History Of Cricket.
Cricket's most likely birthplace is in
south-east England across Kent and Sussex. The game was
devised by children of the Weald's farming and metalworking
communities.
There is evidence to suggest that it survived as a
children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken
up by adults around the beginning of the 17th Century. The game's
origin seems to have been in Norman times (i.e., before 1066).
Playing on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original
implements may have been a matted lump of sheep’s wool as the ball;
a crook or other farm tool as the bat; and a tree stump as the
wicket. It is possible that the game was derived from the older
sport of bowls by the introduction of a "batsman" to stop the ball
reaching its target by hitting it away. There seems little doubt
that the game had a rustic upbringing . Eventually, it spread north
to London and west to Hampshire, the two places that cemented its
popularity in the 18th century.
According to some other theories, cricket originated outside
England and was brought there by the Normans after 1066. As early as
the 8th century, bat and ball games were played in the Punjab region
of southern Asia — the ancestors of games such as gilli-danda and
perhaps polo. Some sports are believed to have migrated via Persia
and through Constantinople into Europe. There are 8th and 9th
century accounts of bat and ball games being played in the
Mediterranean region, sometimes as church-sponsored events to
promote community spirit. If the games reached France in this
manner, it is reasonable to assume they would cross the Channel and
be introduced in England. But all of this is speculation and there
is general agreement among cricket historians that the sport did
originate in south-east England.
Some manuscripts from the 12th and 13th centuries show diagrams
which have been interpreted as early forms of cricket, but there is
no definite evidence to support this. The first clue we have
which is reasonably convincing comes from the Royal Wardrobe
accounts of King Edward I . This records that £6 was paid out for
the 15-year old Prince Edward to play creag and other games
at Newenden in Kent. Although there is no evidence that creag
was a form of cricket, it does at least seem a likely suspect,
especially given the location.
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