Origins of Cricket

Do you know how the wonderful game of cricket originated? You might know that the game originated in England and then made its way to other commonwealth countries during England’s occupation. The game of cricket has been known to be played from the 16th century. It has also been known that the first internationals were actually played somewhere around 1844 with the official history of international Test Cricket being played in 1877.

No one knows exactly when and where cricket originated. But it is thought that the game was created during the Saxon or Norman times by the children living in the Weald - in the south-east of England. It is also believed that cricket was mainly a children’s game for much of the initial period before adults actually started to play the game. That probably happened around the 17th century. It is quite different from many other sports we know which were first picked up by adults and then by children. Perhaps the initial form of the cricket game wasn’t complicated as well. Probably as simple as putting bat to ball and hitting it as far you can.

But then how did the name “cricket” originate? It has been thought that the name was derived from a Dutch word “krick(-e)” which literally meant “stick”. There are many other theories surrounding the origin of the word cricket but most of them point to Dutch origins. Before long, the game spread to all of England and by 1751 cricket was widely played across the country. We know the rest of the story! Do you have anything to share regarding the origins of cricket?

Source: Wikipedia