The sport of cricket has a known history, beginning in the 16th century. The game originated in England, among shepherds using their crooks as bats, and the earliest wickets may well have been narrow sheep pens. The earliest men’s games that were officially recorded (from law court records) were played in southeast England in the 1550s. Initially a single wicket was used, as it still is in ancient games like stoolball that continue to be played in southern England.
2. The sport of cricket has a known
history, beginning in the 16th
century. The game originated in
England, among shepherds using
their crooks as bats, and the
earliest wickets may well have
been narrow sheep pens. The
earliest men’s games that were
officially recorded (from law court
records) were played in southeast
England in the 1550s. Initially a
single wicket was used, as it still is
in ancient games like stoolball that
continue to be played in southern
England.
THE HISTORY OF CRICKET
3. The poet John Skelton describes immigrants from
Flanders living in southern England playing
creckette. This transformed into Crickett (1598)
in a coroner’s account of teenage games in
Guildford. All this sounds probable to describe
the origin of the word ‘cricket’. The game itself
evolved from a variety of folk hitabouts played in
villages on both sides of the Channel, each with
its own local idiosyncrasies. Confined the early
versions of cricket to the forests and Downlands
of south east England–in West Sussex and the
Weald of Kent.
ORIGIN OF CRICKET
4. Although historical evidence suggests that
the game was first played in the Weald
around Kent and Sussex, it is the Hambeldon
Cricket Club of Hampshire that is generally
perceived as cricket’s spiritual home. The
birthplace of modern competitive or
professional cricket to be the Hambledon
Club in Hampshire. The world’s first cricket
club was established in Hambledon in the
1760s. Some of that club’s members formed
the White Conduit Club in London in the mid-
1780s and this then changed its name over
time to become The Marylebone Cricket Club
(MCC).
The History of HambledonCricket Club
5. The History of Cricket in the United States
In the history of cricket, the first ever
international cricket match played
between the US and Canada in
September 1844 in Bloomingdale Park,
Manhattan. The game was actually
between two clubs, but then again, of
course, so was the America’s Cup. The
game was proclaimed as the United
States of America versus the British
Empire’s Canadian Province, even if the
players were mostly from the St George’s
Club of New York and The Toronto
Cricket Club. Around 50000 crowds
showed up to watch this match.