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the evolution of cricket
about the great game of cricket By 1780, 3 days had become the duration of a big match, and that year also saw the creation of the first 6-seam cricket ball. In 1788, the MCC published its 1st revision of the laws, which banned charging down an opponent and also provided for mowing and covering the wicket to help keep things fair.
The desire for standardization reflected the big increase in the popularity of the game during the eighteenth Century. Between 1730 & 1740, one hundred and fifty cricket matches were recorded in the newspapers of the time. Between 1750 &1760, this figure rose to two hundred and thirty, and between 1770 & 1790 over five hundred.
The nineteenth Century saw a series of significant changes to the game. Wide deliveries were
banned in 1811. The circumference of the ball was specified for the first
time in 1838 (its weight had been decided sixty years earlier). Pads, made of
cork, became available for the first time in1841, and these were further
developed following the invention of vulcanized rubber, which was also used
to introduce protective gloves in 1848. In the 1870's, boundaries were
introduced - previously, all hits had to be run, and if the ball went into
the crowd, the spectators had cleared a way for the fieldsman to get to the
ball.
The biggest change, however, was in how the ball was delivered by the
bowler. |
Previously, no such legislation had been needed. However, by the 1830's,
round-arm had become increasingly popular and eventually it was
permitted by the MCC who,
in 1835, deigned to allow any delivery "not thrown or jerked in which the
hand or arm did not go above the shoulder". By the 1860's matters had
developed further and some bowlers were experimenting with over-arm,
although it was still outlawed by the rules of the game. In practice, some
umpires allowed it whilst others called "no-ball".
As you can see the practitioners of under-arm and round-arm stayed in
the game, and were by no means unsuccessful. However, the majority of
new players used over-arm and, by the 1880's that was the most favored way of
delivering the ball. Interestingly, round-arm disappeared before under-arm,
which was still being employed until World War 1. Given that Australia first
fielded an entirely over-arm attack in 1878, it now seems extraordinary that
England occasionally selected under-arm bowlers even in the early part of
the 20th Century. Most famously, Simpson-Hayward toured South Africa in
1909-10 and the "lobster" was England's most successful bowler with 23
wickets at 18 a piece.
Thereafter, cricket became recognizably the game that is played today, despite many changes regarding leg before dismissals, intimidatory bowling, no balls, the weight of the bats, covered wickets and protective clothing. In the wake of England's recent tour of South Africa, the thought of Harrison strolling up to the wicket and delivering the ball under-arm does have a certain appeal, and it's tempting to suggest that he could scarcely have achieved worse results with the old fashioned technique.
Trescothick would surely love to have used Shock White's oversized bat to keep out Ntini's delivery that made a horrible mess of his stumps in the nail-biting finish to the series. Kallis, of course, spent much of the series looking as if he was doing exactly that, but that's another story.
This article is in 2 parts. Click here to read the first part.
sporting facts and history
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