Throughout the history of cricket there have been those that were special, who were slightly different to their fellow cricketers and made the crowd sit up whenever they arrived on the pitch. Of course every game has it's hero's and cricket is no exception. And every nation has it's own cricketing legends that they believe were better than those of other teams. These are the ones that they like to think of as the role models for their cricketers so that they will, one day, regain past (or present) glories.
Imran Kahn is a great Pakistani cricketer who played at the highest level for over twenty years from his debut in 1971. He was a great all rounder who led the Pakistan team to their first world cup just before he retired. Always elegant in both action and speech he is one of the best all rounders that the game has ever had. He is now a politician in Pakistan and the leader of a major political party. He played in 88 tests with a batting average of 37.69. He took 362 wickets with a bowling average of 22.81
Shane Warne is an Australian spin bowler who is one of, if not the, greatest spin bowler the game has ever seen. He was born in 1969 in Victoria and has played test cricket since 1990. He has taken more test wickets than any other player in history. He was also the first player to take more than 600 test wickets. He has played in 140 tests and has taken 685 wickets with a bowling average of 25.25.
Gary Sobers was a highly talented cricketer who was born in Barbados in 1936. He played 93 tests for the West Indies and scored an impressive 8032 runs. He had a batting average of 57.778. He was also a very good slow left arm bowler, taking 235 test wickets, with an average of 34.03. He is best known for being the first batsman ever to score six sixes in one over in 1968 in a first class cricket match while playing for Notts against Glamorgan.
Ian Botham was a great English all rounder. He was the scourge of bowlers with his prodigious batting ability and he was just as adept as a fast medium paced bowler. He was born in Cheshire in 1955 and played mainly for Somerset. He was very much a true all rounder as he was as good at bowling as batting. He played in 102 test matches and scored 5200 runs, with an average of 33.34. He took 383 wickets and had an average of 28.40.
WG Grace is thought by many to be the most influential cricketer the game has ever seen. He was born in 1848 at a time when cricket was not the massive sport that it is today. He is one of the reasons, with his great batting ability, that the reason became so popular. When he was out first ball at a match once, he refused to go telling the umpire that "the crowd are there to watch me bat and not to watch you umpire!". There were not many test matches then so he played only 22 and scored 1098 runs with an average of 32.29. He took 9 wickets with an average of 26.22. This average is low even though he was playing into his late fifties!
Allan Border was born in 1955 in Sydney and was the Australian captain. He still has the world record for the greatest number of uninterrupted test matches. He also had the record, at the time, for the most runs in test matches at 11174 in 156 tests. He was also one of the most prolific hitters of centuries with 27 in test matches. He also took 39 wickets with an average of 39.10.
Shaun Pollock is a South African medium fast bowler who is well know for his accuracy and reliability. He is also a very good batsman who has scored 3406 runs in 100 test matches with an average of 31.24. He has taken 395 wickets at a average of 23.25. He is South Africas most prodigious wicket taker in both one day international and test matches.
Viv Richards, is one of the all time greats of West Indian cricket. He was a very successful captain to one of the best West Indian sides ever. He was a powerful batsman and scored an average of 50.23, scoring 8450 runs in 121 matches. He only lost 8 matches in the 50 that he captained.
Don Bradman was born in 1908 in New South Wales and was not only the best Australian but is thought, by many, to be the best batsman of all time. His batting skill was so good that the England cricket team in the 1928-1929 tests resorted to bowling at the batsmen rather than the wickets in order to try to win. This was known as the bodyline series. The dispute from this was so bad that it was nearly a diplomatic dispute between England and Australia. He played in 52 tests and scored 6996 runs so he had an incredible average of 99.94. These statistics make him the best batsman ever.
There are many great players in test cricket and also at the club level and the one guarantee is that there will be many more. If the players of the past are anything to go by, then there are some great games yet and some great players as well.
Showing posts with label cricket history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cricket history. Show all posts
Cricket History
Cricket is a very old game that is steeped in tradition. The earlier types of cricket go back to at least the thirteenth century and the roots of the game can be traced back to the south of England. It seems to have been popular among the families of farmers in the south east. A game that seems to be similar was even mentioned as early as thirteen hundred, although it is not sure that this was cricket. However, the first known reference to the name cricket was made in the late sixteenth century in the south of England. This was at a school where the game was being played.
The origin of the name "cricket" is not actually known, but there are many possible sources for the name. One of the most popular ideas is ththat it is from the French language. The word could even be from the french word criqet which means bat. Although there are also Flemish and Old English contenders for the title. Actually even the french word criqet is originally from the Flemish. So it is not really possible to say exactly where the name cricket is from, but it has been around since at least the end of the sixteenth century.
In the year sixteen hundred the game of cricket was first brought to India by the east India Company. During the seventeenth century the game became more and more popular in the south east of England and it was played by a lot more people at this time as there are numerous references to the game during the seventeenth century. After a while it was played in a more formal fashion in the later part of this century. It is even thought that there might have been professional players at this time. It is certain that some of these games were played for large amounts of money and there was a lot of gambling on the matches that were being played in the seventeenth century. This is also when the number of players was established at eleven on each side. This is a time that was very important for the game as it was when it really became the early prototype of the game that it is today, although the bowling technique had not yet been formalised.
During the eighteenth century there were more and more references to the game and it was much more widespread at this time. There were numerous references to the game being played and there were stories of very high stakes being bet on the games. It also became a much more popular spectator game with large crowds watching matches and more formal games being arranged. Lords cricket club in London was established in 1787 as the home of cricket. It is still one of the most important and traditional clubs in cricket today. It is the home of the MCC who are the official holders of the rules of cricket.
In the nineteenth century the cricket became more like the game it is today with the start of overarm bowling. This made the game a lot better as it was more accurate and made it much more interesting to watch. In the mid nineteenth century, the first overseas tour was to America and it was then followed some years later by a tour to Australia to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 1864 the great cricketer WG Grace began playing cricket. He was to influence the game more than any other single person. He was a doctor and continued to practice when he was not playing the game. He played at the top level for over forty years. He scored over one thousand two hundred runs in the year 1902 when he was fifty four. He was a very domineering character and was well known for arguing with the umpires when he did not like their decisions. In the mid twentieth century, the crowds got to see the greatest batsmen that ever lived, the Australian Don Bradman. He was so good that the England team resorted to very direct tactics in the "bodyline series", where they bowled for at the man instead of the wicket in an attempt to beat the Australian team. This was so controversial that it led to strained diplomatic relations between England and Australia until the start of the second world war.
In the sixties the game changed as limited over matches were played and made the game much more accessible to many more people. This started the one day internationals and the first one was played in 1971. The game became even more accessible in the year 2000s with the start of Twenty20 cricket. This is where each team has a maximum of twenty overs and makes the game much faster and it generally lasts for no more than 3 hours. Even today the game continues to change and gets better and it is likely to carry on that way.
The origin of the name "cricket" is not actually known, but there are many possible sources for the name. One of the most popular ideas is ththat it is from the French language. The word could even be from the french word criqet which means bat. Although there are also Flemish and Old English contenders for the title. Actually even the french word criqet is originally from the Flemish. So it is not really possible to say exactly where the name cricket is from, but it has been around since at least the end of the sixteenth century.
In the year sixteen hundred the game of cricket was first brought to India by the east India Company. During the seventeenth century the game became more and more popular in the south east of England and it was played by a lot more people at this time as there are numerous references to the game during the seventeenth century. After a while it was played in a more formal fashion in the later part of this century. It is even thought that there might have been professional players at this time. It is certain that some of these games were played for large amounts of money and there was a lot of gambling on the matches that were being played in the seventeenth century. This is also when the number of players was established at eleven on each side. This is a time that was very important for the game as it was when it really became the early prototype of the game that it is today, although the bowling technique had not yet been formalised.
During the eighteenth century there were more and more references to the game and it was much more widespread at this time. There were numerous references to the game being played and there were stories of very high stakes being bet on the games. It also became a much more popular spectator game with large crowds watching matches and more formal games being arranged. Lords cricket club in London was established in 1787 as the home of cricket. It is still one of the most important and traditional clubs in cricket today. It is the home of the MCC who are the official holders of the rules of cricket.
In the nineteenth century the cricket became more like the game it is today with the start of overarm bowling. This made the game a lot better as it was more accurate and made it much more interesting to watch. In the mid nineteenth century, the first overseas tour was to America and it was then followed some years later by a tour to Australia to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 1864 the great cricketer WG Grace began playing cricket. He was to influence the game more than any other single person. He was a doctor and continued to practice when he was not playing the game. He played at the top level for over forty years. He scored over one thousand two hundred runs in the year 1902 when he was fifty four. He was a very domineering character and was well known for arguing with the umpires when he did not like their decisions. In the mid twentieth century, the crowds got to see the greatest batsmen that ever lived, the Australian Don Bradman. He was so good that the England team resorted to very direct tactics in the "bodyline series", where they bowled for at the man instead of the wicket in an attempt to beat the Australian team. This was so controversial that it led to strained diplomatic relations between England and Australia until the start of the second world war.
In the sixties the game changed as limited over matches were played and made the game much more accessible to many more people. This started the one day internationals and the first one was played in 1971. The game became even more accessible in the year 2000s with the start of Twenty20 cricket. This is where each team has a maximum of twenty overs and makes the game much faster and it generally lasts for no more than 3 hours. Even today the game continues to change and gets better and it is likely to carry on that way.
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