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CRICKET

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 447 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CRICKET  . The See also:

game of cricket may be called the See also:national summer pastime of the See also:English See also:race . The See also:etymology of the word itself is the subject of much dispute . The See also:Century See also:Dictionary connects with O . Fr. criquet, " a stick used as a See also:mark in the game of See also:bowls," and denies the connexion with A.S. crice or cryce, a See also:staff . A claim has also been made for cricket, meaning a See also:stool, from the stool at which the See also:ball was bowled, while in the See also:wardrobe See also:account of See also:King See also:Edward I. for the See also:year 1300 (p . 126) is found an allusion to a game called creag . See also:Skeat, in his Etymological Dictionary, states that the word is probably derived from A.S. crice (repudiated by the first authority quoted), the meaning of which is a staff, and suggests that the " et " is a diminutive suffix; the word is of the same origin as " crutch." Finally the New English Dictionary traces the O . Fr. criquet, defined by See also:Littre as " jeu d'addresse," to M . Flem . Krick, Kriike, baston d s'appuyer, quinette, potence . See also:History.—In a MS. of the See also:middle of the 13th century, in the King's library, 14 Bv, entitled Chronique d'Angleterre, depuis Ethelberd jusgu'd See also:Hen .

III., there is found a See also:

grotesque delineation of two male figures playing a game with a See also:bat and ball . This is undoubtedly the first known See also:drawing of what was destined to develop into the scientific cricket of See also:modern times . The See also:left-See also:hand figure is that of the batsman, who holds his weapon upright in the right hand with the handle downwards . The right-hand figure shows the catcher, whose See also:duty is at once apparent by the See also:extension of his hands . In another portion of the same MS., however, there is a male figure pointing a bat towards a See also:female figure in the attitude of catching, but the ball is absent . In a Bodleian Library MS., No . 264, dated the 18th of See also:April 1344, and entitled See also:Romance of the See also:Good King See also:Alexander, fielders for the first See also:time appear in addition to the batsman and bowler . All the players are monks (not female figures, as See also:Strutt misinterprets their See also:dress in his See also:Sports and Pastimes), and on the extreme left of the picture, the bowler, with his See also:cowl up, poises the ball in the right hand with the See also:arm nearly See also:horizontal . The batsman comes next with his cowl down, a little way only to the right, See also:standing sideways to the bowler with a See also:long roughly-hewn and slightly-curved bat, held upright, handle downwards in the left hand . On the extreme right come four figures—with cowls alternately down and up, and all having their hands raised in an attitude to catch the ball . It has been argued that the bat was always held in the left hand at this date, since on the opposite See also:page of the same MS. a solitary See also:monk is figured with his cowl down, and also, holding a somewhat elongated See also:oval-shaped See also:implement iri his left hand; but it is unsafe to assume that the accuracy of the artist can be trusted . The See also:close See also:roll of 39 Edw .

III . (1365), Men . 23, disparages certain See also:

games on account of their interfering with the practice of See also:archery, where the game of cricket is probably included among the pastimes denounced as " ludos inhonestos, et minus utiles See also:aut valentes." In this instance cricket was clearly considered See also:fit for the See also:lower orders only, though it is evident from the entry in King Edward's wardrobe account, already mentioned, that in 1300 the game of creag was patronized by the See also:nobility . Judging from the drawings, it can only be conjectured that the game consisted of See also:bowling, batting and See also:fielding, though it is known that there was an in-See also:side and an out-side, for sometime during the 15th century the game was called " Hondyn or Hondoute," or " Hand in and Hand out." Under this See also:title it was interdicted by 17 Edw . IV. c . 3 (1477-1478), as one of those illegal games which still continued to be so detrimental to the practice of archery . By this See also:statute, any one allowing the game to be played on his premises was liable to three years' imprisonment and £20 See also:fine, any player to two years' imprisonment and £Io fine, and the implements to be burnt . The inference that hand in and hand out was analogous to cricket is made from a passage in the Hon . Daines See also:Barrington's Observations on the more See also:Ancient Statutes from Magna Charta to 21 See also:James I. cap . 27 . See also:Writing in 1766, he comments thus on the above statute, viz.: " This is, perhaps, the most severe See also:law ever made against gaming, and some of these forbidden sports seem to have been manly exercises, particularly the handyn and handoute, which I should suppose to be a See also:kind of cricket, as the See also:term hands is still retained in that game." The word " cricket " occurs about the year 1550 . In See also:Russell's History of See also:Guildford it appears there was a piece of See also:waste See also:land in the See also:parish of See also:Holy Trinity in that See also:city, which was enclosed by one See also:John Parish, an innholder, some five years before See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth came to the See also:throne .

In 35 Elizabeth (1593) See also:

evidence was taken before a See also:jury and a See also:verdict returned, ordering the See also:garden to be laid waste again and disinclosed . Amongst other witnesses John See also:Derrick, gent., and one of H.M.'s coroners for See also:Surrey, aetat. fifty-nine, deposed he had known the ground for fifty years or more, and " when he was a scholler in the See also:free school of Guildford, he and several of his fellowes did runne and See also:play there at crickett and other plaies." In the See also:original edition of See also:Stow's Survey of See also:London (1598) the word does not occur, though he says, " The ball is used by noblemen and gentlemen in See also:tennis courts, and by See also:people of the meaner sort in the open See also:fields and streets." Some noteworthy references to the game may be cited . In Giovanni See also:Florio's dictionary A Worlde of Wordes most Copious and Exact, published in See also:Italy in 1595 and in London three years later, squillare is defined as " to make a See also:noise as a cricket, to play cricket-a-wicket and be merry." See also:Sir See also:William See also:Dugdale states that in his youth See also:Oliver See also:Cromwell, who was See also:born in 1599, threw " himself into a dissolute and disorderly course," became " famous for See also:football, cricket, cudgelling and See also:wrestling," and acquired " the name of royster." In Randle See also:Cotgrave's Dictionary of See also:French and English, dated 1611, Crosse is translated "crosier or See also:bishop's staffe wherewith boys play at cricket," and Crosser " to play at cricket." Among the earliest traces of cricket at public See also:schools is an allusion to be found in the See also:Life of Bishop See also:Ken by William See also:Lisle See also:Bowles (1830) . Concerning the subject of this See also:biography, who was admitted to See also:Winchester on the 13th of See also:January 1650/1, it is said " on the fifth or See also:sixth See also:day, our junior . . . is found for the first time attempting to wield a cricket bat." In 1688 a "See also:ram and bat " is charged in an Etonian's school See also:bill, but it is possible this may only refer to a cudgel used for ram-baiting . In The Life of See also:Thomas See also:Wilson, See also:Minister of See also:Maidstone, published anonymously in 1672, Wilson having been born in 1601 and dying in or about 1653, occurs the following passage (p . 40): " Maidstone was formerly a very profane See also:town, in as much as I have seen morrice-dancing, cudgel-playing, stool-ball, crickets, and many other sports openly and publicly indulged in on the See also:Lord's Day." Cricket is found enumerated as one of the games of Gargantua in The See also:Works of See also:Rabelais, translated in 1653 by Sir Thomas Urchard (See also:Urquhart), vol. i. ch. xxii. p . 97 . In a poem entitled The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence or the Arts of Wooing and Complimenting (1658), by Edward See also:Phillips, John See also:Milton's See also:nephew, the See also:mistress of a See also:country bumpkin when she goes to a See also:fair with him says " Would my eyes had been beaten out of my See also:head with a cricket ball." The St See also:Alban's Cricket See also:Club was founded in 1661, one of its earliest presidents being James See also:Cecil, 4th See also:earl of See also:Salisbury (1666-1694) . In 1662 John See also:Davies of See also:Kidwelly issued his See also:translation of See also:Adam Olearius' See also:work entitled The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors from the See also:Duke of See also:Holstein to the See also:Grand Duke of Muscovy, and the King of See also:Persia . Begun in the year 1633 and finished in 1639 . On page 297 is a description of the exercises indulged in by the See also:Persian grandees in 1637, and the statement is made that " They play there also at a certain game, which the Persians See also:call Kuitskaukan, which is a kind of Mall, or Cricket." In the See also:Clerkenwell parish See also:book of ,668 the proprietor of the See also:Rum See also:Inn, Smithfield, is found rated for a cricket See also:field .

The See also:

chaplain of H.M.S., "Assistance," Rev . See also:Henry Teonge, states in his See also:diary that during a visit to See also:Antioch on the 6th of May 1676, several of the See also:ship's See also:company, accompanied by the See also:consul, rode out of the city See also:early and amongst other pastimes indulged in " krickett." During the first See also:half of the 18th century the popularity of the game increased and is frequently mentioned by writers of the time, such as See also:Swift, who alludes sneeringly to" footmen at cricket," D'Urfey, See also:Pope, Soame See also:Jenyns, See also:Strype in his edition of Stow's Survey of London, and See also:Arbuthnot in John See also:Bull, iv . 4, " when he happened to meet with a football or a match at cricket." In 1748 it was decided that cricket was not an illegal game under the statute 9 See also:Anne, cap . 19, the See also:court of king's See also:bench holding " that it was a very manly game, not See also:bad in itself, but only in the See also:ill use made of it by betting more than ten pounds on it; but that was bad and against the law." See also:Frederick See also:Louis, See also:prince of See also:Wales, died in 1751 from See also:internal injuries caused by a See also:blow from a cricket ball whilst playing at Cliefden See also:House . Games at this See also:period were being played for large stakes, ground proprietors and See also:tavern-keepers farming and advertising matches, the results of which were not always above suspicion . The old See also:Artillery Ground at See also:Finsbury was one of the earliest sites of this type of fixture . Here it was that the London Club—formed about 17oo—played its matches . The See also:president was the prince of Wales, and many noblemen were among its supporters . It flourished for more than half a century . One of the very earliest full-scores kept in the modern See also:fashion is that of the match between See also:Kent and All See also:England, played on the Artillery Ground on the ,8th of See also:June 1744 . Cricket, however, underwent its most material development in the See also:southern counties, more especially in the See also:hop-growing districts . It was at the large hop-fairs, notably that of Weyhill, to which people from all the neighbouring shires congregated, that See also:county matches were principally arranged .

The famous Hambledon Club lasted approximately from 1750 to 1791 . Its matches were played on Broad Half-See also:

Penny and See also:Windmill See also:Downs, and in its See also:zenith the club frequently contended with success against All England . The See also:chief players were more or less retainers of the noblemen and other wealthy patrons of cricket . The original society was broken up in 1791 owing to See also:Richard Nyren, their " See also:general," abandoning the game, of which in consequence " the head and right arm were gone." The See also:dispersion of the players over the neighbouring counties caused a See also:diffusion of the best spirit of the game, which gradually ex-tended northward and westward until, at the close of the 18th century, cricket became established as the national game, and the See also:custom became general to play the first game of each year on Good See also:Friday . The M.C.C . (or Marylebone Cricket Club), which ranks as the leading club devoted to the game in any See also:part of the globe, sprang from the old Artillery Ground Club, which played at Finsbury until about 1780, when the members migrating to See also:White Conduit Fields became the White Conduit Cricket Club . In 1787 they were remodelled under their See also:present title, and moved to Lord's ground, then on the site of what is now See also:Dorset Square; thence in 1811 to Lord's second ground nearer what is now the See also:Regent's See also:Canal; and in 1814, when the canal was cut, to what is now Lord's ground in St John's See also:Wood . Thomas Lord, whose See also:family were obliged to leave their native See also:Scotland on account of their participation in the See also:rebellion of 1745, was born in See also:Thirsk, See also:Yorkshire, in 1757, and is first heard of as an attendant at the White Conduit Club, London, in 1780 . Soon afterwards he selected and superintended a cricket ground for the earl of Winchilsea and other gentlemen, which was called after his name . He died in 1832 on a See also:farm at See also:West Meon, See also:Hampshire, of which he took the management two years before . Lord took away the original See also:turf of his cricket-ground at each See also:migration and relaid it . In 1825 the See also:pavilion was burnt down, invaluable early records of the game being destroyed; and in the same year the ground would have been broken up into See also:building plots had not William See also:Ward See also:purchased Lord's See also:interest .

Dark bought him out in 1836, selling the See also:

remainder of his See also:lease to the club in 1864 . Meanwhile, in 1860, the See also:freehold had been purchased at public See also:auction by a Mr See also:Marsden—we See also:Moses—for £7000, and he sold it to the club six years later for nearly £18,500, a similar sum being paid in 1887 for additional ground . In 1897 the See also:Great Central railway company conveyed a further portion to the club, making the ground See also:complete as it now is; the See also:total See also:area is about 20 acres, including the site of various villas adjoining the ground which are part of the See also:property . The number of members now considerably exceeds five thousand . See also:Laws.—The See also:oldest laws of cricket extant are those See also:drawn up by the London Club in 1744 . These were amended at the " See also:Star and Garter " in See also:Pall Mall, London, in 1755, and again in 1774, and were also revised by the M.C.C. in 1788 . From this time the latter club has been regarded as the supreme authority, even though some See also:local modifications have in See also:recent years been effected in See also:Australia . Alterations and additions have been frequently made, and according to the present See also:procedure they have to be approved by a See also:majority of two-thirds of the members present at the See also:annual general See also:meeting of the whole club; the See also:administration being in the hands of a president, annually nominated by his outgoing predecessor, a treasurer and a See also:committee composed of sixteen members, four annually retiring, in See also:conjunction with a secretary and a large subordinate staff . Implements.—Concerning the implements of the game, in the 1744 rules it was declared that the See also:weight of the ball must be " between five and six ounces," and it was not until 1774 that it was decided that it " shall weigh not less than five ounces and a half nor more than five ounces and three-quarters," as it is to the present day . Not until 1838 however came the addition, " it shall measure not less than nine inches nor more than nine inches and a See also:quarter in circumference." The materials out of which the old balls were made are not on See also:record . At present a See also:cube of See also:cork forms the See also:foundation, See also:round which layers of fine twine and thin shavings of cork are accumulated till the proper See also:size and shape are attained, when a covering of red See also:leather is sewn on with six parallel seams . Various " compositions " have been tried as a substitute for cork and leather, but without taking their See also:place .

For the bat, English See also:

willow has been proverbially found the best wood . The oldest extant bats resemble a broad and curved See also:hockey stick, and it has been claimed to be an See also:evolution of the club employed in the Irish game of " hurley." The straight blade was adopted as soon as the bowler began to See also:pitch the ball up, an alteration which took place about 1750, but pictures show slightly curved bats almost to the time of the See also:battle of See also:Waterloo . The oldest were all made in one piece and were so used until the middle of the 19th century, when handles of ash were spliced into the blade, and the whole See also:cane-handle was introduced about t86o . No limit was set to the length of the bat until 1840, though the width was restricted to 44 in . " in the widest part " by the laws of 1788, and a See also:gauge was made for the use of the Hambledon Club . The length of the bat is now restricted to 38 in., 36 being more generally used, as a See also:rule the handle being 14 in. long and the blade 22 in . As to weight, though there is no restriction, 2 lb 3 oz. is considered See also:light, 2 lb 6 oz. fairly heavy; but W . Ward (1787-1849) used a bat weighing 4 1b At present the wicket consists of three stumps (round straight pieces of wood) of equal thickness, standing 27 in. upright out of the ground . On the See also:top are two " bails," See also:short pieces of wood which fit into grooves made in the top of the stumps so as not to project more than half an See also:inch above them . But the evolution of the wicket has been very See also:gradual, and the history of it is very obscure, since different types of wickets seem to have existed simultaneously . If early pictures are to be trusted, no wicket was required in See also:primitive times: the striker was either caught out, or run out, the fieldsman having to put the ball into a hole scooped in the ground, before the batsman could put his bat into it . A single stump, it is supposed, was sometimes substituted for the hole to See also:save collision between the bat and the fieldsman's fingers .

In due course, but at an unknown date, a wicket—a " See also:

skeleton See also:gate "—was raised over the hole; it consisted of two stumps each 12 in. high, set 24 in. apart, with a third laid on the top of them . John Nyren, however, writing in 1833, and discussing some memoranda given him by Mr W . Ward, says apropos of these dimensions, " There must be a See also:mistake in this account of the width of the wicket." Undoubtedly such wickets were all against the bowler, who must have bowled over or through the wicket twenty times for everyoccasion when he succeeded in hitting either the uprights or the See also:cross stump . In pictures of cricket played about 1743 we find only two stumps and a cross stump, or See also:bail, the wicket varying apparently both in height and width . In a picture, the property of H.M. the King, entitled " A See also:Village Match in 1768," three stumps and a bail are distinctly shown . Two stumps are shown as used in 1779, afterwards three always with one exception . Two prints, advertisements, representing matches played between See also:women on consecutive days in 1811, show, one of them a wicket of three stumps, the other a wicket of two . The addition of the third stump, as is universally agreed, was due to an incident which occurred in a match of the Hambledon Club in 1775 . " It was observed at a See also:critical point in the game, that the ball passed three times between Mr Small's two stumps without knocking off the bail; and then, first a third stump was added, and seeing that the new See also:style of balls which rise over the bat also rise over the wicket, then See also:butt ft. high, the wicket was altered to the dimensions of 22 in. by 8, and to its present dimensions of 27 in. by 8 in 1817." So writes the Rev . J . Pycroft (1813–1895), quoting fairly closely from Nyren, who wrote many years after the event; but Pycroft is wrong in writing 22 by 8, which should really be 22 by 6 . It is hard to believe that the 12 by 24 wicket lasted as long as 1775, for in the laws issued after the meeting held at the " Star and Garter," Pall Mall, where many " noblemen and gentlemen " attended " finally to See also:settle " the laws of the game, we read that the stumps are to be 22 in. and the bail 6 .

" N.B.—It is lately settled to use three stumps instead of two to each wicket, the bail the same length as before." Regarding all the circumstances one is tempted to believe that Small defended a wicket of two stumps, 22 in. high and 6 in. apart, See also:

strange as is the circumstance that the ball should thrice in a short innings—for Small only made 14 runs—pass through them without dislodging the bail, even though the See also:diameter of the ball is a trifle less than 3 in . Allusion is also found to a wicket 12 in. by 6, but it is hard to believe in its existence, unless it was used as a See also:form of See also:handicap . It should be recorded that in advertisements of matches about this time (1787) the fact that three stumps will be used to shorten the game " is especially mentioned, and that the Hampshire See also:Chronicle of the 15th of See also:July 1797 records that " The earl of Winchilsea has made an improvement in the game of cricket, by having four stumps instead of three, and the wickets 2 in. higher . The game is thus rendered shorter by easier bowling out." In 1788, however, when the M.C.C. revised the laws, reference is made to stumps (no number given, but probably three) 22 in. high and a bail of 6 in . Big scoring in 1796 caused the addition next year of 2 in. to the height and of 1 to the breadth, making the wicket 24 in. by 7 . That three stumps were employed is shown by a See also:print of the medallion of the See also:Oxfordshire County C.C . 1797, forming the See also:frontispiece to See also: