By sai ganeshix-b, 9226KV OFMK

THE STORY OF CRICKET

THE BEGINNING

Cricket grew out of many stick-and-ball games played in England 500 years ago, under a variety of different rules.

The word ‘bat’ is an old English word that simply means stick or club.

By the seventeenth century, cricket had evolved enough to be recognizable as a distinct game and it was very popular.

The game was expected to represent all that English valued- fair play, discipline and gentlemanliness.

EVOLUTION OF BATS

BOWLING STYLES

UMPIRE’S SIGNS

A BRIEF HISTORY

Earlier cricket used to thrive greatly as a gambling game. People used to place huge amounts of bets in matches and thus the game started to get recognition. Cricket was in fact a major gambling sport towards the end of the 17th century .

By the 17th century the game was quite popular as a rough rural pastime, but in the following century the leisure classes took up the sport, particularly in Sussex, Kent, and London.

In the year 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club also known MCC was created. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent bodies in world cricket .

Late18th century was a very crucial phase for the development of the game, both within and outside Britain. The game was spread far and wide mainly due to England’s imperialism

INTRODUCTION OF LAWS

The first written Laws of Cricket were drawn up in 1744.They stated the following rules:-

1. The principals shall choose from amongst the gentleman present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes.

2. The stumps must be 22 inches and the bail across them six inches.

3. The ball must be between 5 and 6 ounces and the two sets of stumps 22 yards apart.

4. But there were no limits on the shape or the size of the bat. About 40 notches or runs were viewed as a very big score, probably due to the bowlers bowling quickly at shins unprotected by pads.

BALLS PEROVER

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.

Changes occurred in 19th Century

The rule about wide balls was applied The exact circumference of the ball

was specified Protective equipment like pads and

gloves became available Boundaries were introduced where

previously all shots had to be run and, most importantly, over-arm bowling became legal.

World’s First Cricket Club

The world’s first cricket club was formed in Hambledon in the 1760s.

MARYLEBONE CRICKET CLUBThe world’s first cricket club was formed The

Marylebone cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787. In 1788, the MCC published its first revision of the laws and became the guardian of Cricket regulations.

During the 1760 and 1770 it became common to pitch the ball through the air, rather than roll it along the ground.

This change gave bowlers the options of length, deception through the air and increased the pace.

PECULIARITYA test match can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other team sport takes even half as much time to complete.

A curious characteristic of cricket is that the length of the pitch is specified-22yards-but the size or shape of the ground is not.

Equipment

The bat, the stumps and the bails are made of wood .

The ball is made with leather, twine and cork.

Pads and protective gloves are made of rubber.

Helmets are made of metals and synthetic light wear material.

The division of cricket between the rich and the poorThe rich who could afford it to

play were called amateurs. They played it for 2 reasons:

they considered sports a kind of leisure.

there was not enough money in the game for the rich to be interested

The poor who played the cricket were known as professionals.

They played it to earn for a living.

TOOLS OF CRICKET Cricket’s most important tools are all made of natural, pre-industrial

materials. The ball is made with leather, twine and cork. Even today both bat and ball are handmade, not industrially manufactured. The material of the bat changed slightly over time. Once it was cut out of a single piece of wood. Now it consists of two pieces, the blade which is made out of the wood of the willow tree and the handle which is made out of cane.

Unlike golf and tennis, cricket has refused to remake its tools with industrial or man-made materials: plastic, fiberglass and metal have been firmly rejected.

The invention of vulcanized rubber led to the introduction of pads in 1848 and protective gloves soon afterwards, and the modern game would be unimaginable without helmets made out of metal and synthetic lightweight materials.

Discrimination in cricket

Cricket is a batsman’s game because its rules were made to favor Gentlemen,who did most of the batting.

The social superiority of the amateurs was also the reason the captain of a cricket team was traditionally a batsman not because batsmen were naturally better captains but because they were generally Gentlemen.

Captains of teams, whether club teams or national sides, were always amateurs.

AMATEURS AND PROFESSIONALS

The organisation of cricket in England reflected the nature of the English society. The rich who could played for pleasure were called Amateurs and those who played

for living were called professionals. The rich were amateurs because they considered sport a kind of leisure. To play for

the pleasure of playing and not for money. The wages of professionals paid in the form of patronage or subscription (gate

money) The game was seasonal and did not offer the employment in whole year so the

professionals they were worked in the mines especially in the winter and off seasons.

The social superiority of amateurs was built the customs in the cricket. Amateurs were called Gentlemen and professionals were called players. They were entered in the ground from different entrances.The amateurs tended to be batsman and hardworking aspect of the game like fast

bowling did by the professionals.So according to the law of cricket the doubts were favoured to the batsman and cricket

became the game of batsman or gentleman.The captains of the team most of the time was batsman generally gentleman.The captain of the club teams, national side- were always amateurs.It continued till to 1930, Yorkshire batsman Len Hutton was the first captain from the

professional.

AMATEURS AND PROFESSIONALS

IRONY FOR THE ENGLISHThe West Indies won their first test

series against England in 1950.It was very frustrating for the whites. The West Indian team that won was captained by a white player. The first time a black player led the West Indies test team was in 1960 when Frank Worrell was named as captain.

The West Indies cricket team represented not one nation but several dominions that later became independent countries. The Pan west Indian team that represent the Caribbean region in international Test cricket is the only exception to a series of unsuccessful efforts to bring about West Indian Unification.

ORIGIN OF INDAINCRICKET

The cricket was first played in India from 1721 by English sailors in Cambay. The Calcutta Cricket Club (the first Indian Club) was established in1792. The origin of Indian cricket can be traced to Bombay. The first Indian community to start playing the game was the Parsis.

The origins of Indian cricket, that is, cricket played by Indians are to be found in Bombay and the first Indian community to start playing the game was the small community of Zoroastrians, the Parsis.

Brought into close contact with the British because of their interest in trade and the first Indian community to westernise, the Parsis founded the first Indian cricket club, the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay in 1848. Parsi clubs were funded and sponsored by Parsi businessmen like the Tatas and the Wadias.

BOMBAY GYMKHANA AND PARSIS

The white cricket elite in India offered no help to the enthusiastic Parsis. In fact, there was quarrel between the Bombay Gymkhana, a whites only club, and Parsi cricketers over the use of public park. The Parsis complained that the park was left unfit for cricket because the polo ponies of the Bombay Gymkhana dug up the surface.

When it became clear that the colonial authorities were prejudiced in favour of their white compatriots, the Parsis built there own gymkhana to play cricket in. The rivalry between the Parsis and the Bombay Gymkhana had a happy ending for these pioneers of Indian cricket. A Parsi team beat the Bombay Gymkhana at cricket in 1889, just 4 years after the foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885,an organisation that was lucky to have amongst its early leaders the great Parsi statesman and intellectual Dadabhai Naoroji.

The spread of cricket

Cricket was established as a popular sport by white settlers (as in South Africa, Zimbabwe,

Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies and Kenya)

local elites who wanted to copy the habits of their colonial masters, as in India.

Spread of cricket in India and west indies Playing cricket became a sign of superior social

and racial status, and the Afro-Caribbean population was discouraged from participating in organized club cricket, which remained dominated by white plantation owners and their servants.

Despite the exclusiveness of the white cricket elite in the West Indies, the game became hugely popular in India and West Indies.

India’s First Test Captain C.K. Nayudu was the first

India’s test captain. He was an outstanding batsman of his time. He played his first test match against England in 1932.

CRICKET TODAY Modern cricket is dominated by Tests and One-day internationals, played

between national teams. The players who become famous, who live on in the memories of cricket’s public, are those who have played flawlessly for their country. Some names which are still popular are

Kerry Packer, Australian television tycoon understood the money making potential of cricket as televised sport and signed 55 one of the world’s leading cricketers against the wishes of national cricket board and for about two years staged unofficial Test and One day internationals under the name of the World Series Cricket.

After two years cricket became more attractive to televisions audience and changed the nature of the gameColoured dress, protective helmets, field restrictions, cricket under light became a standard part of the post packer game.

Cricket boards became rich by selling television rights to television companies.Television channels made money by selling television spots to companies they paid huge money for advertisement.Continuous television coverage made cricketers celebrities and the cricket boards paid better payment.

The television changed the cricket and reached in to small towns and villages. The technology of satellite television and world wide reach of multi national television companies has created a global market for cricket. It is vastly popular today and as it is running, it will continue its legacy among us for years……..

International Cricket Conference (ICC)

The regulations of International cricket were in the hands of Imperial Cricket Conference(ICC).

It was renamed International Cricket Conference in 1965. It was dominated by England and Australia. They had the Veto powers.

Kerry Packer Kerry Packer was an Australian

tycoon. he saw the money making potential of cricket as a televised sport .

He signed world’s leading cricketers for 2 years

He started unofficial tests and one day matches under the name of world series cricket.

He bought the innovations to make cricket more attractive to television audience and changed the nature of the game.

Packer drove home the lesson that cricket was a marketable game , which could generate huge revenues.

Cricket boards became rich by selling television rights to companies

Continuous television coverage made cricketers celebrities .

They made commercials for a huge range of products and made a lot of money.

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.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEAMS AND THEIR TEAM DRESSES

ENGLANDAFGHANISTAN

INDIA PAKISTAN

BANGLADESH

SRI LANKA

NEW ZEALANDAUSTRALIA

WEST INDIES IRELAND

ZIMBABWESOUTH AFRICA

The end