History of cricket

This article presents a general history of the sport of cricket.

Origin

Cricket has an immemorial existence but it was almost certainly "invented" and developed in south east England, probably in Saxon, Norman or Plantagenet times. It is generally believed that it began in the counties of Kent and Sussex as a children's game. A probable birthplace is the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings that lies across the two counties.

First definite reference

The first definite reference to the game is found in a 1597 court case concerning a dispute over a school's ownership of a plot of land. A 59-year old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played kreckett on the site fifty years earlier. The school was the Royal Grammar School at Guildford in Surrey and Mr Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey c.1550.

The first reference to it being played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. In the same year, a dictionary defined cricket as a boys' game and this suggests that adult participation was a recent development.