What's Cricket ?
History of cricket | Cricket in S'pore | Categories | Cricket Terms

[History of Cricket]

The precise origin of cricket is the proverbial bone of contention. The first recorded instances of the game date as far back as the 13th century, with the earliest mention traced to the wardrobe accounts of King Edward I, in Newenden in Kent, England.

The word cricket may have been derived from the word 'cricquet', which was a cow-stool used for kneeling in church and similar in shape to the stools used in 'stool-ball', an English folk game said to have been played with sticks and stones.

It was only until the 17th century that cricket earned recognition by the gentry, having predominantly been a game played by peasants and commoners.

The first ever 'Test' match was recorded in 1887 between England and Australia at Melbourne, Australia.

Cricket, as we see it now is played around the globe with nine official test-playing nations and a handful of associate countries contesting for glittering trophies and fabulous prizes. The ICC (International Cricket Council), the premier governing body, organises the quadrennial World Cup. The leading cricket tournament and the official world championship of the modern game.

From the snowy pitches of Toronto to the searing dust tracks of the Indian sub-continent, the desert oasis of Sharjah and the green expanses of down-under. The game has spawned a following and blazed a trail that will cease to diminish as long as twenty-two flanelled gentlemen continue the leather hunt in CRICKET.

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[Cricket in Singapore]

The first recorded game of cricket in Singapore took place in 1837. However, the mid to late 1840's saw a steady influx of expatriates into the British colony and led to the founding of the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) in 1852.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed an explosion in the popularity of cricket in Singapore, thanks in part to the success of tours like that of Lord Harris' M.C.C. side in 1883. There were regular tours undertaken by the SCC to China, Hong Kong, Batavia, Ceylon, Burma and Siam.

Cricket reached its peak in Singapore on the eve of World War One.

Following the war, there was a brief upsurge in the popularity of cricket thanks to the 1927 tour of Singapore and Malaya by an Australian team which included a number of then current test players. Cricket was dealt further blows by leading nationalists who denounced cricket as a tool of British imperialism and the removal of British troops following independence. In the 1960's and 70's, the Singapore Government focussed on the economy.

Over the past decade however, there has been a slow regrowth in the popularity of cricket in Singapore, thanks in large part to the coverage it has gained on Pay TV. Thanks to this increased coverage, Singapore schools are beginning to adopt cricket as one of their sports and finally cricket begins to regain some of the phenomonal popularity it enjoyed around the turn of this century.

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[Cricket Categories]

There are two different types of cricket:

Test Match: The first Test match was played between Australia and England in Melbourne in 1877. Australia won that match. South Africa played its first Test match in England in 1907 and it also took over Australia. During this period a number of Test playing nations arrived -- West Indies in 1928, New Zealand in 1930, India in 1932, Pakistan in 1952, Sri Lanka in 1982, and Zimbabwe in 1992.

A Test Match is a test of a player's skill and talent of this game. It is played for five straight days, each day for about 6-7 hours. In a Test match each team is limited to two innings. Each day a quota of 90 overs are to be bowled unless badlight or weather causes the play to cease. The side batting first will try to score as many runs as possible to give the opposing side a target to chase. The side bowling first tries to get the other side out quickly so that they can not only achieve the target but also build up a lead for the second innings. The captain of a team may decide to declare his team if he feels they have set a good enough target for the opposition. Most of the Test matches end up in a draw because some teams play for all five days, some play for about 3 days which makes it hard to finish the other innings, and some matches are affected by weather conditions like badlight or rain.

One-day Internationals (ODIs): One-day internationals began in 1971 because of the long boring days of Test matches. One-day matches are exciting because it is faster and a result is always achieved within one day at the end of the match. One-dayers have become a threat to Test matches because of its fast scoring and exciting aspects. The first one-day international match was played between Australia and England at Melbourne on 5 January, 1971. This was a new revolution in cricket, which attracted 46,000 spectators and produced $33,000.

A one-day match is a limited over match. Today one-dayers consist of each side batting for 50 overs. At some point in time it used to be 60 overs. The match goes on for about 8 hours. The team batting first sets a target for the opposing team which will bat on completion of the 50 overs after a half hour to 45 minutes lunch break. Each bowler is allowed to bowl a maximum of 10 overs. If all the 10 players of a team get out before the alloted 50 overs, lunch break is taken and the opposing team bats to chase the target. The team bowling second tries to get all 10 players of the opposing team out before they score one run more than the score the bowling team is defending. Another way that a team can win is by controlling the run rate, meaning that the team bowling second can win by bowling all 50 overs and not letting the opposition score the set target, by controlling the flow of runs, within the 50 overs.

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[Cricket Terms]

Appeal- a claim that a batter has been put out, made by the person making the play. (Umpires will not signal some "outs" unless appealed to, by the appropriate player).

Bowled- an "out" which is achieved by a pitch that hits the batter's sticks, whether or not touched by the bat. Rather like baseball's "strike-out".

Bumper- a ball that is bounced high enough to hit a batter's head or shoulders; cricket's equivalent of the "beanball".

Bye(s)- Run(s) scored on "wild pitches". i.e. when the ball goes past the wicket-keeper/catcher without having been touched by the batter, and runs can be scored (much like "stolen bases on wild piches" in baseball). The runs are added to the team total as "extras", but not credited to batters... nor charged to bowlers.

Caught (out) - An "out" resulting from a hit caught by a fielder in the air, i.e. before touching the ground, like baseball's "pop fly".

Drive- a hit executed by the batter in which he swings the bat in a long arc, much like teeing off at golf, and sends the ball in one of several possible directions.