EVOLUTION OF CRICKET SINCE 16TH CENTURY

in #sports7 years ago

Hello! everyone. This post of mine will through some light on how the game of cricket has evolved from 16th century to this modern era of 21st century, how a sport which was earlier limited to people of south ENGLAND has now been acknowledged all over the globe , the journey of the sport has been tremendous. Let's begin with how it all started:

                              HISTORY OF CRICKET

The first instances that this game has , are from the late 16th century, around 1597. A 1597 court case in England concerning an ownership dispute over a plot of common land in Guildford, Surrey mentions the game of creckett. A 59-year-old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played creckett on the site fifty years earlier when they attended the Free School. Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey circa 1550, and is the earliest universally accepted reference to the game.
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It is a very interesting story of how this game got it's name.In the earliest definite reference, it was spelled creckett. The name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch krick(-e), meaning a stick; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff, or the French word criquet meaning a wooden post.The Middle Dutch word krickstoel means a long low stool used for kneeling in church; this resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.

SPREAD OF THE GAME:
It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists and to India by British East India Company mariners in the first half of the century. It arrived in Australia almost as soon as colonisation began in 1788. New Zealand and South Africa followed in the early years of the 19th century.

BASICS OF THE GAME:
Cricket is a contest between bat and ball played on a cricket field between two teams of 11 players each on a 22-yard pitch(strip) with a wicket(a set of three wooden stumps) located at the center of the field. One team bats, attempting to score as many runs as possible, whilst their opponents field. Each phase of play is called an innings. After either ten batsmen have been dismissed or a fixed number of overs have been completed, the innings ends and the two teams then swap roles. The winning team is the one that scores the most runs, including any extras gained, during their innings. At the start of each game, two batsmen and eleven fielders enter the field of play. The play begins when a member of the fielding team, known as the bowler, delivers the ball from one end of the pitch to the other, towards the wicket at that end, in front of which stands one of the batsmen, known as the striker.

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The striker "takes guard" on a crease drawn on the pitch four feet in front of the wicket. His role is to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps by use of his bat, and simultaneously to strike it well enough to score runs. The other batsman, known as the non-striker, waits at the opposite end of the pitch near the bowler. A dismissed batsman must leave the field, and a teammate replaces him. The bowler's objectives are to prevent the scoring of runs and to dismiss the batsman. An over is a set of six deliveries bowled by the same bowler. The next over is bowled from the other end of the pitch by a different bowler.

FIRST EVER TEST MATCH:
Test cricket is the longest format of all the three formats of cricket played today .But it was only this format that laid the foundation of cricket when it all began. Test match is played for five days between two teams of eleven players each contesting it in the form of two innings per team. This format of cricket is regarded as the prime format because it tests the skills, patients and strengths of an individual over five days.

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The first officially recognized Test match began on 15 March 1877 and ended on 19 March 1877 .This was played between England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where Australia won by 45 runs.A Test match to celebrate 100 years of Test cricket was held in Melbourne from 12 to 17 March 1977, in which Australia beat England by 45 runs—the same margin as that first Test.

THE ICC(INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL):

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This game of cricket has gone through a remarkable journey in terms of its evolution over the years. Since the game was slowly and gradually played all over the globe, it was necessary that there is always a spirit of game that supports it , thus to follow this and look after the sport for its development and growth , a cricket association was setup to maintain its dignity.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), which has its headquarters in Dubai, is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.

The ICC has 104 members: 10 Full Members that play official Test matches, 34 Associate Members, and 60 Affiliate Members. The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance of cricket's major international tournaments, notably the Cricket World Cup. It also appoints the umpires and referees that officiate at all sanctioned Test matches, One Day International and Twenty 20 Internationals. Each nation has a national cricket board which regulates cricket matches played in its country. The cricket board also selects the national squad and organizes home and away tours for the national team. In the West Indies these matters are addressed by the West Indies Cricket Board which consists of members appointed by four national boards and two multi-national boards.

FIRST EVER D/N TEST MATCH:

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CRICKET has witnessed so many change of rules for the betterment of the game,players and many more things which were not mentioned in the earlier setup rule books and guidelines. But above all there was a major outbreak when first ever day night test match was played with a pink ball at ADELAIDE OVAL in AUSTRALIA between AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND.

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In October 2012, the International Cricket Council recast the playing conditions for Test matches, permitting day/night Test matches. The first day/night game took place between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide on 27 November 2015, 36 years to the day from the first ICC sanctioned day night match.

RECENT INFLUENCE:

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Some people believe that with the invention of t-20 ans odi cricket in past two decades, the importance and value that test cricket used to hold has been deteriorating , but believe me this format of the game still remains to be one of the purest forms of game in terms of showing character , determination along with the skills that a cricketer possesses on a cricket field. For a while the other two forms of the game can hide your weaknesses but test cricket tests your real skills and thus is regarded as the test of the best . It somehow reminds me of a quote of CHARLES DARWIN of "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST " , Similarly test cricket is also meant for the best out of the rest.

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