Page 1 History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 139 SECTION III Section III will introduce you to the history of everyday life. In this section you will read about the history of sports and clothing. History is not just about the dramatic events in the world. It is equally about the small things in our lives. Everything around us has a history ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we hear, the medicines we use, the literature we read, the games we play. All these have evolved over time. Since we relate to them in our daily lives, their history escapes us. We never pause to think what things were like a century ago; or how people in different societies see these everyday things ? food and clothing for instance ? differently. Chapter VII is on History and Sports. You will study this history through the story of one game that in India has captured the imagination of the nation for some decades. News of cricket today hits the headline of newspapers. Cricket matches are organised to establish friendship between nations and cricketers are seen as ambassadors of the country. The game has, in fact, come to represent the unity of India. But did you know that this was not always so? This chapter will tell you about the long and chequered history of the game. At one time, a century and half ago, cricket was an English game. It had been invented in England and became intimately linked to the culture of nineteenth century Victorian society. The game was expected to represent all that the English valued ? fair play, discipline, gentlemanliness. It was introduced in schools as part of a wider programme of physical training through which boys were to be moulded into ideal citizens. Girls were not to play games meant for boys. With the British, cricket spread to the colonies. There again it was supposed to uphold the values of Englishness. EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS Page 2 History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 139 SECTION III Section III will introduce you to the history of everyday life. In this section you will read about the history of sports and clothing. History is not just about the dramatic events in the world. It is equally about the small things in our lives. Everything around us has a history ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we hear, the medicines we use, the literature we read, the games we play. All these have evolved over time. Since we relate to them in our daily lives, their history escapes us. We never pause to think what things were like a century ago; or how people in different societies see these everyday things ? food and clothing for instance ? differently. Chapter VII is on History and Sports. You will study this history through the story of one game that in India has captured the imagination of the nation for some decades. News of cricket today hits the headline of newspapers. Cricket matches are organised to establish friendship between nations and cricketers are seen as ambassadors of the country. The game has, in fact, come to represent the unity of India. But did you know that this was not always so? This chapter will tell you about the long and chequered history of the game. At one time, a century and half ago, cricket was an English game. It had been invented in England and became intimately linked to the culture of nineteenth century Victorian society. The game was expected to represent all that the English valued ? fair play, discipline, gentlemanliness. It was introduced in schools as part of a wider programme of physical training through which boys were to be moulded into ideal citizens. Girls were not to play games meant for boys. With the British, cricket spread to the colonies. There again it was supposed to uphold the values of Englishness. EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS India and the Contemporary World 140 The colonial masters assumed that only they could play the game as it ought to be played, in its true spirit. They were, in fact, worried when the inhabitants of the colonies not only began to play the game, but often played it better than the masters; and at times beat the English at their own game. The game of cricket thus got linked up closely with the politics of colonialism and nationalism. Within the colonies the game had a complex history. As Chapter VII will show, it was connected to the politics of caste and region, community and nation. The emergence of cricket as a national game was the result of many decades of historical development. From cricket you will move to clothing (Chapter VIII). You will see how a history of clothing can tell us so much about the history of societies. The clothes people wear are shaped by the rules and norms of societies. They reflect people?s sense of beauty and honour, their notions of proper conduct and behavior. As societies change, these norms alter. But these changes in the norms of society and styles of clothing come about as a consequence of long years of struggle. They have a history. They do not just happen naturally. Chapter VIII will introduce you to this history. It will show how the shifts in clothing in England and India were shaped by the social movements within these societies, and by changes within the economy. You will see how clothing too, is deeply connected to the politics of colonialism and nationalism, caste and class. A look at the history of clothing helps us discover new layers of meaning in the politics of Swadeshi and the symbol of the charkha. It even helps us understand Mahatma Gandhi better, for he was one individual who was highly sensitive to the politics of clothing, and wrote extensively on it. Once you see the history behind one or two such issues, you may begin to ask historical questions about other such aspects of ordinary life which you have taken for granted. Page 3 History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 139 SECTION III Section III will introduce you to the history of everyday life. In this section you will read about the history of sports and clothing. History is not just about the dramatic events in the world. It is equally about the small things in our lives. Everything around us has a history ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we hear, the medicines we use, the literature we read, the games we play. All these have evolved over time. Since we relate to them in our daily lives, their history escapes us. We never pause to think what things were like a century ago; or how people in different societies see these everyday things ? food and clothing for instance ? differently. Chapter VII is on History and Sports. You will study this history through the story of one game that in India has captured the imagination of the nation for some decades. News of cricket today hits the headline of newspapers. Cricket matches are organised to establish friendship between nations and cricketers are seen as ambassadors of the country. The game has, in fact, come to represent the unity of India. But did you know that this was not always so? This chapter will tell you about the long and chequered history of the game. At one time, a century and half ago, cricket was an English game. It had been invented in England and became intimately linked to the culture of nineteenth century Victorian society. The game was expected to represent all that the English valued ? fair play, discipline, gentlemanliness. It was introduced in schools as part of a wider programme of physical training through which boys were to be moulded into ideal citizens. Girls were not to play games meant for boys. With the British, cricket spread to the colonies. There again it was supposed to uphold the values of Englishness. EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS India and the Contemporary World 140 The colonial masters assumed that only they could play the game as it ought to be played, in its true spirit. They were, in fact, worried when the inhabitants of the colonies not only began to play the game, but often played it better than the masters; and at times beat the English at their own game. The game of cricket thus got linked up closely with the politics of colonialism and nationalism. Within the colonies the game had a complex history. As Chapter VII will show, it was connected to the politics of caste and region, community and nation. The emergence of cricket as a national game was the result of many decades of historical development. From cricket you will move to clothing (Chapter VIII). You will see how a history of clothing can tell us so much about the history of societies. The clothes people wear are shaped by the rules and norms of societies. They reflect people?s sense of beauty and honour, their notions of proper conduct and behavior. As societies change, these norms alter. But these changes in the norms of society and styles of clothing come about as a consequence of long years of struggle. They have a history. They do not just happen naturally. Chapter VIII will introduce you to this history. It will show how the shifts in clothing in England and India were shaped by the social movements within these societies, and by changes within the economy. You will see how clothing too, is deeply connected to the politics of colonialism and nationalism, caste and class. A look at the history of clothing helps us discover new layers of meaning in the politics of Swadeshi and the symbol of the charkha. It even helps us understand Mahatma Gandhi better, for he was one individual who was highly sensitive to the politics of clothing, and wrote extensively on it. Once you see the history behind one or two such issues, you may begin to ask historical questions about other such aspects of ordinary life which you have taken for granted. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 141 Cricket grew out of the many stick-and-ball games played in England 500 years ago, under a variety of different rules. The word ?bat? is an old English wor d that simply means stick or club . By the seventeenth century, cricket had evolved enough to be recognisable as a distinct game and it was popular enough for its fans to be fined for playing it on Sunday instead of going to church. Till the middle of the eighteenth centur y , bats were roughly the same shape as hockey sticks, curving outwards at the bottom. Ther e was a simple reason f or this: the ball w as bo wled under ar m, along the ground and the curve at the end of the bat gave the batsman the best chance of making contact. How that early version of cricket played in village England grew into the modern game played in giant stadiums in great cities is a proper subject for history because one of the uses of history is to understand how the present was made. And sport is a large part of contemporary life: it is one way in which we amuse ourselves, compete with each other, stay fit, and express our social loyalties. If tens of millions of Indians today drop everything to watch the Indian team play a Test match or a one-day international, it is reasonable for a history of India to explore how that stick-and-ball game invented in south-eastern England became the ruling passion of the Indian sub-continent. This is particularly so, since the game was linked to the wider history of colonialism and nationalism and was in part shaped by the politics of religion and caste. Our history of cricket will look first at the evolution of cricket as a game in England, and discuss the wider culture of physical training and athleticism of the time. It will then move to India, discuss the history of the adoption of cricket in this country, and trace the modern transformation of the game. In each of these sections we will see how the history of the game was connected to the social history of the time. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket Fig.1 ? The oldest cricket bat in existence. Note the curved end, similar to a hockey stick. Fig.2 ? An artist?s sketch of the cricket ground at Lord?s in England in 1821. Chapter VII Page 4 History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 139 SECTION III Section III will introduce you to the history of everyday life. In this section you will read about the history of sports and clothing. History is not just about the dramatic events in the world. It is equally about the small things in our lives. Everything around us has a history ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we hear, the medicines we use, the literature we read, the games we play. All these have evolved over time. Since we relate to them in our daily lives, their history escapes us. We never pause to think what things were like a century ago; or how people in different societies see these everyday things ? food and clothing for instance ? differently. Chapter VII is on History and Sports. You will study this history through the story of one game that in India has captured the imagination of the nation for some decades. News of cricket today hits the headline of newspapers. Cricket matches are organised to establish friendship between nations and cricketers are seen as ambassadors of the country. The game has, in fact, come to represent the unity of India. But did you know that this was not always so? This chapter will tell you about the long and chequered history of the game. At one time, a century and half ago, cricket was an English game. It had been invented in England and became intimately linked to the culture of nineteenth century Victorian society. The game was expected to represent all that the English valued ? fair play, discipline, gentlemanliness. It was introduced in schools as part of a wider programme of physical training through which boys were to be moulded into ideal citizens. Girls were not to play games meant for boys. With the British, cricket spread to the colonies. There again it was supposed to uphold the values of Englishness. EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS India and the Contemporary World 140 The colonial masters assumed that only they could play the game as it ought to be played, in its true spirit. They were, in fact, worried when the inhabitants of the colonies not only began to play the game, but often played it better than the masters; and at times beat the English at their own game. The game of cricket thus got linked up closely with the politics of colonialism and nationalism. Within the colonies the game had a complex history. As Chapter VII will show, it was connected to the politics of caste and region, community and nation. The emergence of cricket as a national game was the result of many decades of historical development. From cricket you will move to clothing (Chapter VIII). You will see how a history of clothing can tell us so much about the history of societies. The clothes people wear are shaped by the rules and norms of societies. They reflect people?s sense of beauty and honour, their notions of proper conduct and behavior. As societies change, these norms alter. But these changes in the norms of society and styles of clothing come about as a consequence of long years of struggle. They have a history. They do not just happen naturally. Chapter VIII will introduce you to this history. It will show how the shifts in clothing in England and India were shaped by the social movements within these societies, and by changes within the economy. You will see how clothing too, is deeply connected to the politics of colonialism and nationalism, caste and class. A look at the history of clothing helps us discover new layers of meaning in the politics of Swadeshi and the symbol of the charkha. It even helps us understand Mahatma Gandhi better, for he was one individual who was highly sensitive to the politics of clothing, and wrote extensively on it. Once you see the history behind one or two such issues, you may begin to ask historical questions about other such aspects of ordinary life which you have taken for granted. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 141 Cricket grew out of the many stick-and-ball games played in England 500 years ago, under a variety of different rules. The word ?bat? is an old English wor d that simply means stick or club . By the seventeenth century, cricket had evolved enough to be recognisable as a distinct game and it was popular enough for its fans to be fined for playing it on Sunday instead of going to church. Till the middle of the eighteenth centur y , bats were roughly the same shape as hockey sticks, curving outwards at the bottom. Ther e was a simple reason f or this: the ball w as bo wled under ar m, along the ground and the curve at the end of the bat gave the batsman the best chance of making contact. How that early version of cricket played in village England grew into the modern game played in giant stadiums in great cities is a proper subject for history because one of the uses of history is to understand how the present was made. And sport is a large part of contemporary life: it is one way in which we amuse ourselves, compete with each other, stay fit, and express our social loyalties. If tens of millions of Indians today drop everything to watch the Indian team play a Test match or a one-day international, it is reasonable for a history of India to explore how that stick-and-ball game invented in south-eastern England became the ruling passion of the Indian sub-continent. This is particularly so, since the game was linked to the wider history of colonialism and nationalism and was in part shaped by the politics of religion and caste. Our history of cricket will look first at the evolution of cricket as a game in England, and discuss the wider culture of physical training and athleticism of the time. It will then move to India, discuss the history of the adoption of cricket in this country, and trace the modern transformation of the game. In each of these sections we will see how the history of the game was connected to the social history of the time. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket Fig.1 ? The oldest cricket bat in existence. Note the curved end, similar to a hockey stick. Fig.2 ? An artist?s sketch of the cricket ground at Lord?s in England in 1821. Chapter VII India and the Contemporary World 142 The social and economic history of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, cricket?s early years, shaped the game and gave cricket its unique nature. For example, one of the peculiarities of Test cricket is that a match can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern team sport takes even half as much time to complete. A football match is generally over in an hour-and-a-half of playing time. Even baseball, a long-drawn-out bat-and-ball game by the standards of modern sport, completes nine innings in less than half the time that it takes to play a limited-overs match, the shortened version of modern cricket! Another curious characteristic of cricket is that the length of the pitch is specified ? 22 yards ? but the size or shape of the ground is not. Most other team sports, such as hockey and football lay down the dimensions of the playing area: cricket does not. Grounds can be oval like the Adelaide Oval or nearly circular, like Chepauk in Chennai. A six at the Melbourne Cricket Ground needs to clear much more ground than a lofted shot for the same reward at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. There?s a historical reason behind both these oddities. Cricket was the earliest modern team sport to be codified, which is another way of saying that cricket gave itself rules and regulations so that it could be played in a uniform and standardised way well before team games like soccer and hockey. The first written ?Laws of Cricket? were drawn up in 1744. They stated, ?the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The stumps must be 22 inches high and the bail across them six inches. The ball must be between 5 and 6 ounces, and the two sets of stumps 22 yards apart?. There were no limits on the shape or size of the bat. It appears that 40 notches or runs was viewed as a very big score, probably due to the bowlers bowling quickly at shins unprotected by pads. The world?s first cricket club was formed in Hambledon in the 1760s 1 1 1 1 1 The The The The The H H H H Historical istorical istorical istorical istorical D D D D Development of evelopment of evelopment of evelopment of evelopment of C C C C Cricket ricket ricket ricket ricket as a as a as a as a as a G G G G Game in England ame in England ame in England ame in England ame in England Fig.3 ? The pavilion of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1874. Page 5 History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 139 SECTION III Section III will introduce you to the history of everyday life. In this section you will read about the history of sports and clothing. History is not just about the dramatic events in the world. It is equally about the small things in our lives. Everything around us has a history ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we hear, the medicines we use, the literature we read, the games we play. All these have evolved over time. Since we relate to them in our daily lives, their history escapes us. We never pause to think what things were like a century ago; or how people in different societies see these everyday things ? food and clothing for instance ? differently. Chapter VII is on History and Sports. You will study this history through the story of one game that in India has captured the imagination of the nation for some decades. News of cricket today hits the headline of newspapers. Cricket matches are organised to establish friendship between nations and cricketers are seen as ambassadors of the country. The game has, in fact, come to represent the unity of India. But did you know that this was not always so? This chapter will tell you about the long and chequered history of the game. At one time, a century and half ago, cricket was an English game. It had been invented in England and became intimately linked to the culture of nineteenth century Victorian society. The game was expected to represent all that the English valued ? fair play, discipline, gentlemanliness. It was introduced in schools as part of a wider programme of physical training through which boys were to be moulded into ideal citizens. Girls were not to play games meant for boys. With the British, cricket spread to the colonies. There again it was supposed to uphold the values of Englishness. EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS EVERYDAY LIFE, CULTURE AND POLITICS India and the Contemporary World 140 The colonial masters assumed that only they could play the game as it ought to be played, in its true spirit. They were, in fact, worried when the inhabitants of the colonies not only began to play the game, but often played it better than the masters; and at times beat the English at their own game. The game of cricket thus got linked up closely with the politics of colonialism and nationalism. Within the colonies the game had a complex history. As Chapter VII will show, it was connected to the politics of caste and region, community and nation. The emergence of cricket as a national game was the result of many decades of historical development. From cricket you will move to clothing (Chapter VIII). You will see how a history of clothing can tell us so much about the history of societies. The clothes people wear are shaped by the rules and norms of societies. They reflect people?s sense of beauty and honour, their notions of proper conduct and behavior. As societies change, these norms alter. But these changes in the norms of society and styles of clothing come about as a consequence of long years of struggle. They have a history. They do not just happen naturally. Chapter VIII will introduce you to this history. It will show how the shifts in clothing in England and India were shaped by the social movements within these societies, and by changes within the economy. You will see how clothing too, is deeply connected to the politics of colonialism and nationalism, caste and class. A look at the history of clothing helps us discover new layers of meaning in the politics of Swadeshi and the symbol of the charkha. It even helps us understand Mahatma Gandhi better, for he was one individual who was highly sensitive to the politics of clothing, and wrote extensively on it. Once you see the history behind one or two such issues, you may begin to ask historical questions about other such aspects of ordinary life which you have taken for granted. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 141 Cricket grew out of the many stick-and-ball games played in England 500 years ago, under a variety of different rules. The word ?bat? is an old English wor d that simply means stick or club . By the seventeenth century, cricket had evolved enough to be recognisable as a distinct game and it was popular enough for its fans to be fined for playing it on Sunday instead of going to church. Till the middle of the eighteenth centur y , bats were roughly the same shape as hockey sticks, curving outwards at the bottom. Ther e was a simple reason f or this: the ball w as bo wled under ar m, along the ground and the curve at the end of the bat gave the batsman the best chance of making contact. How that early version of cricket played in village England grew into the modern game played in giant stadiums in great cities is a proper subject for history because one of the uses of history is to understand how the present was made. And sport is a large part of contemporary life: it is one way in which we amuse ourselves, compete with each other, stay fit, and express our social loyalties. If tens of millions of Indians today drop everything to watch the Indian team play a Test match or a one-day international, it is reasonable for a history of India to explore how that stick-and-ball game invented in south-eastern England became the ruling passion of the Indian sub-continent. This is particularly so, since the game was linked to the wider history of colonialism and nationalism and was in part shaped by the politics of religion and caste. Our history of cricket will look first at the evolution of cricket as a game in England, and discuss the wider culture of physical training and athleticism of the time. It will then move to India, discuss the history of the adoption of cricket in this country, and trace the modern transformation of the game. In each of these sections we will see how the history of the game was connected to the social history of the time. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: History and Sport: The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket The Story of Cricket Fig.1 ? The oldest cricket bat in existence. Note the curved end, similar to a hockey stick. Fig.2 ? An artist?s sketch of the cricket ground at Lord?s in England in 1821. Chapter VII India and the Contemporary World 142 The social and economic history of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, cricket?s early years, shaped the game and gave cricket its unique nature. For example, one of the peculiarities of Test cricket is that a match can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern team sport takes even half as much time to complete. A football match is generally over in an hour-and-a-half of playing time. Even baseball, a long-drawn-out bat-and-ball game by the standards of modern sport, completes nine innings in less than half the time that it takes to play a limited-overs match, the shortened version of modern cricket! Another curious characteristic of cricket is that the length of the pitch is specified ? 22 yards ? but the size or shape of the ground is not. Most other team sports, such as hockey and football lay down the dimensions of the playing area: cricket does not. Grounds can be oval like the Adelaide Oval or nearly circular, like Chepauk in Chennai. A six at the Melbourne Cricket Ground needs to clear much more ground than a lofted shot for the same reward at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. There?s a historical reason behind both these oddities. Cricket was the earliest modern team sport to be codified, which is another way of saying that cricket gave itself rules and regulations so that it could be played in a uniform and standardised way well before team games like soccer and hockey. The first written ?Laws of Cricket? were drawn up in 1744. They stated, ?the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The stumps must be 22 inches high and the bail across them six inches. The ball must be between 5 and 6 ounces, and the two sets of stumps 22 yards apart?. There were no limits on the shape or size of the bat. It appears that 40 notches or runs was viewed as a very big score, probably due to the bowlers bowling quickly at shins unprotected by pads. The world?s first cricket club was formed in Hambledon in the 1760s 1 1 1 1 1 The The The The The H H H H Historical istorical istorical istorical istorical D D D D Development of evelopment of evelopment of evelopment of evelopment of C C C C Cricket ricket ricket ricket ricket as a as a as a as a as a G G G G Game in England ame in England ame in England ame in England ame in England Fig.3 ? The pavilion of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1874. History and Sport: The Story of Cricket 143 and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787. In 1788, the MCC published its first revision of the laws and became the guardian of cricket?s regulations. The MCC?s revision of the laws brought in a series of changes in the game that occurred in the second half of the eighteenth century. During the 1760s and 1770s it became common to pitch the ball through the air, rather than roll it along the ground. This change gave bowlers the options of length, deception through the air, plus increased pace. It also opened new possibilities for spin and swing. In response, batsmen had to master timing and shot selection. One immediate result was the replacement of the curved bat with the straight one. All of this raised the premium on skill and reduced the influence of rough ground and brute force. The weight of the ball was limited to between 5½ to 5¾ ounces, and the width of the bat to four inches. The latter ruling followed an innings by a batsman who appeared with a bat as wide as the wicket! In 1774, the first leg-before law was published. Also around this time, a third stump became common. By 1780, three days had become the length of a major match, and this year also saw the creation of the first six-seam cricket ball. While many important changes occurred during the nineteenth century (the rule about wide balls was applied, the exact circumference of the ball was specified, protective equipment like pads and gloves became available, boundaries were introduced where previously all shots had to be run and, most importantly, over- arm bowling became legal) cricket remained a pre-industrial sport that matured during the early phase of the Industrial Revolution, the late eighteenth century. This history has made cricket a game with characteristics of both the past and the present day. Cricket?s connection with a rural past can be seen in the length of a Test match. Originally, cricket matches had no time limit. The game went on for as long as it took to bowl out a side twice. The rhythms of village life were slower and cricket?s rules were made before the Industrial Revolution. Modern factory work meant that people were paid by the hour or the day or the week: games that were codified after the industrial revolution, like football and hockey, were strictly time-limited to fit the routines of industrial city life. In the same way, cricket?s vagueness about the size of a cricket ground is a result of its village origins. Cricket was originally played New words Codified ? Made into a formalised system with clearly established rules and laws Fig.4 ? The laws of cricket drawn up and revised by the MCC were regularly published in this form. Note that norms of betting were also formalised.Read More
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