History of cricket: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>John Leach
(category)
imported>John Leach
(provisional list of articles)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{subpages}}
{{subpages}}
This article presents a high-level summary of the '''history of [[cricket (sport)|cricket]]'''.
This is a list of proposed articles about the history of [[cricket (sport)|cricket]].


==Early times==
* [[Cricket to 1660]]
Cricket has an immemorial existence. It originated in England, probably in Saxon, Norman or Plantagenet times. It is generally believed that it began in the south-eastern counties of [[Kent]] and [[Sussex]] as a children's game and, despite some possibly spurious earlier references, it was first definitely mentioned in 1597 as a game played by boys at the Royal Grammar School in [[Guildford]], [[Surrey]], around 1550. Having been a boy's game in 1550, it became an adult game in the early 17th century with inter-parish matches taking place by the time of the [[English Civil War]] and then, almost certainly, a professional sport in or soon after 1660 in the wake of the [[Restoration]]. It is the world's oldest professional team sport.
* [[Cricket from 1661 to 1700]]
* [[Cricket from 1701 to 1726]]
* [[Articles of Agreement]]
* [[Cricket from 1727 to 1730]]
* [[The Artillery Ground]]
* [[Cricket from 1731 to 1735]]
* [[Cricket from 1736 to 1740]]
* [[Cricket from 1741 to 1743]]
* [[The first Laws of Cricket, 1744]]
* [[Cricket in 1744]]
* [[Cricket from 1745 to 1747]]
* [[Cricket in 1748]]
* [[Cricket from 1749 to 1755]]
* [[Cricket in the Seven Years' War from 1756 to 1763]]
* [[Pitched delivery bowling and the straight bat]]
* [[The beginning of the Hambledon Era from 1764 to 1771]]
* [[Broadhalfpenny Down]]
* [[How cricket came to Australia and New Zealand]]
* [[The importance of scorecards in cricket]]
* [[Cricket from 1772 to 1774]]
* [[The Laws of Cricket, 1774]]
* [[Cricket from 1775 to 1777]]
* [[Cricket from 1778 to 1780]]
* [[Cricket from 1781 to 1783]]
* [[The White Conduit Club]]
* [[Cricket from 1784 to 1786]]
* [[Cricket in 1787]]
* [[The early years of MCC from 1787 to 1814]]
* [[Cricket from 1788 to 1790]]
* [[Cricket from 1791 to 1795]]
* [[Cricket from 1796 to 1800]]
* [[Cricket from 1801 to 1805]]
* [[Cricket from 1806 to 1810]]
* [[Cricket from 1811 to 1815]]
* [[Cricket from 1816 to 1819]]
* [[Cricket from 1820 to 1823]]
* [[Cricket from 1824 to 1826]]
* [[Cricket in 1827]]
* [[Cricket from 1828 to 1830]]
* [[Cricket in the schools and universities]]


==17th century==
The influence of [[Muscular Christianity]] was significant through the 19th century and cricket was something of a talisman in the days of empire building and post-Industrial Revolution society. The sport became established as a feature of public school and university life, taking on an importance that no sport should have in a society that was otherwise weighed down with the real problems of poverty and disease. Cricket was viewed as an activity that developed character, especially in its emphasis on teamwork. The two great universities, [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] and [[Oxford University|Oxford]], are said to have been as intent on enrolling potential "blues" as potential "firsts".<ref><small>Basically, anyone who represents one of these universities at cricket, [[rowing]] or [[rugby football]] against the other receives an award known as the "blue" for that sport.</small></ref> The public schools at Eton, [[Harrow School|Harrow]], [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]], Winchester, [[Repton School|Repton]], etc. produced a succession of top-class players who firmly established an "amateur tradition" of well-to-do players who played, in theory, for expenses only. The other side of the coin was professionalism, without which the game could not have survived as a major sport.  
[[Professionalism]] came about because of the influence of gambling, particularly by rich and sometimes aristocratic patrons. These men, always looking to improve their chances of winning, began to form teams that were representative of more than the fundamental parish eleven by hiring good players from elsewhere. As a result, the basic unit of the parish team evolved into a unit representative of a wider area and matches between such teams were played in front of large crowds with considerable sums of money at stake.  


Freedom of the press was not allowed in England until 1696 and sport could not be reported until that historic breakthrough occurred. In 1697, a match in Sussex was the subject of the earliest known newspaper report about cricket. By this time, cricket had spread across the south-east of England and had already gained its vital footholds in [[London]] and in the public schools, although it was not yet a part of any school's curriculum. The original [[London Cricket Club]] was almost certainly formed about 1700, though it is not definitely mentioned in sources until 1722. Cricket was already known at some public schools including [[Eton College|Eton]], [[Westminster School|Westminster]] and [[Winchester College|Winchester]] by 1700.
* [[Cricket from 1831 to 1833]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1834 to 1836]]
==18th century==
* [[Cricket from 1837 to 1839]]
This was the key period in the sport's history as it spread throughout England to become a truly "national sport". But, curiously, because of military and trading expeditions, cricket may have been introduced to North America and India before it was first known in [[Yorkshire]], the county with which it is now most famously associated. Although it was a major sport by 1800, it relied (like [[horse racing]] and [[prizefighting]]) on gambling and patronage for its existence.
* [[County cricket clubs in the nineteenth century]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1840 to 1842]]
The 18th century is noted for the earliest codification of the rules as the ''[[Laws of Cricket]]'' in 1744, with subsequent amendments, and it saw several important changes in the way the game is played. In early times, the wicket had only two stumps: the middle stump was introduced in the 1770s. Leg before wicket (lbw) was introduced as a means of dismissal at about the same time. These were rule changes but there was also an evolution in the 1760s when bowlers began to "pitch" the ball whereas formerly they had rolled it along the ground as in true [[bowls]]. Batsmen had used a bat shaped like a modern [[hockey]] stick to combat the rolled ball and, in response to the bounce of the pitched delivery, the modern straight bat was introduced.
* [[Cricket from 1843 to 1845]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1846 to 1848]]
It was probably by the 1730s that teams representing whole counties began to be assembled and so this can be termed the startpoint of major cricket's ''historical record''. The ''statistical record'' begins in 1772 with the habitual compilation of match scorecards and the commencement of [[first-class cricket]]. A few scorecards have survived from the years before 1772 but are reckoned to be too isolated for inclusion in the first-class statistics.
* [[The All-England Eleven and its imitators]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1849 to 1851]]
Numerous great players were active in the 18th century, including [[William Bedle]], [[Thomas Waymark]], [[Richard Newland]], [[Robert Colchin]], [[John Small]], [[Lumpy Stevens]], [[David Harris]], [[William Beldham]] and [[Tom Walker]]. Several famous clubs were formed including the legendary [[Hambledon Club|Hambledon]] and [[Slindon Cricket Club|Slindon]]. The most important club of all, the [[Marylebone Cricket Club|MCC]], was founded in 1787 from the remnants of the old London club after its members began using the new [[Lord's Old Ground|Lord's]] ground in Marylebone. Towards the end of the century, the important [[Sheffield Cricket Club]] and [[Nottingham Cricket Club]] were established in the north of England.
* [[Cricket from 1852 to 1854]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1855 to 1857]]
===Scorecards===
* [[Cricket from 1858 to 1860]]
We have seen how cricket began to receive press coverage at the end of the 17th century and this increased during the 18th century but reports for a long time were more concerned with gambling than with the actual play. Scorecards made a brief appearance in 1744 but then became few and far between until the 1772 season when, quite suddenly, they became habitual. Unfortunately a lot of early scorecards have been lost, most of them in a fire at [[Lord's Cricket Ground]] in 1825, but from 1772 there is a continuous, albeit incomplete, ''statistical record'' of first-class matches.
* [[England in North America, 1859 (cricket)]]
 
* [[England in Australia, 1861–62 (cricket)]]
==19th century==
* [[Cricket from 1861 to 1863]]
Investment in major cricket had already been impacted by the [[Seven Years War]] but it had recovered and gained strength in the aftermath. The sport faced an even greater threat to its existence from the [[Napoleonic War]] but again it made a solid recovery.
* [[England in Australia, 1863–64 (cricket)]] 1873–74
 
* [[Cricket in 1864]]
The influence of [[Muscular Christianity]] was significant through the 19th century and cricket was something of a talisman in the days of empire building and post-Industrial Revolution society. The sport became established as a feature of public school and university life, taking on an importance that no sport should have in a society that was otherwise weighed down with the real problems of poverty and disease. Cricket was viewed as an activity that developed character, especially in its emphasis on teamwork. The two great universities, [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] and [[Oxford University|Oxford]], are said to have been as intent on enrolling potential "blues" as potential "firsts".<ref><small>Basically, anyone who represents one of these universities at cricket, [[rowing]] or [[rugby football]] against the other receives an award known as the "blue" for that sport.</small></ref> The public schools at Eton, [[Harrow School|Harrow]], [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]], Winchester, [[Repton School|Repton]], etc. produced a succession of top-class players who firmly established an "amateur tradition" of well-to-do players who played, in theory, for expenses only.
* [[The life and career of W. G. Grace to 1866]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1865 to 1867]]
The other side of the coin was professionalism, without which the game could not have survived as a major sport. In 1846, [[William Clarke]] launched the [[All-England Eleven]], which was deserving of its title, as a commercial venture to tour the country and play against allcomers. The majority of Clarke's players were professionals and the venture was an outstanding success that spawned several imitations.
* [[Cricket from 1868 to 1870]]
 
* [[Cricket in 1871]]
Despite the success of the amateurs and the touring professionals, the most important development in English cricket during the 19th century was the formation of county clubs, which led in 1890 to the formalisation of the [[County Championship]], hitherto an unofficial and mostly retrospective "title". The earliest county club was [[Sussex County Cricket Club|Sussex]] in 1839 and many more followed in the next fifty years. As well as being part of an organised structure in championship terms, the clubs pulled together the disparate strands of itinerant amateurism and professionalism into a cohesive whole. From this, it was possible to properly organise an [[England (cricket)|England international team]] to take on the growing might of [[Australia (cricket)|Australia]] and, in due course, several other countries.
* [[Cricket from 1872 to 1875]]
 
* [[England in Australia, 1873–74 (cricket)]]
The first Test matches between England and Australia took place in 1877 and this fixture soon acquired enormous popular and media interest. [[South Africa (cricket)|South Africa]] began playing Test matches in 1889. By 1900, major cricket was established in India, New Zealand and the West Indies although these three did not play Test matches until the 1920s and 1930s.
* [[Cricket in 1876]]
 
* [[England in Australia and New Zealand, 1876–77 (cricket)]]
The greatest player of the 19th century was unquestionably [[W.G. Grace|William Gilbert Grace]], known throughout England as "WG". His career in major cricket spanned the 1865 to 1908 seasons and he set standards, particularly in batting, that revolutionised the sport and raised its profile to the levels of national and international consciousness. Other great players included [[Fuller Pilch]], William Clarke, [[William Lillywhite]], [[Alfred Mynn]], [[William Caffyn]], [[Arthur Shrewsbury]] and the Australian fast bowler [[Fred Spofforth]], who is known to all cricket followers as the original "Demon Bowler".
* [[Cricket from 1877 to 1878]]
 
* [[Australia in Great Britain, 1878 (cricket)]]
Bowling was the cause of the sport's greatest controversies in the 19th century. During the Napoleonic period and soon afterwards, bowlers began to develop an action that involved raising the arm at the point of delivery. Although pitching had begun in the 1760s, the bowlers had still retained the basic [[underarm bowling|underarm]] action they had used for rolling or skimming the ball along the ground. The new style, known as [[roundarm bowling]] because the arm is extended outwards from the shoulder, was condemned in many quarters as "throwing", even though the arm is kept straight and the style is in fact the antithesis of a throw. In 1827, a set of "roundarm trial matches" was staged and after that, the new style was at first grudgingly and then legally adopted. By the 1860s, bowlers were beginning to raise their arms higher still and following a confrontation at [[The Oval]] in 1862, the modern style of [[overarm bowling]] was legalised from the 1864 season.
* [[Cricket from 1879 to 1880]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1881 to 1882]]
==20th century==
* [[The Ashes]]
Cricket thrived throughout the 20th century despite the massive impact of the two World Wars and continued to expand internationally. By 2000, ten countries were playing Test cricket and many more had become involved in the sport's new variation, [[limited overs cricket]], which was introduced in the 1960s.
* [[Cricket from 1883 to 1885]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1886 to 1888]]
Cricket's first [[Cricket World Cup|World Cup]] was introduced in 1975 as a limited overs competition and by the end of the century a [[World Test Championship]] in the form of an ongoing ratings system had gradually been introduced.
* [[Cricket from 1889 to 1891]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1892 to 1894]]
The greatest player of the 20th century was undoubtedly the Australian batsman [[Don Bradman]] who set statistical records that may never be equalled. Other great players included [[Gary Sobers]], [[Wilfred Rhodes]], [[Jack Hobbs]], [[Walter Hammond]], [[Fred Trueman]], [[Victor Trumper]], [[Shane Warne]], [[Graeme Pollock]], [[Richard Hadlee]], [[Sunil Gavaskar]], [[Imran Khan]], [[Viv Richards]] and [[Malcolm Marshall]].
* [[Cricket in 1895]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1896 to 1898]]
==21st century==
* [[Cricket from 1899 to 1901]]
Cricket in the 21st century is a major international sport which attracts enormous media coverage.
* [[Australia in Great Britain, 1902 (cricket)]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1902 to 1904]]
Although Test cricket remains the standard by which excellence is recognised, the two-innings format of the sport is increasingly under pressure because of social change. There is a growing view that a cricket match needs a short duration, along the lines of [[baseball]] and [[football]], so that a busy public can see a whole match in an afternoon or evening.
* [[England in Australia and New Zealand, 1903–04 (cricket)]]
 
* [[Cricket from 1905 to 1907]]
As a result, limited overs cricket is probably the way forward, especially given the spectacular commercial success of [[Twenty20 cricket]] which was introduced as an evening entertainment in England in 2003 and had its first World Cup in 2007.
* [[Cricket from 1908 to 1910]]
* [[Cricket from 1911 to 1912]]
* [[Cricket from 1913 to 1914]]
* [[Cricket in the First World War from 1914 to 1918]]
* [[Cricket from 1919 to 1921]]
* [[Cricket from 1922 to 1924]]
* [[Cricket from 1925 to 1927]]
* [[Cricket from 1928 to 1930]]
* [[The life and career of Don Bradman to 1930]]
* [[Cricket from 1931 to 1933]]
* [[England in Australia and New Zealand, 1932–33 (cricket)]]
* [[Cricket from 1934 to 1936]]
* [[Cricket from 1937 to 1939]]
* [[Cricket in the Second World War from 1939 to 1945]]
* [[Cricket from 1945 to 1948]]
* [[India in Great Britain, 1946 (cricket)]]
* [[Australia in Great Britain, 1948 (cricket)]]
* [[Cricket from 1949 to 1951]]
* [[Cricket from 1952 to 1954]]
* [[Cricket from 1955 to 1957]]
* [[Cricket from 1958 to 1960]]
* [[West Indies in Australia and New Zealand, 1960–61 (cricket)]]
* [[Cricket from 1961 to 1963]]
* [[The end of amateurism in cricket, 1962]]
* [[West Indies in Great Britain, 1963 (cricket)]]
* [[Limited overs and the first Gillette Cup, 1963]]
* [[Cricket from 1964 to 1966]]
* [[Cricket from 1967 to 1969]]
* [[Cricket from 1970 to 1972]]
* [[Cricket from 1973 to 1975]]
* [[The first Cricket World Cup tournaments]]
* [[Cricket from 1976 to 1977]]
* [[World Series Cricket]]
* [[Cricket from 1978 to 1980]]
* [[Cricket from 1981 to 1983]]
* [[Cricket from 1984 to 1986]]
* [[Cricket from 1987 to 1989]]
* [[Cricket from 1990 to 1992]]
* [[Cricket from 1993 to 1994]]
* [[Cricket from 1995 to 1997]]
* [[Cricket from 1998 to 2000]]
* [[Cricket from 2001 to 2003]]
* [[Twenty20]]
* [[Cricket from 2004 to 2006]]
* [[Australia in Great Britain, 2005 (cricket)]]
* [[Cricket from 2007 to 2009]]
* [[The rise of women's cricket]]
* [[Cricket from 2010 to 2012]]
* [[Cricket from 2013 to 2015]]
* [[Cricket from 2016 to 2018]]


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 14:07, 15 November 2018

This article is developing and not approved.
 Main Article
 Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
https://en.citizendium.org/wiki/index.php?title=History_of_cricket&printable=yes
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

This is a list of proposed articles about the history of cricket.

The influence of Muscular Christianity was significant through the 19th century and cricket was something of a talisman in the days of empire building and post-Industrial Revolution society. The sport became established as a feature of public school and university life, taking on an importance that no sport should have in a society that was otherwise weighed down with the real problems of poverty and disease. Cricket was viewed as an activity that developed character, especially in its emphasis on teamwork. The two great universities, Cambridge and Oxford, are said to have been as intent on enrolling potential "blues" as potential "firsts".[1] The public schools at Eton, Harrow, Charterhouse, Winchester, Repton, etc. produced a succession of top-class players who firmly established an "amateur tradition" of well-to-do players who played, in theory, for expenses only. The other side of the coin was professionalism, without which the game could not have survived as a major sport.

Notes

  1. ↑ Basically, anyone who represents one of these universities at cricket, rowing or rugby football against the other receives an award known as the "blue" for that sport.

Bibliography

  • Altham, H. S.: A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin (1962).
  • Birley, Derek: A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum (1999).
  • Bowen, Rowland: Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode (1970).
  • Frith, David: The Golden Age of Cricket. Lutterworth Press (1978).
  • Guha, Ramachandra: A Corner of a Foreign Field – An Indian History of a British Sport. Picador (2001).
  • Harte, Chris: A History of Australian Cricket. Andre Deutsch (1993).
  • James, C. L. R.: Beyond A Boundary. Hutchinson (1963).
  • Major, John: More Than A Game. HarperCollins (2007).
  • Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC): Laws of Cricket. MCC (2018).
  • Playfair: Playfair Cricket Annual. Playfair Books Ltd (1948 to present).
  • Swanton, E. W. (editor): Barclays World of Cricket, 3rd edition. Willow Books (1986).
  • Underdown, David: Start of Play. Allen Lane. (2000).
  • Webber, Roy: The Phoenix History of Cricket. Phoenix (1960).
  • Wisden: Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. Ltd (1864 to present).
Retrieved from "https://citizendium.org/wiki/index.php?title=History_of_cricket&oldid=298621"