Where Did Cricket come from....

The cricket is said to be originated from a very old leisure activity indulged by shepherds. The shepherds used crook to hit a ball which used to be made up of wool or stone. The first evidence of the cricket was recorded in the year 1550 by the pupils of Royal Grammar School, Guildford. In the early days of the cricket it is used to thrive greatly as a gambling games. Huge amount of bets were placed on the cricket and through this people starts recognozing cricket. Gambling on the cricket takes place till the end of the 17th century.

In the 18th century cricket used to make huge amount of money through gambling and other means like monetary backing. The first match is said to be played between counties in England is recorded to be in June in the year 1709. This match was between Surrey and Kent at Dartford Brent.

The 18th century witnessed the emergence cricket players in two types. The one were known as the retained player and the others were individual player. Generally the retained players were said to be the servant of the lord and a cricketer as well. On the other hand the individual player was free to play anywhere with his skills. Basically it was something like the player could play anywhere with the amount of skill he possesses.

In the year 1787, the Club MCC was created which was also known to be Marylebone Cricket Club. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent Club in the world of cricket. In the initial days of the cricket it was restricted to the high class people of England. From then cricket gradually went on to become the national game of England.

Coming to the end of the 18th century, it was very crucial phase for the development of the game, both within and outside the Britain. The game was spread far and wide mainly due to England’s imperialism. Wherever the Britain peopl go, the game went with them and thus spread outside England. The first official match was played between Canada and United States, was held in the year 1844. After this in 1859, a team of leading English professionals set off to North America on the first-ever overseas tour and, in 1862, the first English team toured Australia.

In the year 1909 when the Imperial Cricket Conference (as it was originally called) was founded, only England, Australia and South Africa were members. West Indies, New Zealand and India, became Test nations before the Second World War and soon afterwards Pakistan. The game grew at the international level with several "affiliate nations" getting involved and, till the end of the 20th century, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh also became the Test nations.In the present times, cricket has its own following of loyal fans. The ICC is governing council of the World Cricket, better known as the Internatinal Cricket Council.All laws relating to ODIs, Test Cricket and the new face of the cricket T20 are framed and implemented by the ICC.

Test cricket remained at the highest level of sports throughout the 20th century but it had its problems, notably in the infamous "Bodyline Series" of 1932–33 when Douglas Jardine's England used so-called "leg theory" to try and neutralise the run-scoring brilliance of Australia's Don Bradman.