influence. These men included Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet, Alan Brodrick and Edward Stead. For the first time, the press tells us something about individual players like Thomas Waymark.
The oldest cricket bat still in existence is dated to 1729. Note the shape of the bat, which is more like a modern-day hockey stick than a modern-day cricket bat.
Cricket moves out of England
Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century, probably before it had even reached the north of England. 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 in the first half of the century. It arrived in Australia almost as soon as colonization began in 1788. New Zealand and South Africa followed in the early years of the 19th century
Development of the Laws
The basic rules of cricket such as bat and ball, the wicket, pitch dimensions, overs, how out, etc. have existed since time immemorial. In 1728, we first hear of "Articles of Agreement" to determine the code of practice in a particular game and this became a common feature, especially around payment of stake money and distributing the winnings given the importance of gambling. In 1744, the Laws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended in 1774, when innovations such as lbw, middle stump and maximum bat width were added. These laws stated that 'the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes.' The codes were drawn up by the so-called "Star and Garter Club" whose members ultimately founded MCC at Lord's in 1787. MCC immediately became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.
Continued growth in England
The game continued to spread throughout England and, in 1751, Yorkshire is first mentioned as a venue. The original form of bowling (i.e., rolling the ball along the ground as in bowls) was superseded sometime after 1760 when bowlers began to pitch the ball and study variations in line, length and pace. Scorecards began to be kept on a regular basis from 1772 and since then we have an increasingly clear picture of the sport's development.
An artwork depicting the history of the cricket bat. (Click on the image for larger view)The first famous clubs were London and Dartford in the early 18th century. London played its matches on the famous Artillery Ground, which is still there. Others followed, particularly Slindon in Sussex which was backed by the Duke of Richmond and featured the star player Richard Newland. There were other prominent clubs at Maidenhead, Hornchurch, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Bromley, Addington, Hadlow and Chertsey.
But far and away the most famous of the early clubs was Hambledon in Hampshire. It started as a parish organisation and first achieved prominence in 1756. The club itself was founded in the 1760s and was well patronised to the extent that it was the focal point of the game for about thirty years until the formation of MCC and the opening of Lord's Cricket Ground in 1787. Hambledon produced several outstanding players including the master batsman John Small and the first great fast bowler Thomas Brett. Their most notable opponent was the Chertsey and Surrey bowler Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, who is believed to have been the main proponent of the flighted delivery.
It was in answer to the flighted, or pitched, delivery that the straight bat was introduced. The old "hockey stick" style of bat was only really effective against the ball being trundled or skimmed along the ground.
Cricket and crisis
Cricket faced its first real crisis during the 18th century when major matches virtually ceased during the Seven Years War. This was largely due to shortage of players and lack of investment. But the game survived and the "Hambledon Era" proper began in the mid-1760s.
Cricket faced another major crisis at the beginning of the 19th century when another cessation of major matches occurred during the culminating period of the Napoleonic Wars. Again, the causes were shortage of players and lack of investment. But, as in the 1760s, the game survived and a slow recovery began in 1815.
MCC was itself the centre of controversy in the Regency period, largely on account of the enmity between Lord Frederick Beauclerk and George Osbaldeston. In 1817, their intrigues and jealousies exploded into a match-fixing scandal with the top player William Lambert being banned for life. Gambling scandals in cricket have been going on since the 17th century.
In the 1820s, cricket faced a major crisis of its own making as the campaign to allow roundarm bowling gathered pace.
Nineteenth century cricket
A cricket match at Darnall, Sheffield in the 1820s.The game also underwent a fundamental change of organisation with the formation for the first time of county clubs. All the modern county clubs, starting with Sussex, were founded during the 19th century.
No sooner had the first county clubs established themselves than they faced what amounted to "player action" as William Clarke created the travelling All-England Eleven in 1846. Though a commercial venture, this team did much to popularise the game in districts which had never previously been visited by high-class cricketers. Other similar teams were created and this vogue lasted for about thirty years. But the counties and MCC prevailed.
The growth of cricket in the mid and late 19th century was assisted by the development of the railway network. For the first time, teams from a long distance apart could play one other without a prohibitively time-consuming journey. Spectators could travel longer distances to matches, increasing the size of crowds.
In 1864, another bowling revolution resulted in the legalisation of overarm and in the same year Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was first published. The "Great Cricketer", W G Grace, made his first-class debut in 1865. His feats did much to increase the game's popularity.
International cricket begins
The first Australian touring team (1878) pictured at Niagara FallsThe first ever international cricket game was between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match was played at Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey
In 1859, a team of leading English professionals set off to North America on the first-ever overseas tour and, in 1862, the first English team toured Australia.
In 1877, an England touring team in Australia played two matches against full Australian XIs that are now regarded as the inaugural Test matches. The following year, the Australians toured England for the first time and were a spectacular success. No Tests were played on that tour but more soon followed and, at The Oval in 1882, arguably the most famous match of all time gave rise to The Ashes. South Africa became the third Test nation in 1889.
The County Championship
A major watershed occurred in 1890 when the County Cricket Championship was formally constituted for the first time. The period from 1890 to the outbreak of the First World War has become especially nostalgic, ostensibly because the teams played cricket according to "the spirit of the game".The era has been called "The Golden Age of cricket" and it featured numerous great names such as Grace, Wilfred Rhodes, C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji and Victor Trumper.
Balls per over
In 1889 the immemorial four ball over was replaced by a five ball over and then this was changed to the current six balls an over in 1900. Subsequently, some countries experimented with eight balls an over. In 1922, the number of balls per over was changed from six to eight in Australia only. In 1924 the eight ball over was extended to New Zealand and in 1937 to South Africa. In England, the eight ball over was adopted experimentally for the 1939 season; the intention was to continue the experiment in 1940, but first-class cricket was suspended for the Second World War and when it resumed, English cricket reverted to the six ball over. The 1947 Laws of Cricket allowed six or eight balls depending on the conditions of play. Since the 1979/80 Australian and New Zealand seasons, the six ball over has been used worldwide and the most recent version of the Laws in 2000 only permits six ball overs.
Twentieth century cricket
Growth of Test cricket
When the Imperial Cricket Conference (as it was originally called) was founded in 1909, only England, Australia and South Africa were members. But that would soon change, and India, West Indies and New Zealand became Test nations before the Second World War and Pakistan soon afterwards. The international game grew with several "affiliate nations" getting involved and, in the closing years of the 20th century, three of those became Test nations also: Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Test cricket remained the most popular form of the sport throughout the 20th century but it had its problems, never more so than in the infamous "Bodyline Series" of 1932/33 when Douglas Jardine's England used so-called "leg theory" to try and neutralise the run-scoring brilliance of Australia's Don Bradman.
Suspension of South Africa (1970-1991)
The greatest crisis to hit international cricket was brought about by apartheid, the South African policy of racial segregation. The situation began to crystallise after 1961 when South Africa left the Commonwealth of Nations and so, under the rules of the day, its cricket board had to leave the International Cricket Conference (ICC). Cricket's opposition to apartheid intensified in 1968 with the cancellation of England's tour to South Africa by the South African authorities, due to the inclusion of "coloured" cricketer Basil D'Oliveira in the England team. In 1970, the ICC members voted to suspend South Africa indefinitely from international cricket competition. Ironically, the South African team at that time was probably the strongest in the world.
Starved of top-level competition for its best players, the South African Cricket Board began funding so-called "rebel tours", offering large sums of money for international players to form teams and tour South Africa. The ICC's response was to blacklist any rebel players who agreed to tour South Africa, banning them from officially sanctioned international cricket. As players were poorly remunerated during the 1970s, several accepted the offer to tour South Africa, particularly players getting towards the end of their careers for whom a blacklisting would have little effect.
The rebel tours continued into the 1980s but then progress was made in South African politics and it became clear that apartheid was ending. South Africa, now a "Rainbow Nation" under Nelson Mandela, was welcomed back into international sport in 1991.
World Series Cricket
The money problems of top cricketers were also the root cause of another cricketing crisis that arose in 1977 when the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer fell out with the Australian Cricket Board over TV rights. Taking advantage of the low remuneration paid to players, Packer retaliated by signing several of the best players in the world to a privately run cricket league outside the structure of international cricket. World Series Cricket hired some of the banned South African players and allowed them to show off their skills in an international arena against other world-class players. The schism lasted only until 1979 and the "rebel" players were allowed back into established international cricket, though many found that their national teams had moved on without them. Long-term results of World Series Cricket have included the introduction of significantly higher player salaries and innovations such as coloured kit and night games.
Limited overs cricket
In the 1960s, English county teams began playing a version of cricket with games of only one innings each and a maximum number of overs per innings. Starting in 1963 as a knockout competition only, limited overs grew in popularity and in 1969 a national league was created which consequently caused a reduction in the number of matches in the County Championship.
Although many "traditional" cricket fans objected to the shorter form of the game, limited overs cricket did have the advantage of delivering a result to spectators within a single day; it did improve cricket's appeal to younger or busier people; and it did prove commercially successful.
The first limited overs international match took place at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1971 as a time-filler after a Test match had been abandoned because of heavy rain on the opening days. It was tried simply as an experiment and to give the players some exercise, but turned out to be immensely popular. Limited overs internationals (LOIs or ODIs, after One-day Internationals) have since grown to become a massively popular form of the game, especially for busy people who want to be able to see a whole match. The International Cricket Council reacted to this development by organising the first Cricket World Cup in England in 1975, with all the Test playing nations taking part.
21st century cricket
The story so far
In June 2001, the ICC introduced a "Test Championship Table" and, in October 2002 a "One-day International Championship Table". Australia has consistently topped both these tables (to the end of 2007).
Cricket remains a major world sport and is the most popular spectator sport in the Indian subcontinent. The ICC has expanded its Development Program with the goal of producing more national teams capable of competing at Test level. Development efforts are focused on African and Asian nations; and on the United States. In 2004, the ICC Intercontinental Cup brought first class cricket to 12 nations, mostly for the first time.
Cricket's newest innovation is Twenty20, essentially an evening entertainment. It has so far enjoyed enormous popularity and has attracted large attendances at matches as well as good TV audience ratings. The inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup tournament was held in 2007, India emerged as the first champions, after defeating Pakistan in a nail-biting match by 5 runs. The formation of Twenty20 leagues in India - the unofficial Indian Cricket League, which started in 2007, and the official Indian Premier League, starting in 2008 - raised much speculation in the cricketing press about their effect on the future of cricket [10] [11] [12][13]
The future
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The USA has long been seen as a promising market for cricket, but it has been difficult to make any impression on a public largely ignorant of the sport. The establishment of the Pro Cricket professional league in America in 2004 did little to broach this last frontier, though the game continues to grow through immigrant groups. For example, cricket is a recently added league sport in the New York City school system, with over 600 high school players in 14 teams playing in a 12 week competition.[14] China may also be a source of future cricket development, with the Chinese government announcing plans in 2004 to develop the sport, which is almost unknown in China, with the ambitious goals of qualifying for the World Cup by 2019 and becoming a Test Nation.
Despite the disproportionate publicity (in the cricket press at least) given to developments in the USA, the next major cricket nation is likely to be from South Asia. The game is already very popular in Nepal and Afghanistan, and results in competitions such as the under 18 world cup and the ACC trophy suggest these teams are not short of natural talent.
Secondly, the ICC is conducting ongoing reviews of the interpretation of Law 24.3 of the Laws of Cricket: Definition of fair delivery – the arm, in the wake of biomechanical findings that Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan violates the guidelines for arm extension when bowling his doosra. The reporting of Muralitharan for a suspect arm action by match referee Chris Broad and the subsequent study has precipitated a crisis by finding that the current interpretive guidelines may be inadequate and ultimately unenforceable. What this means for the Laws of Cricket remains to be seen.
Finally, it remains to be seen how Twenty20 will develop. Already there are calls for it to be extended into a season-long competition as cricket's answer to American baseball, which is also essentially an evening entertainment.
No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. In medieval times, the Weald was populated by small farming and metal-working communities. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century.
It is quite likely that cricket was devised by children and survived for many generations as essentially a children’s game. Adult participation is unknown before the early 17th century. Possibly cricket was derived from bowls, assuming bowls is the older sport, by the intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball reaching its target by hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original implements may have been 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 or a tree stump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket [1].
Derivation of the name of "cricket"
A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket, which could refer to the bat or the wicket. In old French, the word criquet meant a kind of club which probably gave its name to croquet. Some believe that cricket and croquet have a common origin. In Flemish, krick(e) means a stick, and, in Old English, cricc or cryce means a crutch or staff (though the hard "k" sound suggests the North or Northeast midlands, rather than the Southeast, where cricket seems to have begun).
Alternatively, the French criquet apparently comes from the Flemish word krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church. It may appear similar to the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket, or the early stool in stoolball. The word stool is old dialect for a tree stump in a forest, but in stoolball it may well refer to the milking-stools which are believed to have been used as wickets in early times.
Stoolball is an ancient sport similar to cricket, still played in southern counties of England, especially Sussex, and is considered a precursor to cricket, rounders and baseball.
First definite reference
Despite many prior suggested references, the first definite reference to the game is found in a 1597 court case concerning dispute over a school's ownership of a plot of land. A 59-year old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played kreckett on the site fifty years earlier. The school was the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, and Mr Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey c.1550.
The first reference to it being played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. In the same year, a dictionary defines cricket as a boys' game and this suggests that adult participation was a recent development.
Early seventeenth century
A number of references occur up to the English Civil War and these indicate that it had become an adult game contested by parish teams, but there is no evidence of county strength teams at this time. Equally, there is little evidence of the rampant gambling that characterised the game throughout the 18th century. It is generally believed, therefore, that "village cricket" had developed by the middle of the 17th century but that county cricket had not and that investment in the game had not begun.
The Commonwealth
After the Civil War ended in 1648, the new Puritan government clamped down on "unlawful assemblies", in particular the more raucous sports such as football. Their laws also demanded a stricter observance of the Sabbath than there had been previously. As the Sabbath was the only free time available to the lower classes, cricket's popularity may have waned during the Commonwealth. Having said that, it did flourish in public fee-paying schools such as Winchester and St Paul's. There is no actual evidence that Oliver Cromwell's regime banned cricket specifically and there are references to it during the interregnum that suggest it was acceptable to the authorities providing it did not cause any "breach of the Sabbath".
Gambling and press coverage
Cricket certainly thrived after the Restoration in 1660 and is believed to have first attracted gamblers making large bets at this time. In 1664, the "Cavalier" Parliament passed a Gambling Act which limited stakes to £100, although that was still a fortune at the time. Cricket had certainly become a significant gambling sport by the end of the 17th century. We know of a "great match" played in Sussex in 1697 which was 11-a-side and played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.
Our knowledge of this game came about because, for the first time, cricket could be reported in the newspapers with freedom of the press having been granted the previous year. But it was a long time before the newspaper industry adapted sufficiently to provide frequent, let alone comprehensive, coverage of the game. During the first half of the 18th century, press reports tended to focus on the betting rather than on the play!
Eighteenth century cricket
Gambling introduced the first patrons because some of the gamblers decided to strengthen their bets by forming their own teams and it is believed the first "county teams" were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration. The first game we know of in which the teams use county names is in 1709 but there can be little doubt that these sort of fixtures were being arranged long before that. The match in 1697 could well have been Sussex versus another county.
The most notable of the early patrons were a group of aristocrats and businessmen who were active from about 1725, which is the time that press coverage became more regular, perhaps as a result of the patrons' influence. These men included Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet, Alan Brodrick and Edward Stead. For the first time, the press tells us something about individual players like Thomas Waymark.
The oldest cricket bat still in existence is dated to 1729. Note the shape of the bat, which is more like a modern-day hockey stick than a modern-day cricket bat.
Cricket moves out of England
Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century, probably before it had even reached the north of England. 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 in the first half of the century. It arrived in Australia almost as soon as colonization began in 1788. New Zealand and South Africa followed in the early years of the 19th century
Development of the Laws
The basic rules of cricket such as bat and ball, the wicket, pitch dimensions, overs, how out, etc. have existed since time immemorial. In 1728, we first hear of "Articles of Agreement" to determine the code of practice in a particular game and this became a common feature, especially around payment of stake money and distributing the winnings given the importance of gambling. In 1744, the Laws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended in 1774, when innovations such as lbw, middle stump and maximum bat width were added. These laws stated that 'the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes.' The codes were drawn up by the so-called "Star and Garter Club" whose members ultimately founded MCC at Lord's in 1787. MCC immediately became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.
Continued growth in England
The game continued to spread throughout England and, in 1751, Yorkshire is first mentioned as a venue. The original form of bowling (i.e., rolling the ball along the ground as in bowls) was superseded sometime after 1760 when bowlers began to pitch the ball and study variations in line, length and pace. Scorecards began to be kept on a regular basis from 1772 and since then we have an increasingly clear picture of the sport's development.
An artwork depicting the history of the cricket bat. (Click on the image for larger view)The first famous clubs were London and Dartford in the early 18th century. London played its matches on the famous Artillery Ground, which is still there. Others followed, particularly Slindon in Sussex which was backed by the Duke of Richmond and featured the star player Richard Newland. There were other prominent clubs at Maidenhead, Hornchurch, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Bromley, Addington, Hadlow and Chertsey.
But far and away the most famous of the early clubs was Hambledon in Hampshire. It started as a parish organisation and first achieved prominence in 1756. The club itself was founded in the 1760s and was well patronised to the extent that it was the focal point of the game for about thirty years until the formation of MCC and the opening of Lord's Cricket Ground in 1787. Hambledon produced several outstanding players including the master batsman John Small and the first great fast bowler Thomas Brett. Their most notable opponent was the Chertsey and Surrey bowler Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, who is believed to have been the main proponent of the flighted delivery.
It was in answer to the flighted, or pitched, delivery that the straight bat was introduced. The old "hockey stick" style of bat was only really effective against the ball being trundled or skimmed along the ground.
Cricket and crisis
Cricket faced its first real crisis during the 18th century when major matches virtually ceased during the Seven Years War. This was largely due to shortage of players and lack of investment. But the game survived and the "Hambledon Era" proper began in the mid-1760s.
Cricket faced another major crisis at the beginning of the 19th century when another cessation of major matches occurred during the culminating period of the Napoleonic Wars. Again, the causes were shortage of players and lack of investment. But, as in the 1760s, the game survived and a slow recovery began in 1815.
MCC was itself the centre of controversy in the Regency period, largely on account of the enmity between Lord Frederick Beauclerk and George Osbaldeston. In 1817, their intrigues and jealousies exploded into a match-fixing scandal with the top player William Lambert being banned for life. Gambling scandals in cricket have been going on since the 17th century.
In the 1820s, cricket faced a major crisis of its own making as the campaign to allow roundarm bowling gathered pace.
Nineteenth century cricket
A cricket match at Darnall, Sheffield in the 1820s.The game also underwent a fundamental change of organisation with the formation for the first time of county clubs. All the modern county clubs, starting with Sussex, were founded during the 19th century.
No sooner had the first county clubs established themselves than they faced what amounted to "player action" as William Clarke created the travelling All-England Eleven in 1846. Though a commercial venture, this team did much to popularise the game in districts which had never previously been visited by high-class cricketers. Other similar teams were created and this vogue lasted for about thirty years. But the counties and MCC prevailed.
The growth of cricket in the mid and late 19th century was assisted by the development of the railway network. For the first time, teams from a long distance apart could play one other without a prohibitively time-consuming journey. Spectators could travel longer distances to matches, increasing the size of crowds.
In 1864, another bowling revolution resulted in the legalisation of overarm and in the same year Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was first published. The "Great Cricketer", W G Grace, made his first-class debut in 1865. His feats did much to increase the game's popularity.
International cricket begins
The first Australian touring team (1878) pictured at Niagara FallsThe first ever international cricket game was between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match was played at Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey
In 1859, a team of leading English professionals set off to North America on the first-ever overseas tour and, in 1862, the first English team toured Australia.
In 1877, an England touring team in Australia played two matches against full Australian XIs that are now regarded as the inaugural Test matches. The following year, the Australians toured England for the first time and were a spectacular success. No Tests were played on that tour but more soon followed and, at The Oval in 1882, arguably the most famous match of all time gave rise to The Ashes. South Africa became the third Test nation in 1889.
The County Championship
A major watershed occurred in 1890 when the County Cricket Championship was formally constituted for the first time. The period from 1890 to the outbreak of the First World War has become especially nostalgic, ostensibly because the teams played cricket according to "the spirit of the game".The era has been called "The Golden Age of cricket" and it featured numerous great names such as Grace, Wilfred Rhodes, C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji and Victor Trumper.
Balls per over
In 1889 the immemorial four ball over was replaced by a five ball over and then this was changed to the current six balls an over in 1900. Subsequently, some countries experimented with eight balls an over. In 1922, the number of balls per over was changed from six to eight in Australia only. In 1924 the eight ball over was extended to New Zealand and in 1937 to South Africa. In England, the eight ball over was adopted experimentally for the 1939 season; the intention was to continue the experiment in 1940, but first-class cricket was suspended for the Second World War and when it resumed, English cricket reverted to the six ball over. The 1947 Laws of Cricket allowed six or eight balls depending on the conditions of play. Since the 1979/80 Australian and New Zealand seasons, the six ball over has been used worldwide and the most recent version of the Laws in 2000 only permits six ball overs.
Twentieth century cricket
Growth of Test cricket
When the Imperial Cricket Conference (as it was originally called) was founded in 1909, only England, Australia and South Africa were members. But that would soon change, and India, West Indies and New Zealand became Test nations before the Second World War and Pakistan soon afterwards. The international game grew with several "affiliate nations" getting involved and, in the closing years of the 20th century, three of those became Test nations also: Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Test cricket remained the most popular form of the sport throughout the 20th century but it had its problems, never more so than in the infamous "Bodyline Series" of 1932/33 when Douglas Jardine's England used so-called "leg theory" to try and neutralise the run-scoring brilliance of Australia's Don Bradman.
Suspension of South Africa (1970-1991)
The greatest crisis to hit international cricket was brought about by apartheid, the South African policy of racial segregation. The situation began to crystallise after 1961 when South Africa left the Commonwealth of Nations and so, under the rules of the day, its cricket board had to leave the International Cricket Conference (ICC). Cricket's opposition to apartheid intensified in 1968 with the cancellation of England's tour to South Africa by the South African authorities, due to the inclusion of "coloured" cricketer Basil D'Oliveira in the England team. In 1970, the ICC members voted to suspend South Africa indefinitely from international cricket competition. Ironically, the South African team at that time was probably the strongest in the world.
Starved of top-level competition for its best players, the South African Cricket Board began funding so-called "rebel tours", offering large sums of money for international players to form teams and tour South Africa. The ICC's response was to blacklist any rebel players who agreed to tour South Africa, banning them from officially sanctioned international cricket. As players were poorly remunerated during the 1970s, several accepted the offer to tour South Africa, particularly players getting towards the end of their careers for whom a blacklisting would have little effect.
The rebel tours continued into the 1980s but then progress was made in South African politics and it became clear that apartheid was ending. South Africa, now a "Rainbow Nation" under Nelson Mandela, was welcomed back into international sport in 1991.
World Series Cricket
The money problems of top cricketers were also the root cause of another cricketing crisis that arose in 1977 when the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer fell out with the Australian Cricket Board over TV rights. Taking advantage of the low remuneration paid to players, Packer retaliated by signing several of the best players in the world to a privately run cricket league outside the structure of international cricket. World Series Cricket hired some of the banned South African players and allowed them to show off their skills in an international arena against other world-class players. The schism lasted only until 1979 and the "rebel" players were allowed back into established international cricket, though many found that their national teams had moved on without them. Long-term results of World Series Cricket have included the introduction of significantly higher player salaries and innovations such as coloured kit and night games.
Limited overs cricket
In the 1960s, English county teams began playing a version of cricket with games of only one innings each and a maximum number of overs per innings. Starting in 1963 as a knockout competition only, limited overs grew in popularity and in 1969 a national league was created which consequently caused a reduction in the number of matches in the County Championship.
Although many "traditional" cricket fans objected to the shorter form of the game, limited overs cricket did have the advantage of delivering a result to spectators within a single day; it did improve cricket's appeal to younger or busier people; and it did prove commercially successful.
The first limited overs international match took place at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1971 as a time-filler after a Test match had been abandoned because of heavy rain on the opening days. It was tried simply as an experiment and to give the players some exercise, but turned out to be immensely popular. Limited overs internationals (LOIs or ODIs, after One-day Internationals) have since grown to become a massively popular form of the game, especially for busy people who want to be able to see a whole match. The International Cricket Council reacted to this development by organising the first Cricket World Cup in England in 1975, with all the Test playing nations taking part.
21st century cricket
The story so far
In June 2001, the ICC introduced a "Test Championship Table" and, in October 2002 a "One-day International Championship Table". Australia has consistently topped both these tables (to the end of 2007).
Cricket remains a major world sport and is the most popular spectator sport in the Indian subcontinent. The ICC has expanded its Development Program with the goal of producing more national teams capable of competing at Test level. Development efforts are focused on African and Asian nations; and on the United States. In 2004, the ICC Intercontinental Cup brought first class cricket to 12 nations, mostly for the first time.
Cricket's newest innovation is Twenty20, essentially an evening entertainment. It has so far enjoyed enormous popularity and has attracted large attendances at matches as well as good TV audience ratings. The inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup tournament was held in 2007, India emerged as the first champions, after defeating Pakistan in a nail-biting match by 5 runs. The formation of Twenty20 leagues in India - the unofficial Indian Cricket League, which started in 2007, and the official Indian Premier League, starting in 2008 - raised much speculation in the cricketing press about their effect on the future of cricket [10] [11] [12][13]
The future
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The USA has long been seen as a promising market for cricket, but it has been difficult to make any impression on a public largely ignorant of the sport. The establishment of the Pro Cricket professional league in America in 2004 did little to broach this last frontier, though the game continues to grow through immigrant groups. For example, cricket is a recently added league sport in the New York City school system, with over 600 high school players in 14 teams playing in a 12 week competition.[14] China may also be a source of future cricket development, with the Chinese government announcing plans in 2004 to develop the sport, which is almost unknown in China, with the ambitious goals of qualifying for the World Cup by 2019 and becoming a Test Nation.
Despite the disproportionate publicity (in the cricket press at least) given to developments in the USA, the next major cricket nation is likely to be from South Asia. The game is already very popular in Nepal and Afghanistan, and results in competitions such as the under 18 world cup and the ACC trophy suggest these teams are not short of natural talent.
Secondly, the ICC is conducting ongoing reviews of the interpretation of Law 24.3 of the Laws of Cricket: Definition of fair delivery – the arm, in the wake of biomechanical findings that Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan violates the guidelines for arm extension when bowling his doosra. The reporting of Muralitharan for a suspect arm action by match referee Chris Broad and the subsequent study has precipitated a crisis by finding that the current interpretive guidelines may be inadequate and ultimately unenforceable. What this means for the Laws of Cricket remains to be seen.
Finally, it remains to be seen how Twenty20 will develop. Already there are calls for it to be extended into a season-long competition as cricket's answer to American baseball, which is also essentially an evening entertainment.
AMAZING CRICKET RECORDS
(1.)THE PLAYERS WHO HAVE HEIGHIST RUNS IN ODI
Player Names Span Runs
SR Tendulkar (India) (1989-2007) 15962
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) (1989-2007) 12207
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/Pak) (1991-2007) 11739
(2.)LOWEST ODI TOTALS
1)Zimbabwe Sri Lanka 25-Apr-2004 Harare Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets 35/10
2)Canada Sri Lanka 19-Feb-2003 Paarl ICC World Cup Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets 36/10
3)Zimbabwe Sri Lanka 08-Dec-2001 Colombo LG Abans Triangular Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets 38/10
4)Pakistan West Indies 25-Feb-1993 Cape Town Total International Series West Indies won by 7 wickets 43/10
5)Namibia Australia 27-Feb-2003 Potchefstroom ICC World Cup Australia won by 256 runs 45/10
6)Canada England 13-Jun-1979 Manchester Prudential World Cup England won by 8 wickets 45/10
7)West Indies South Africa 25-Jan-2004 Cape Town Sir Vivian Richards Trophy South Africa won by 209 runs 54/10
8)India Sri Lanka 29-Oct-2000 Sharjah Coca-Cola Champions Trophy Sri Lanka won by 245 runs 54/10
9)Sri Lanka West Indies 03-Dec-1986 Sharjah Champions Trophy West Indies won by 193 runs 55/10
10)India Australia 08-Jan-1981 Sydney Benson & Hedges World Series Cup Australia won by 9 wickets 63/10
11)New Zealand Pakistan 15-Apr-1986 Sharjah Australasia Cup Pakistan won by 10 wickets 64/10
12)United States of America Australia 13-Sep-2004 Southampton ICC Champions Trophy Australia won by 9 wickets 65/10
13)Scotland West Indies 27-May-1999 Leicester ICC World Cup West Indies won by 8 wickets 68/10
14)South Africa Australia 14-Dec-1993 Sydney Benson & Hedges World Series Australia won by 103 runs 69/10
15)Australia New Zealand 27-Jan-1986 Adelaide Benson & Hedges World Series Cup New Zealand won by 206 runs 70/10
(3.)HIGHEST ODI TOTALS
1)Sri Lanka 443/9 50.0 v Netherlands Amstelveen 4 Jul 2006
2)South Africa 438/9 49.5 v Australia Johannesburg 12 Mar 2006
3)Australia 434/4 50.0 v South Africa Johannesburg 12 Mar 2006
4)South Africa 418/5 50.0 v Zimbabwe Potchefstroom 20 Sep 2006
5)India 413/5 50.0 v Bermuda Port of Spain 19 Mar 2007
6)Sri Lanka 398/5 50.0 v Kenya Kandy 6 Mar 1996
7)New Zealand 397/5 44.0 v Zimbabwe Bulawayo 24 Aug 2005
8)South Africa 392/6 50.0 v Pakistan Centurion 4 Feb 2007
9)England 391/4 50.0 v Bangladesh Nottingham 21 Jun 2005
10)Australia 377/6 50.0 v South Africa Basseterre 24 Mar 2007
11)India 376/2 50.0 v New Zealand Hyderabad (Decc) 8 Nov 1999
12)India 373/6 50.0 v Sri Lanka Taunton 26 May 1999
13)Pakistan 371/9 50.0 v Sri Lanka Nairobi (Gym) 4 Oct 1996
14)Australia 368/5 50.0 v Sri Lanka Sydney 12 Feb 2006
15)South Africa 363/3 50.0 v Zimbabwe Bulawayo 23 Sep 2001
16)New Zealand 363/5 50.0 v Canada Gros Islet 22 Mar 2007
17)England 363/7 55.0 v Pakistan Nottingham 20 Aug 1992
18)West Indies 360/4 50.0 v Sri Lanka Karachi 13 Oct 1987
19)Australia 359/2 50.0 v India Johannesburg 23 Mar 2003
18)Australia 359/5 50.0 v India Sydney 8 Feb 2004
19)Australia 358/5 50.0 v Netherlands Basseterre 18 Mar 2007
20)India 356/9 50.0 v Pakistan Visakhapatnam 5 Apr 2005
21)South Africa 356/4 50.0 v West Indies St George's 10 Apr 2007
22)South Africa 354/3 50.0 v Kenya Cape Town 22 Oct 2001
23)South Africa 353/3 40.0 v Netherlands Basseterre 16 Mar 2007
24)India 353/5 50.0 v New Zealand Hyderabad (Decc) 15 Nov 2003
25)Pakistan 353/6 50.0 v England Karachi 15 Dec 2005
26)India 351/3 50.0 v Kenya Paarl 24 Oct 2001
27)Pakistan 351/4 50.0 v South Africa Durban 7 Feb 2007
28)New Zealand 350/9 49.3 v Australia Hamilton 20 Feb 2007
29)India 350/6 50.0 v Sri Lanka Nagpur 25 Oct 2005
30)Pakistan 349 49.5 v Zimbabwe Kingston 21 Mar 2007
(4.)PLAYERS WHO HAVE NO DUCKS
KC Wessels (Aus/SA) 1983-1994 109
Yashpal Sharma (India) 1978-1985 42
PN Kirsten (SA) 1991-1994 40
JA Rudolph (Afr/SA) 2003-2006 45
RC Russell (Eng) 1987-1998 40
DS de Silva (SL) 1975-1985 41
AI Kallicharran (WI 1973-1981 31
Wasim Bari (Pak) 1973-1984 51
JF Reid (NZ) 1980-1986 25
VJ Marks (Eng) 1980-1988 34
BJ Haddin (Aus) 2001-2007 26
BM Laird (Aus) 1979-1982 23
AP Kuiper (SA) 1991-1996 25
KWR Fletcher (Eng) 1971-1982 24
MH Dekker (Zim) 1992-1996 23
DA Reeve (Eng) 1991-1996 29
DR Chumney (Can) 2003-2007 21
KJ O'Brien (Ire) 2006-2007 20
AMAZING CRICKET PICTURES
(1)Cricket Snapshot: Take that!
Matthew Hoggard gets drenched in water by and elephant, during his visit to a sanctuary today. Still, makes a change from Fred doing it with beer, like on most previous tours
(2)Cricket Snapshot: I think we could be in trouble here
Snap of the scoreboard illustrating just how deep in trouble South Africa were on the way to a comprehensive defeat to the Windies in today's Twenty20
(3)Cricket Snapshot: 400 up!
Gilly is so good with the bat that you sometimes forget that he also happens to be a bloody good keeper. Here is the moment he becomes only the second man to reach 400 test dismissals. Bonus question, who was the first?
(4)Cricket Snapshot: ANIL'S 600 up!
The legendary Anil Kumble joins the ranks of those other spinning legends by taking his 600th Test wicket in today's extraordinary day in Perth.
(5)Cricket Snapshot: "Say what?"
Harbhajan queries the detail of the comments from the crowd today at The Gabba
(6.)Cricket Snapshot: Mind your head
Brett Lee takes evasive action yesterday in the NSW vs Victoria Pura Cup match. Big crowd in isn't there?
(7.)Cricket Snapshot: The youngster
Lancashire's young prospect Oliver Newby displays a unique delivery stride. It didn't really help though as Surrey reached 537-5 at a packed Oval (!), with centuries for Ramps, Butcher and Usman.
(8.)SREESANT EMOTIONAL PICTURE
(9.)AMAZING FEILDING VIEW
Matthew Hoggard gets drenched in water by and elephant, during his visit to a sanctuary today. Still, makes a change from Fred doing it with beer, like on most previous tours
(2)Cricket Snapshot: I think we could be in trouble here
Snap of the scoreboard illustrating just how deep in trouble South Africa were on the way to a comprehensive defeat to the Windies in today's Twenty20
(3)Cricket Snapshot: 400 up!
Gilly is so good with the bat that you sometimes forget that he also happens to be a bloody good keeper. Here is the moment he becomes only the second man to reach 400 test dismissals. Bonus question, who was the first?
(4)Cricket Snapshot: ANIL'S 600 up!
The legendary Anil Kumble joins the ranks of those other spinning legends by taking his 600th Test wicket in today's extraordinary day in Perth.
(5)Cricket Snapshot: "Say what?"
Harbhajan queries the detail of the comments from the crowd today at The Gabba
(6.)Cricket Snapshot: Mind your head
Brett Lee takes evasive action yesterday in the NSW vs Victoria Pura Cup match. Big crowd in isn't there?
(7.)Cricket Snapshot: The youngster
Lancashire's young prospect Oliver Newby displays a unique delivery stride. It didn't really help though as Surrey reached 537-5 at a packed Oval (!), with centuries for Ramps, Butcher and Usman.
(8.)SREESANT EMOTIONAL PICTURE
Obviously the crew at the Shed aren't the only souls upset at the closing of The Googly on the eve of the northern international summer. Sreesanth's pink Punjabi pyjamas has caused his feminine side to shine and upon hearing of the council decision to condemn, demolish and redevelop the dungeon he couldn't hold back the tears when his boyfriend told him the sad but inevitable news.
I propose a last ditch caption contest for this photograph. Give us your best shot and celebrate what has been one of the funniest blogs in the English blogging pavilion.
At the Shed, we will be soldiering on at 99.94 with regular contributions from The Tooting Trumpet and if we win the lottery and hide his drumsticks, perhaps the esteemed editor of this publication too.
It's been a fun ride. I'm sure we'll all cross paths again. And anything that makes Sreesanth sook, in my book, can't be all bad!
(9.)AMAZING FEILDING VIEW
AMAZING CRICKET FACTS
1)Vikram Solanki is the first ever SuperSub player in ODIs.
2)Hanif Mohammed (Pakistan) batted for 16 hours and 10 minutes - nearly 3 full days - against the West Indies, scoring 337.
3)England and Australia played the first ever one day international at Melbourne in 1971!
4)Sachin Tendulkar was the first victim of the third umpire. In the Test match!
5)South Africans were the first to introduce TV run outs!
6)Graham Yallop, in 1978 was the first man to wear a helmet!
7)Sourav Ganguly is the only cricketer to have won four successive Man of the Match awards in One-day Internationals.
8)The first Test match began on 15 March 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs.
9)The first Twenty20 international was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005
10)The Test match between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939 was finally abandoned as a draw on the tenth day because England players had to catch their ship home.
11)The First Test between Young Sri Lanka and Young England at Columbo in 1987 was held up when a large iguana crept across the wicket.
12)Pakistan Railways beat Dera Ismail Khan by an innings and 851 runs in 1964. In reply to the Pakistan Railways 910 for 6 declared, Dera Ismail Khan were bowled out 32 and 27.
13)Cricket World Cup: Australia is the only Country who manage to win three successive Worldcup in world of cricket.
14)NE Clarke Makes his debut in the age of 47 years in Netherlands v New Zealand 17 Feb 1996.
15)ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) Hits maximum Sixes in ODI the sixes are 245+.
16)ST Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka v Pakistan match hit fastest fifty in just 17 balls in which he hits 5 sixes and 8 fours.
17)Shahid Afridi in Pakistan v Sri Lanka match hit fastest ever hundred injust 37 balls with the help of 11 sixes and 4 fours.
18)SR Tendulkar, R Dravid made 331 runs partnership in India v New Zealand match. which is the hieghest ever partnership in cricket history.
19)Wasim Akram is the first (an only?) man to perform a hat-trick in both one days and tests!
2)Hanif Mohammed (Pakistan) batted for 16 hours and 10 minutes - nearly 3 full days - against the West Indies, scoring 337.
3)England and Australia played the first ever one day international at Melbourne in 1971!
4)Sachin Tendulkar was the first victim of the third umpire. In the Test match!
5)South Africans were the first to introduce TV run outs!
6)Graham Yallop, in 1978 was the first man to wear a helmet!
7)Sourav Ganguly is the only cricketer to have won four successive Man of the Match awards in One-day Internationals.
8)The first Test match began on 15 March 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs.
9)The first Twenty20 international was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005
10)The Test match between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939 was finally abandoned as a draw on the tenth day because England players had to catch their ship home.
11)The First Test between Young Sri Lanka and Young England at Columbo in 1987 was held up when a large iguana crept across the wicket.
12)Pakistan Railways beat Dera Ismail Khan by an innings and 851 runs in 1964. In reply to the Pakistan Railways 910 for 6 declared, Dera Ismail Khan were bowled out 32 and 27.
13)Cricket World Cup: Australia is the only Country who manage to win three successive Worldcup in world of cricket.
14)NE Clarke Makes his debut in the age of 47 years in Netherlands v New Zealand 17 Feb 1996.
15)ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) Hits maximum Sixes in ODI the sixes are 245+.
16)ST Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka v Pakistan match hit fastest fifty in just 17 balls in which he hits 5 sixes and 8 fours.
17)Shahid Afridi in Pakistan v Sri Lanka match hit fastest ever hundred injust 37 balls with the help of 11 sixes and 4 fours.
18)SR Tendulkar, R Dravid made 331 runs partnership in India v New Zealand match. which is the hieghest ever partnership in cricket history.
19)Wasim Akram is the first (an only?) man to perform a hat-trick in both one days and tests!
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