Sheikh Arif Bulbon
Cricket is one of the oldest games in the world and it continues to thrive today. The game is said to have originated in the 16th century with international matches being played since 1844. There is really no official documentation as to when Cricket started or even where it started. Much of the information that has been piece together has state that Cricket was a game that was thought up in the Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weal, this is a thick area of woos an clearings in the South East area of England that is across Kent an Sussex.
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.
All research concedes that the game derived from a very old, widespread and uncomplicated pastime by which one player served up an object, be it a small piece of wood or a ball, and another hit it with a suitably fashioned club.
In fact, cricket started out as a child’s game but the adult version of the game was said to have started in the 17th century. Some speculate that Cricket is a take off of a games called Bowls or lawn bowling with the slight variation that a bat is use to keep the ball from reaching the target almost similar to baseball. The basic tools use to play Cricket were thought to be matte lump of sheep’s wool to be use as the ball and a stick, crook or farm too was use as the bat.
The very first mention of the games was in a 1598 court case where ownership of a plot of land was being contested in Surrey. An older man ha testified that he and his friends has played a game called Creckett on the land over 50 years prior when they attended school there. In 1611, was the first time that an adult had mentioned playing the game rather than attending a church mass.
Since then there has been many mentioned of the game in the English Civil War and then after the war ended a new Puritan Government had put a stop to more active sports like Cricket and Football.
Cricket began to grow after the Restoration of 1660 and this is when the game first attracted gamblers to the game. In 1664, the Gaming Act was passed and it put a limit on the stakes of a game to 100 pounds. By the end of the 17th century Cricket was a game that was betted on daily. In the 17th Century, North America was introduced to the game through the English Colonies. By the 18th century it had passed through other parts of the world.
How and when this club-ball game developed into one where the hitter defended a target against the thrower is simply not known. Nor is there any evidence as to when points were awarded dependent upon how far the hitter was able to despatch the missile; nor when helpers joined the two-player contest, thus beginning the evolution into a team game; nor when the defining concept of placing wickets at either end of the pitch was adopted.
Etymological scholarship has variously placed the game in the Celtic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Dutch and Norman-French traditions; sociological historians have variously attributed its mediaeval development to high-born country landowners, émigré Flemish cloth-workers, shepherds on the close-cropped down land of south-east England and the close-knit communities of iron- and glass-workers deep in the Kentish Weald. Most of these theories have a solid academic basis, but none is backed with enough evidence to establish a watertight case. The research goes on.
What is agreed is that by Tudor times cricket had evolved far enough from club-ball to be recognisable as the game played today; that it was well established in many parts of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; that within a few years it had become a feature of leisure time at a significant number of schools; and – a sure sign of the wide acceptance of any game – that it had become popular enough among young men to earn the disapproval of local magistrates.
Today, Cricket is still a major sport that still attracts players, spectators and even media interest as well. The ICC or the International Cricket Conference has over time expanded the development of the game and it hopes to produce more national teams that are capable of competing at the Test level. In June of 2001, the ICC has brought the Test Championship Table and in October 2002, the One Day International Championship Table was introduced.
The newest addition to Cricket is the Twenty20, this a style of Cricket that was first seen in England for professional inter county teams and it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board. If you have never seen a game of Cricket, go see one; it really is very fun and exciting. n
Cricket is one of the oldest games in the world and it continues to thrive today. The game is said to have originated in the 16th century with international matches being played since 1844. There is really no official documentation as to when Cricket started or even where it started. Much of the information that has been piece together has state that Cricket was a game that was thought up in the Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weal, this is a thick area of woos an clearings in the South East area of England that is across Kent an Sussex.
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.
All research concedes that the game derived from a very old, widespread and uncomplicated pastime by which one player served up an object, be it a small piece of wood or a ball, and another hit it with a suitably fashioned club.
In fact, cricket started out as a child’s game but the adult version of the game was said to have started in the 17th century. Some speculate that Cricket is a take off of a games called Bowls or lawn bowling with the slight variation that a bat is use to keep the ball from reaching the target almost similar to baseball. The basic tools use to play Cricket were thought to be matte lump of sheep’s wool to be use as the ball and a stick, crook or farm too was use as the bat.
The very first mention of the games was in a 1598 court case where ownership of a plot of land was being contested in Surrey. An older man ha testified that he and his friends has played a game called Creckett on the land over 50 years prior when they attended school there. In 1611, was the first time that an adult had mentioned playing the game rather than attending a church mass.
Since then there has been many mentioned of the game in the English Civil War and then after the war ended a new Puritan Government had put a stop to more active sports like Cricket and Football.
Cricket began to grow after the Restoration of 1660 and this is when the game first attracted gamblers to the game. In 1664, the Gaming Act was passed and it put a limit on the stakes of a game to 100 pounds. By the end of the 17th century Cricket was a game that was betted on daily. In the 17th Century, North America was introduced to the game through the English Colonies. By the 18th century it had passed through other parts of the world.
How and when this club-ball game developed into one where the hitter defended a target against the thrower is simply not known. Nor is there any evidence as to when points were awarded dependent upon how far the hitter was able to despatch the missile; nor when helpers joined the two-player contest, thus beginning the evolution into a team game; nor when the defining concept of placing wickets at either end of the pitch was adopted.
Etymological scholarship has variously placed the game in the Celtic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Dutch and Norman-French traditions; sociological historians have variously attributed its mediaeval development to high-born country landowners, émigré Flemish cloth-workers, shepherds on the close-cropped down land of south-east England and the close-knit communities of iron- and glass-workers deep in the Kentish Weald. Most of these theories have a solid academic basis, but none is backed with enough evidence to establish a watertight case. The research goes on.
What is agreed is that by Tudor times cricket had evolved far enough from club-ball to be recognisable as the game played today; that it was well established in many parts of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; that within a few years it had become a feature of leisure time at a significant number of schools; and – a sure sign of the wide acceptance of any game – that it had become popular enough among young men to earn the disapproval of local magistrates.
Today, Cricket is still a major sport that still attracts players, spectators and even media interest as well. The ICC or the International Cricket Conference has over time expanded the development of the game and it hopes to produce more national teams that are capable of competing at the Test level. In June of 2001, the ICC has brought the Test Championship Table and in October 2002, the One Day International Championship Table was introduced.
The newest addition to Cricket is the Twenty20, this a style of Cricket that was first seen in England for professional inter county teams and it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board. If you have never seen a game of Cricket, go see one; it really is very fun and exciting. n
