The history of cricket: from village greens to T20
Cricket began in south-east England, with records from the 1590s. The first Test was in 1877, the first ODI in 1971 and the first T20 international in 2004.
Where cricket began
The history of cricket starts in the Weald, the wooded country of south-east England, where children were probably playing an early form of the game in Saxon or Norman times. The earliest definite record comes from a court case in Guildford, Surrey, in the late 1590s, in which a man recalled playing "creckett" there as a schoolboy around 1550.
By 1611 there are references to adults playing, and by the middle of the 17th century village cricket was well established. In the second half of that century, the first teams named after counties appeared, hiring the best village players as the game's first professionals.
Laws, clubs and Lord's
Through the first half of the 18th century, cricket became one of the leading sports in London and the south-east. As matches grew more serious, players needed agreed rules, and in 1744 the first known Laws of Cricket were written down.
The game was changing fast. After about 1760, bowlers began pitching the ball rather than rolling it along the ground, and batters swapped the curved, hockey-stick shaped bat for the straight one we know. In 1774 the Laws were revised to add leg before wicket and a limit on the width of the bat, and a third, middle stump came into use around the same time.
For about thirty years, the Hambledon Club in Hampshire was the centre of the game. Then, in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded and Thomas Lord opened his ground in London. MCC issued a new code of Laws in 1788 and has looked after the Laws ever since.
Women were part of the story from early on. The first recorded women's match was played in Surrey in 1745, between eleven women of Bramley and eleven of Hambledon.
The game spreads
Cricket travelled with the British Empire. It reached North America with the English colonies, Australia almost as soon as settlement began in 1788, and New Zealand and South Africa in the early 19th century. It also took hold in the Caribbean and in India.
Bowling changed again: overarm bowling, with the arm above the shoulder, was made legal in 1864. That same year the first edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was published, and W G Grace, the game's first great star, was just starting out.
The first international match was not between England and Australia at all. It was played in 1844 between the United States and Canada, in New York.
The first Test and the Ashes
English teams began touring abroad, to North America in 1859 and Australia in 1862. In March 1877, an England touring side played a full Australian team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia won by 45 runs, and the match is now counted as the first Test.
In 1882 Australia beat England at The Oval, in London. A newspaper printed a mock obituary for English cricket, saying its body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia, and the contest between the two sides has been called the Ashes ever since. South Africa became the third Test nation in 1889.
Governing the world game
In 1909, England, Australia and South Africa formed the Imperial Cricket Conference to run Test cricket between them. It was renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965 and the International Cricket Council in 1989.
New Test nations followed. West Indies played their first Test in 1928, New Zealand in 1930 and India in 1932, when they played England at Lord's. Pakistan joined in 1952, Sri Lanka in 1982, Zimbabwe in 1992 and Bangladesh in 2000. Afghanistan and Ireland were given Test status in 2017.
One-day cricket and the World Cup
English counties began playing one-innings, limited-overs matches in 1963. The first one-day international came almost by accident: in January 1971, after rain washed out a Test in Melbourne, England and Australia played a one-day match instead.
The first men's World Cup was held in England in 1975, and West Indies won the final at Lord's. In 1983 India, rank outsiders at the start of the tournament, beat West Indies in the final, also at Lord's. That win changed cricket in India and, over time, the balance of the whole game.
The women's game got there first. The first Women's World Cup was played in England in 1973, two years before the men's, and England won it. The first women's Test had been played in Brisbane in December 1934, between Australia and England.
In 1977 a television businessman signed many of the world's best players for World Series Cricket, a breakaway competition that lasted two seasons. It brought night matches, coloured clothing and higher pay for players, and those ideas soon reached the official game. The 1992 World Cup was the first with coloured clothing, a white ball and floodlights.
Twenty20
English county cricket launched a 20-overs-a-side competition in 2003, designed to fit into an evening. It was an instant hit. The first women's T20 international was played in 2004 and the first men's, between New Zealand and Australia, in February 2005.
The first men's World Twenty20 was played in South Africa in 2007, and India beat Pakistan in the final. Franchise leagues soon followed around the world, and T20 became the format most new fans meet first. In 2018 the ICC gave T20 international status to matches between all of its members, from July 2018 for women and January 2019 for men, which brought many smaller cricket nations into international cricket.
Cricket today
The three formats now sit side by side. Test cricket gained a World Test Championship, which began in 2019 with its first final in 2021. One-day internationals keep the 50-over World Cup every four years, and T20 has its own World Cup for men and women.
The women's game has grown quickly, with professional contracts, big crowds and leagues of its own. From children's games in Wealden villages to floodlit T20 nights, the game has kept changing its shape while keeping its Laws, which MCC still writes and revises.
Sources
- ICC: Early cricket, before 1799
- ICC: History of cricket in the 19th century
- ICC: 20th century cricket
- ICC: Cricket's pioneers, a look at England's firsts
- ICC: Imperial Cricket Conference, 1909 to 1963
- ICC: Formats of the game
- Lord's: 1788, MCC issues a code of Laws for cricket
- Wikipedia: History of cricket
- Wikipedia: History of women's cricket (the 1745 match)
- Wikipedia: 1992 Cricket World Cup
- ICC: All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status (2018)
Questions
Who invented cricket?
No one person did. Cricket grew out of bat-and-ball games played by children and villagers in south-east England, and the earliest known written mention of it comes from the late 1590s.
Where did cricket originate?
In the Weald of south-east England, where it was probably first played by children in Saxon or Norman times. The earliest definite record is a court case in Guildford, Surrey, from the late 1590s.
When was the first Test match played?
In March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, between Australia and a touring England side. Australia won by 45 runs.
When was the first ODI played?
In January 1971 in Melbourne, when England and Australia played a one-day match after rain washed out a Test.
Who won the first Cricket World Cup?
West Indies won the first men's World Cup, held in England in 1975. The first Women's World Cup came two years earlier, in England in 1973, and England won it.
When did India play its first Test match?
In 1932, against England at Lord's. India were the sixth side to play Test cricket.
When did T20 cricket start?
English county cricket started a 20-overs-a-side competition in 2003. The first women's T20 international followed in 2004, the first men's in 2005, and the first men's World Twenty20 in 2007.
Who is called the father of cricket?
W. G. Grace, the English batter who dominated the game in the late 1800s, is often called the father of cricket for how much he shaped it, though he did not invent it.
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