Cricket: Did you know?

The game has been traced to shepherds in England and its origins can be traced back to 17th century. The game’s rich history is reflected from the fact that the first laws of the game came into being in 1774 and have evolved to be what they are today. The sheaperds used to bat in-front of a tree stump from where comes the term "stumps". Later they started playing in front of wicket-gate giving birth to the term wickets.

The earliest cricket bats were nothing more than long curved pieces of wood very similar to current day hockey stocks and the stumps had just two wickets and one bail. Despite numerous changes that have been incorporated in the game over the years the one thing that has stayed constant is the length of the pitch at 22 yards.

Another interesting piece of information about the game is that early bowlers used to ball underarm and over-arm bowling was initially illegal. It was Kent cricketer, John Willes who introduced over the arm bowling after he found his sister’s, who was also his teacher, skirt getting in the way while bowling underarm.

Talking of bowling there is another interesting piece of information that many of us might have strained our brains over during Kaun Banega Crorepati style quizzes – the 10 ways in which a batsman can get out.

Caught, bowled, leg before wicket, run out, stumped, handling the ball, obstructing the field, hit the ball twice, hit wicket and timed out.

Perhaps one of the most significant days in modern day cricket arrived when the first one-day international was held between England and Australia at Melbourne in 1971. Australia won the match and Geoff Boycott became the first batsman to face the first ball in one-day cricket.

The list just goes on and on and keeps adding tit bits as the game evolves with time.