The document traces the history of cricket from its uncertain origins in southern England in the 16th century to its development as a popular sport throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in England, British colonies, and other countries. It discusses the earliest references to cricket, the establishment of county clubs and international matches, the impact of industrialization and transportation on the spread of the sport, and the standardization of rules like the number of balls per over over time. Major developments included the first overseas tours in the mid-19th century and establishment of international competitions like the County Championship and Test matches in the late 19th century.

2.  The history of cricket to 1725 traces the
sports development from its precrived
origin to a stage where it had become
major sd introduced in in england and
other countries the earliest definite
reffernce to cricket occurs in 1598 and
makes clear that the sport was being
played c.1550, but its true origin is a
mystery

3.  The most widely accepted theory of the origin
of cricket is that it developed in early
medieval times among the farming and
metalworking communities of the weald
which lies across part of kent and sussex these
countries and neighbouring surrey where the
earliest centers of excellence and that it was
from there that the game quickly reached
london where its lasting popularity was
ensured,and other southern countries like
Berkshire,essex , hamsphere and middlesex

5.  Early cricketers played in their everyday
clothes and had no protective equipments
such as pads and gloves.A173 painting of
game in progress at the artillery ground
depicts two batsman and bowler dressed
alike in white shirt,breeches, white knee
length stockings and shoes with buckles the
wicket keeper wore same clothes with waist
coat the umpire and scorer wears three-
quarter lenghts coats and tricon hats

6.  Beginning was earlier than 1550 somewhere in
south east england within the country of kent
surrey and sussex most probably in the region
known as weald.unlike other games with
batsman,bowlers and fielders,such as
stoolball and rounders, cricket can only be
played on realatevly short grass,especially as
the ball was delievered along the grounduntil
the 1760s .therefore forest clearing and land
where sheep had gazed would have been
suitable places to play

8. The restortation of the monarchy in england in
1660 was immediately followed by the
reopening of theaters and sanctions imposed
by the puritians on sport were also
lifted.cricket was a leading entertainment
and it was ideal for wager.Although there are
only scattered refernces to the game in the
time of charles 2,it is clear that its popularity
was increasing and that it was expanding

10.  The patrons ensured that cricket was financed in the
18th century but their interest, equally applicable to
horse racing and prizefighting, was based on the
opportunities that cricket provided for gambling.
Every important match in the 18th century, whether
first-class or single wicket was played for stakes. The
early newspapers recognised this and were more
interested in publishing the odds than the match
scores. Reports would say who won the wager rather
than who won the match.[55] Sometimes, gambling
would lead to dispute and two matches ended up in
court when rival interests sought legal rulings on the
terms of their wagers.

11.  Periodicals called The Post Boy and The Post Man were
useful sources for cricket advertisements during the early
18th century. In 1700, a series of matches to be held
onClapham Common was pre-announced on 30 March
by The Post Boy. The first was to take place on Easter
Monday and prizes of £10 and £20 were at stake. No
match reports could be found so the results and scores
remain unknown. The advert says the teams would consist
of ten "Gentlemen" per side but the invitation to attend
was to "Gentlemen and others". This clearly implies that
cricket had achieved both the patronage that
underwrote it through the 18th century and the spectators
who demonstrated its lasting popular appeal.[77] On 24
July 1705, The Post Man announced West of Kent v
Chatham, an 11-a-side game at Malling, Kent

12.  The first great rivalry in cricket history was
between the Dartford and London clubs
who are first known to have played each
other in 1722. On Wednesday, 19 August
1719, London v Kent was played at
White Conduit Fields and Kent won. This is
the earliest known definite result. The
report said the teams played for "a
considerable sum of money"

13.  The earliest known mention of cricket being
played outside England is dated Saturday,
6 May 1676. A diarist called Henry Tonge,
who was part of a British mission
at Aleppo in Turkey (now in Syria), recorded
that "at least forty of the English" left the city
for recreational purposes and, having
found a nice place to pitch a tent for
dinner, they "had several pastimes and
sports" including "krickett". At six they
"returned home in good order

15.  Gambling introduced the first patrons because
some of the gamblers decided to strengthen
their bets by forming their own teams and it is
believed the first "county teams" were formed
in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660,
especially as members of the nobility were
employing "local experts" from village cricket
as the earliest professionals.[4] The first known
game in which the teams use county names is
in 1709 but there can be little doubt that these
sort of fixtures were being arranged long
before that. The match in 1697 was probably
Sussex versus another county.

16.  Cricket was introduced to North America
via the English colonies in the 17th
century,[3] probably before it had even
reached the north of England. In the 18th
century it arrived in other parts of the globe.
It was introduced to the West Indies by
colonists[3] and to India by British East India
Company mariners in the first half of the
century. It arrived in Australia almost as
soon as colonisation began in 1788. New
Zealand and South Africa followed in the
early years of the 19th century

18.  Cricket faced its first real crisis during the 18th
century when major matches virtually ceased
during the Seven Years' War. This was largely
due to shortage of players and lack of
investment. But the game survived and the
"Hambledon Era" proper began in the mid-
1760s.
 Cricket faced another major crisis at the
beginning of the 19th century when a
cessation of major matches occurred during
the culminating period of the Napoleonic
Wars. Again, the causes were shortage of
players and lack of investment. But, as in the
1760s, the game survived and a slow
recovery began in 1815

20.  The game also underwent a fundamental
change of organisation with the formation for
the first time of county clubs. All the modern
county clubs, starting with Sussex in 1839,
were founded during the 19th century.
 No sooner had the first county clubs
established themselves than they faced what
amounted to "player action" as William
Clarke created the travelling All-England
Eleven in 1846. Though a commercial venture,
this team did much to popularise the game in
districts which had never previously been
visited by high-class cricketers. Other similar
teams were created and this vogue lasted for
about thirty years. But the counties and MCC
prevailed.

21.  The growth of cricket in the mid and late 19th
century was assisted by the development of the
railway network. For the first time, teams from a
long distance apart could play one other without
a prohibitively time-consuming journey.
Spectators could travel longer distances to
matches, increasing the size of crowd
 In 1864, another bowling revolution resulted in
the legalisation of overarm and in the same
year Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was first
published
 The "Great Cricketer", W G Grace, made his first-
class debut in 1865. His feats did much to
increase the game's popularity and he
introduced technical innovations which
revolutionised the game, particularly in batting.

24.  The first ever international cricket game was
between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match
was played at the grounds of the St George's Cricket
Club in New York
 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
 Between May and October 1868, a team
of Australian Aborigines toured England in what was
the first Australian cricket team to travel overseas.
 In 1877, an England touring team in Australia played
two matches against full Australian XIs that are now
regarded as the inaugural Test matches. The
following year, the Australians toured England for the
first time and were a spectacular success. No Tests
were played on that tour but more soon followed
and, at The Oval in 1882, arguably the most famous
match of all time gave rise to The Ashes. South
Africa became the third Test nation in 1889.

26.  A major watershed occurred in 1890 when the
official County Championship was constituted in
England. This organisational initiative has been
repeated in other countries. Australia established
the Sheffield Shield in 1892–93. Other national
competitions to be established were the Currie Cup
in South Africa, the Plunkett Shield in New Zealand
and the Ranji Trophy in India.
 The period from 1890 to the outbreak of the First
World War has become an object of nostalgia,
ostensibly because the teams played cricket
according to "the spirit of the game", but more
realistically because it was a peacetime period that
was shattered by the First World War. The era has
been called The Golden Age of cricket and it
featured numerous great names such as
Grace, Wilfred Rhodes, C B Fry, K S
Ranjitsinhji and Victor Trumper.

27.  In 1889 the immemorial four ball over was replaced
by a five ball over and then this was changed to the
current six balls an over in 1900. Subsequently, some
countries experimented with eight balls an over. In
1922, the number of balls per over was changed
from six to eight in Australia only. In 1924 the eight
ball over was extended to New Zealand and in 1937
to South Africa. In England, the eight ball over was
adopted experimentally for the 1939 season; the
intention was to continue the experiment in 1940, but
first-class cricket was suspended for the Second
World War and when it resumed, English cricket
reverted to the six ball over. The 1947 Laws of Cricket
allowed six or eight balls depending on the
conditions of play. Since the 1979/80 Australian and
New Zealand seasons, the six ball over has been
used worldwide and the most recent version of the
Laws in 2000 only permits six ball overs