The Historical Development of Cricket as a game in England


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

The Historical Development of Cricket as a game in England

The Story of Cricket deals with how the history of cricket was connected to the social history of the time. It shows the evolution of cricket as a game in England and discuss the wider culture of physical training and athleticism of the time. It will then move to the history of the adoption of cricket in our country.

The Story Of Cricket : Cricket was invented in England and became intimately linked to the culture of 19th century Victorian society. The game was expected to represent all that England valued; fair play, discipline and gentlemanliness. With the British, cricket spread to the colonies. It was supposed to uphold the values of Englishness also. The colonial masters assumed that only they could play the game as it ought to be played in its spirit.

  • The game of cricket thus got linked up closely with the politics of colonialism and nationalism. Within the colonies of the British, the game had a complex history.
  • It was connected to the politics of caste and religion, community and nation. The emergence of cricket as a national game was the result of many decades of  historical development.
  • Cricket grew out of the many stick-and-ball games played in England 500 years ago, under a variety of different rules. The word 'bat' is an old English word that simply means stick or club.
  • By the 17th century, cricket had evolved enough to be recognisable as a distinct game. Till the middle of the 18th century, bats were roughly the same shape as hockey sticks, curving outwards at the bottom.
  • There was a simple reason for this, the ball was bowled underarm, along the ground so the curve at the end of the bar gave the batsman the best chance of making contact.
  • The Historical Development of Cricket As a Game In England : The social and economic history of England in the 18th and 19th centuries shaped the game and gave it a unique nature. For instance, a Test match of cricket can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern team sport takes even half as much time to complete.

    The length of the pitch is specified i.e. 22 yards but, the size and shape of the ground is not specified. Grounds can be oval, like Adelaide, or nearly circular, like Chepauk in Chennai. A six at the Melbourne Cricket Ground needs to Clear much more ground than a Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Both these strange aspects consist a historical reason.

     

     
     
     


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