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History of cricket is very rich and lengthy. Most of the experts in the field, History of cricket, are of the view that cricket originated in the dense woodlands of Weald, an area in the southeastern part of England near Kent and Sussex. Most of the people in this area belong to metalworking and farming communities. Experts believe that the children of these communities devised the game of cricket.
If we go back to trace the History of cricket, we may need to go back as mid eleventh century. However, cricket remained the game of children for many centuries. It was only in the beginning of the 17th century, adults started showing their interest in the game of cricket. In the year 1611, a dictionary described cricket as a sport for boys. However, it added that recently adults are also participating in the game. History of cricket tells us that the sheep-grazed land or clearings was used as the play ground by the players at that time. A farm tool such as crook was used as bat and the matted lump of wool served the purpose of ball. Tree stump was used as today's wicket. Some experts of cricket history are of the opinion that cricket is a modified form of older game of bowls. The major difference is that in cricket a batsman tries to stop the ball reaching the wickets by using his bat to hit the ball. As always happens when we talk about the history of any thing, there are also different views regarding the history of cricket. These experts do not accept England as the birthplace of cricket. According to them Normans brought cricket to England after 1066. They have found the evidences that the people of Punjab region of Asia have been playing bat and ball game since 8th century. Similarly, 8th and 9th century accounts of bat and ball games in the Mediterranean region also confirm these views. Some other references regarding history of cricket include diagrams in the 12th and 13th century manuscripts showing a game similar to cricket. However, these evidences are only circumstantial and one cannot treat them as concrete evidences. Among all the controversial views, majority believes that England was the place where cricket originated. Cricket started gaining substantial popularity after 1660. It was the time when gamblers also started taking interest in the game. One can imagine the larger quantities of bets made by the gamblers by the fact that "Cavalier" Parliament had to pass a Gambling act restricting the highest limit to 100 Pounds. The famous 11 a side cricket match of 1697 established cricket as a gambling sport. Laws of cricket were first ratified in 1744. Regular score keeping started from the year 1772. The law of LBW came to existence in 1774. Premier cricket club MCC was formed in 1787. Lord's, also known as Mecca of cricket was also created during the same year. |
