HISTORY OF CRICKET
ORIGIN
Cricket
is believed to begun in 13th century as a game. It was created during
the Saxon or Norman times by children in the weald, an area of dense woodlands in
south-east England, lying across lent and Sussex. There are several speculations
abut game’s origin, including that it was created in France. It has been
suggested that “Creag” was an old English word used for cricket, but expert
opinion is that it was just an early spelling of “craic “, meaning games and
fun.
EARLY
CRICKET
It is believed that cricket was called
children game for many generations before it was taken up by adults at the
beginning of 17th century. Cricket was derived from bowls, by the
intervention of batsman trying to stop the ball from reaching its target by
hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed lands, using a stone or small lump of
wood as a ball and a tree stump or gate as wicket. This gate consisted of two
uprights and a crossbar resting on tops, crossbar was called bail which could
be dislodged when wicket was struck. The third stamp was acquired in 1770’s but
in 1706 the pitch (area between wickets) was 22 yards long. The ball was a
stone and remained the same since 17th century. Its modern weight of
about 5.5 and 5.75 was established in 1774. The primitive bat was a shaped
branch of tree just like a modern hockey stick but considerably heavier and
longer. The change to straight bat was done to defend against length bowling,
which had evolved with cricketers in Hambleden small village in England. The
bat was broadened and straightened in the blade and shortened in handle, which
led to play forward, diving and cutting. Battig dominated the bowling till 18th
century as bowling was not advanced.
DERIVATION
OF THE NAME “CRICKET”
A
number of words or names were thought to be possible of term of cricket. In
early, it was spelled as creckett, name have been derived from middle
duck krick(-e) meaning a stick, or French word criquet meaning a wooden
post. The middle Dutch word krickstoel
means a long low stool used for kneeling in church, resembling with long low
wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
DEVELOPMENTS
OF LAWS
It’s
not clear when basic rules of cricket were originally formulated. Duke of
Richmond and Alan Brodick drew up articles of agreement in 1728, to determine
the code of practice in game. The laws of cricket was codified firstly in 1744
and then in 1774 it was amended when innovations like lbw, middle stump and
maximum bat width was added. These laws stated that “the principles shall
choose from amongst the gentleman present two umpires who shall absolutely
decide all disputes”. The codes were drawn
by star and garter club whose member founded the Marylebone cricket club at Lords
in 1787.
SPREADNESS
OF CRICKET
The
cricket continued to spread throughout England in1751. The original form of
bowling (rolling the ball along ground as in bowls) was declined after the 1760
when bowlers began to pitch the ball and study the variations of line and
length.
In
18th century, the famous clubs were created in
London and Dartford. London played its match at artillery ground, that still
exist. Others as, Slindon in Sussex and other prominent and famous clubs were
formed at maidenhead, Hornchurch, Hadlow, Addington and Chertsey. Most famous
club was Hamble don in Hampshire which was started as an organization that
first achieved prominence in 1756. Hamble don produced many outstanding players
including master batsman john small and first great fast bowler Thomas Brett.
In
19th century, all modern clubs started with
Sussex at 1839. In no time, various cunty clubs established then they faced
what amounted to player action as Wiliam Clarke created the travelling All-England
Eleven in 1846. This team did so much to popularize the game in districts which
had never been visited by popular cricketers. The growth of cricket in 19th
century was related with development of railway network. For very first time,
teams from long distance apart could play with each other without
time-consuming journey. Spectators could travel long distance to watch the
cricket just making huge crowds.
INTERNATIONAL
CRICKET
The
first international cricket game was held between us and Canada in 1844. The
match was played at grounds of St George’s cricket club in New York. In 1859, a
team of English professionals set off to north America on first oversea tour
and English team toured Australia in 1862. This game was exported to other colonies
and countries around the world. Many associations have developed which aimed to
regulate the international cricket between three sides. With the passage of
time, cricket has been played throughout the world mostly in Australia, India, Pakistan.
At
the end, it may say that cricket began in England but within short span of
time, cricket began gaining popularity and, in a while, imperial cricket
council was established to support and promoting the cricket. Cricket was
bought to the India and Pakistan by bruisers as they organized the match.
CRICKET
HISTORY IN PAKISTAN
For
many decades, cricket has been integral part of Pakistan’s culture and its
history is deeply interwind with country. This sport has gained its popularity
since 20th century. Initially it was played by British officers
stationed in India then this game gained popularity across the Indian
subcontinent.
The
first recorded match took place in 1858 between two local side at Feroz shah
kotla stadium in Delhi. From it several matches held on throughout region. The
golden era of cricket in Pakistan began in 1980s and lasted till 2007, during
which experienced immense success. In this duration, Pakistani team won tournament
such as 1992 world cup involving super talented players; Javed Miandad, Imran
khan, Shoaib malik, Wasim Akram, Inzamam- ul- Haq, Moin khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Aamir
Sohail.
In
conclusion, cricket has been a part of history and culture of Pakistan since
1700s. it always promoted unity and national pride for centuries. Even in
crisis, cricket has been a source of recreation and enjoyment for Pakistan
people.
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