Cricket Equipment � History � The History of English Cricket

Cricket has made history on English soil, so lets look at the birth of cricket equipment and its participants.

Its difficult to put a finger on the exact year that cricket was born. There have been accounts from as far back as the 1300s which have described a game played like cricket, but it's clear in history books that by the 17 th century, the game and its equipment had certain taken off.

The English cricket game began in the sheep-rearing country of the South East, where the short grass of the sheep grazed pastures made it possible to bowl a ball of wool or rags at a target. That target was usually the wicket-gate of the sheep pasture, which was defended with equipment in the form of a shepherd's crooked staff, later known as a cricket bat.

As the game of cricket moved into the 18 th century it evolved dramatically, with the upper classes and the elite taking up the sport as a form of recreation, mainly in the county's Sussex , London and Kent . By the middle of the 17 th century, just about everyone was finding equipment to play cricket, and cricket made history by being enjoyed throughout all levels of society, from village greens to wealthy estates.

The only problem at this time was that there were no nationally recognised sets of cricket rules, making it very difficult for different teams to play against each other in a friendly and fair manner. In the 1760s, a cricket club based at Hambledon in the county of Hampshire , was formed. The club was sponsored by wealthy people who were able to transform the local tradesmen and farmers into proper cricket players. Hambledon established techniques in how to use cricket equipment, and made history in creating ways of batting and bowling which are still used today.

The rules soon shifted to other areas of England as more cricket clubs were formed in and around London . The most famous was the establishment of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) which was formed at Lord's cricket ground, the most recognised cricket ground in the world for its equipment and history. In 1835, the MCC created the first formal laws of cricket which have largely been upheld to this very day by cricket clubs all over the world.

The game of cricket is now played worldwide and a tremendous amount of cricket clubs have developed, even in developing countries. It is fair to say that the current, most influential cricket teams are based in South Africa , Australia , India , Pakistan and the West Indies , but the English are determined to regain their initial power in the future, and with the start of The Ashes 2006/07, they will be doing everything they can to take their team to victory.

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