1774: The first written laws of cricket came into being
1774: The first leg-before-wicket law was published.
1780: The first six seam cricket ball was created.
Three days was made the duration of a major match
1787: The Marylebone Cricket Club was founded.
1792: The first Indian club, the Calcutta Cricket club was established.
1848: Cricketing pads were introduced
1877: test cricket was started.
1889: A Parsi team beat the Bombay Gymkhana.
1932: A national team represented India in a test match.
1950: West Indies won its first Test series against England.
1970: South Africa was excluded from International Cricket.
1971: The first one day international was played between England and Australia in Melbourne.
1975: The first world cup was held.
1977: 100 years of test matches celebrated.

Main provisions of the cricketing Laws drawn up in 1744:

According to the laws of cricket two umpires would be chosen from among the gentleman to decide all disputes. The stumps were to be 22 inches high and the bail across them was to be of six inches.The weight of the ball must be between 5 and 6 ounces and the two sets of stumps must be 22 yards.

No limits were placed on the shape or six of the bat.
III Importance of the television in coverage of cricket:
Television coverage has expandced the audience for viewing cricket by bringing cricket into small towns and villages. It also broadened social base of cricket . Children even from rural areas could now watch top level cricket being played and learn by imitating their heroes. Satellite television and multinational television companies created a global market for cricket.

Popularity of cricket:

The game of cricket became popular in India as local elites wanted to cpp0y the habits of their colonial masters that is British. In the West Indies, success at cricket became a measure of racial equality and political progress. Many political leaders of the West Indies saw in cricket a chance of attaining self respect and international standing. When the West Indies won its first test series against England in 1950, it was celebrated as a National achievement as it was a way of demonstrating that the West indices were equal to the English. Cricket was not popular in the countries like South America as these had not been conquered by the British and cricket became popular only in countries ruled by the British.

Parsis and cricket:

The Parsis set up the first Indian cricket club because for their close contact with the British.They became the first Indian community to westernize and develop interest in the game. The Pentangular was organized on racial lines . Thus it was condemned by Mahatma Gandhi who felt that such a competition was out of peace at a time when nationalism were trying to unite India diverse population. Imperial Cricket Conference: The decline of the British influence in trade, commerce, international politics and sports due to the process of decolonization led to the name of the Imperial cricket conference ICC being changed to the International cricket conference. Shifting of ICC from London to Dubai:The breakup of the British empire and globalization changed the balance of power in cricket. Since India has the largest viewership for the game among cricket playing nations and the largest market in the cricketing world the games centre of gravity has shifted to South Asia. This shift was symbolized by the shifting of the ICC headquarters from London to Dubai. Changes brought up in the criket in 18th century: In the 18th century it became common to pitch the ball through the air rather than roll it along the ground . This opened new possibilities for spin and swing. An immediate result was the replacement of the curved bat with the straight one. This placed greater emphasis
on skill. The weight of the ball was limited to between 5 ½ to 5 ¾ ounces and the width of the bat to four inches. In 1774 the first leg-before-law was published. Around this time, a third stump became common. By 1780, three days became the length of a major match and this year also saw the creation of the first six seam cricket ball. Origins of the Cricket: The cricket was initially organsied as a competition between different parts of the British empire and not sovereign nations. The first test was played between England and Australia when Australia was still a British colony. The origin of the Indian cricket can be traced to Bombay. Important personalities: Dennis Lillee: An Australian cricketer who was the first to use an aluminium bat.
Thomas Arnold : Headmaster of the Rugby School and founder of the modern public school system.

Frank Worrell: The first black who captained the west Indies cricket team in 1960.
Palwankar Baloo: Born in Poona in 1875. He was the greatest Indian slow bowler of his time .
Palwankar Vithal: A good batsman, he became captain of the Hindus and led the team to a famous victory over the Europeans.C.K.Naydu: An outstanding Indian batsman, he was the countrys first test captain.Kerry Packer: An Australian television tycoon who started the World Series cricket and whose innovations changed the nature of the game.

The first Indian cricket club was established in 1792.

Innovations introduced by Kerry Packer in cricket: Kerry Packer signed up fifty one of the
worlds leading cricketers and staged unofficial test and one day internationals under the name world series cricket. Coloured dress, protective helmets,field restrictions cricket under light became a standard part of the game due to his innovations. Moreover, he made cricket a marketable game which c0ould generate huge revenues. Cricket boards now become rich by selling television rights to television companies. Continuous television coverage now made
cricketers celebrities who earned enormous sums of money buy making commercials for a wide range of products.

Advances in technology especially television technology affected the development of contemporary cricket: Unlike other modern team sports, a cricket match can carry on for five days and still end in a draw. A football match is generally over in an hour and half
of playing time. Even baseball takes less time to complete nine innings than it takes to play a limited overs match, the shortened version of modern cricket.

Moreover the length of the cricket pitch is specified the size and shape of the ground is not.
While most team sports like hockey and football lay down the dimensions of the playing area , cricket does not. Grounds can be oval like the Adelaide oval or nearly circular like chepauk in Chennai.

There is historical reason for these differences. Originally cricket matches had no time limit and went on for as long as it took to bowl a side out twice. The pace of village life was slower and cricket rules were made before the Industrial Revolution.

In contrast, games that were codified after the industrial revolution, like hockey and football were strictly time limited to fit the routine of tan industrial city life. Similarly the size of a cricket ground was not fixed due to its village origins. Cricket was originally played on the village commons, unfenced land that was public property. The size of the common varied from
one village to another. Even after boundaries were incorporated into the laws of cricket, their distance from the wicket was not specified.

In the 18th century it became common to pitch the ball through the air rather than roll it along the ground . This opened new possibilities for spin and swing. An immediate result was the replacement of the curved bat with the straight one. This placed greater emphasis on skill.
The weight of the ball was limited to between 5 ½ to 5 ¾ ounces and the width of the bat to four inches.

In 1774 the first leg-before-law was published. Around this time, a third stump became common.
By 1780 three days became the length of a major and this year also saw the creation of the first six team cricket ball.

Home Work:

1. Discuss main provisions of the cricketing Laws drawn up in 1744.

2. What is the importance of television in coverage of cricket.
3. Give a note on the origins of the Cricket.
4. Write a note on the following cricketers: 1.
Dennis Lillee 2. C.K.Naidu
5. Evolution of Cricket Ball
6. Parsis and Cricket in India

Labels: The Story of Cricket for IX class