Cricket is not the most popular sport in the world but it surely has its loyal fans across the globe especially in Australia, India, and England where the sport is played professionally. In fact, cricket and England go hand in hand as cricket was invented in England. Experts agree that the sport has been invented in the woodlands of South East England during Norman or Saxon times. The very first reference of the sport being played was back in 1611.
That same year, dictionaries included cricket and referred to it as a man’s game. Some experts believe that cricket was inspired by bowls. Either way, cricket was played in the middle seventeenth century across England villages. Back then the very first county cricket teams were formed as well while the very first professional cricket game between two county cricket teams was played in 1709. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the sport became one of the most popular sports not only in the smaller south-eastern England counties but also in the capital city of London.
Cricket Returning to the Olympic Games in 2028?
Over one hundred years later, the sport may be finally reintroduced to the Olympic Games. If this happens, cricket betting fans will be able to bet on the most exciting cricket Olympic Games matches via many cricket betting apps that exist today. The campaign to reintroduce the sport to the Olympic Games has officially started.
The International Cricket Council has made its plans quite clear and these include getting the sport back to the Olympic Games. The International Cricket Council in one of its latest reports announced that the plan is to see the sport being part of the Loss Angeles Olympic Games 2028 and forward. If this happens, the sport will be played at the biggest tournament for the first time in one hundred and twenty-eight years.
History of Cricket
However, cricket’s spread was quite limited back then due to various travel restrictions. The sport was slowly becoming more popular in other parts of the country not only among men but also among women. Back in 1745, the very first cricket game between two women teams was played. One year before, the very first cricket laws and rules were written but it was not before 1774 that these laws were finally amended. That same year, the third stump alongside a maximum bat width were included in the Cricket Laws.
Speaking of the first written and amended Cricket Laws, they were written by the prominent cricket team Star and Garter Club and the members of this club will later establish the iconic Marylebone Cricket Club. The Marylebone Cricket Club based at Lord’s Cricket Ground used to be the main governing body of the sport and still has quite an influence in the world of cricket. Back in the day, the Marylebone Cricket Club issued several revisions of the Cricket laws while revisions of the Cricket Law today are determined by the ICC (International Cricket Council).
Back in the early seventeenth century, the game of cricket was finally brought to North America while in the eighteen-century cricket arrived in other parts of the world. In North America, it was introduced by English colonies. In 1788, the sport finally came to Australia while in the early nineteenth century it came to South Africa and New Zealand. Today, cricket is the most popular in Australia, India, England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates.
Cricket at the Sumer Olympic Games 1900
At the Olympic Games, cricket had only one appearance. The sport has been played once at the 1900 Summer Olympic Games that were held in Paris, France. This cricket tournament was played on the 19th and 20th of August and only two teams competed, the national team of France and the national team of Great Britain. The match was played at the Vélodrome de Vincennes. The national team of Great Britain won by one hundred and fifty-eight runs. Ever since then, cricket has not appeared in the Olympics, including the most recent Tokyo Olympics that saw India win medals in other sports.
The national team of France that competed included at least eleven British players with two of them born in France. Originally, national teams of the Netherlands and Belgium were scheduled to appear in a knockout tournament but they decided to withdraw before the tournament started. This left only to teams to compete. The British team included the members of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers while the French team included the members of the French Athletic Club Union.
As previously mentioned, the tournament lasted for two days and the national team of Great Britain won by one hundred and fifty-eight runs. However, neither of the teams was aware of the fact that they just competed in the Summer Olympic Games since the tournament had been promoted as a regular world’s fair match. The gold and silver medals that the teams won were upgraded to Olympic medals in 1912. Cricket teams were supposed to compete at the Summer Olympics 1904 in St. Louis but the tournament was canceled.
