Experts generally agree that children living in the Weald, a region of dense woodlands and clearings in southeast England, may have originated cricket during the Saxon or Norman eras. In 1611, a dictionary described cricket as a game for boys and made mention of the sport’s first adult participation. Another theory holds that bowls, and the action of a batsman trying to deflect the ball away from his intended aim, may have been the source of cricket.
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By the middle of the 17th century, village cricket had grown, and in the second half of the century, the first English “county teams” were established when the “local experts” from village cricket were hired as the first professionals. 1709 is the earliest game in which team names are known to have been used.
Cricket became a popular sport in London and the southeast regions of England in the first part of the eighteenth century. Travel restrictions hindered its growth, but it was gradually gaining traction in other regions of England. Women’s cricket began in Surrey in 1745, with the first match ever recorded there.
The first Laws of Cricket were drafted in 1744 and then revised in 1774 with the addition of new rules like leg-before-wing, a third stump, the middle stump, and a maximum bat width. The “Star and Garter Club,” whose members went on to found the renowned Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord’s in 1787, created the codes. MCC took up the role of Law’s guardian right away, and it has continued to make changes to the present day.
When bowlers started pitching the ball around 1760, rolling the ball down the ground became less popular. The straight bat emerged as a response to this innovation, replacing the previous “hockey stick” kind of bat. Up until the MCC’s founding and the inauguration of Lord’s Cricket Ground in 1787, the game’s center was the Hampshire-based Hambledon Club.
Cricket was brought to North America in the seventeenth century through the English colonies, and it spread to other regions of the world in the eighteenth century. It was brought to India by British East India Company seafarers and to the West Indies by colonists. It came to Australia nearly immediately after settlement got underway in 1788, and in the early 1800s, the sport made its way to South Africa and New Zealand.
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History of Cricket FAQs
1) From where did cricket come?
Source. Children who lived in the Weald, a region of dense forests and clearings spanning Kent and Sussex in southeast England, invented cricket during the Saxon or Norman era.
2) Where did Indian cricket history begin?
In the late 1700s, English colonialists brought cricket to India. Established exclusively for Europeans in 1792, the first club was the Calcutta Cricket Club. However, Indians quickly started playing, with Bombay being the center of the game.
3) Where is cricket’s greatest fame found?
India, Australia, England—where cricket originated—Bangladesh, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand are the countries where the game is most popular.