The view that it was originally a children's game is reinforced by Randle Cotgrave's 1611 English-French dictionary in which he defined the noun " crosse " as "the crooked staff wherewith boys play at cricket" and the verb form " crosser " as "to play at cricket". Given Derrick's age, it was about half a century earlier when he was at school and so it is certain that cricket was being played c. The case concerned ownership of a certain plot of land and the court heard the testimony of a 59-year-old coroner, John Derrick, who gave witness that: īeing a scholler in the ffree schoole of Guldeford hee and diverse of his fellows did runne and play there at creckett and other plaies. Although there are claims for prior dates, the earliest definite reference to cricket being played comes from evidence given at a court case in Guildford in January 1597 ( Old Style, equating to January 1598 in the modern calendar). It is generally believed that cricket originated as a children's game in the south-eastern counties of England, sometime during the medieval period. The cricket historian Harry Altham identified three "groups" of "club ball" games: the " hockey group", in which the ball is driven to and from between two targets (the goals) the "golf group", in which the ball is driven towards an undefended target (the hole) and the "cricket group", in which "the ball is aimed at a mark (the wicket) and driven away from it". In cricket's case, a key difference is the existence of a solid target structure, the wicket (originally, it is thought, a "wicket gate" through which sheep were herded), that the batter must defend. Detail from the Canticles of Holy Mary, 13th century.Ĭricket is one of many games in the "club ball" sphere that basically involve hitting a ball with a hand-held implement others include baseball (which shares many similarities with cricket, both belonging in the more specific bat-and-ball games category ), golf, hockey, tennis, squash, badminton and table tennis. Ball catchers are shown positioning themselves to catch a ball. The most successful side playing international cricket is Australia, which has won seven One Day International trophies, including five World Cups, more than any other country and has been the top-rated Test side more than any other country.Ī medieval "club ball" game involving an underarm bowl towards a batter. Women's cricket, which is organised and played separately, has also achieved international standard. The sport is followed primarily in South Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Southern Africa and the West Indies. The game's rules, the Laws of Cricket, are maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London. The game's governing body is the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has over 100 members, twelve of which are full members who play Test matches. It spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, with the first international matches in the second half of the 19th century. The earliest reference to cricket is in South East England in the mid-16th century. In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball, which is a hard, solid spheroid made of compressed leather with a slightly raised sewn seam enclosing a cork core layered with tightly wound string. Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. They communicate with two off-field scorers who record the match's statistical information.įorms of cricket range from Twenty20, with each team batting for a single innings of 20 overs (each "over" being a set of 6 fair opportunities for the batting team to score) and the game generally lasting three hours, to Test matches played over five days. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches. When ten batters have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side either catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground, or hitting a wicket with the ball before a batter can cross the crease in front of the wicket. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at one of the wickets with the bat and then running between the wickets, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this (by preventing the ball from leaving the field, and getting the ball to either wicket) and dismiss each batter (so they are "out"). Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps.
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