As Test match cricket enjoys a resurgence of interest, thanks in no small part to Lancashire’s Andrew Flintoff and the unforgettable series against Australia in 2005, what better time to take a closer look at this inimitable game?
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As Test match cricket enjoys a resurgence of interest, thanks in no small part to Lancashire’s Andrew Flintoff and the unforgettable series against Australia in 2005, what better time to take a closer look at this inimitable game?
Cricket, as Geoff Tibballs points out in this coruscating cricketing cornucopia, is such a quintessentially English game and one ironically so ill-suited to the weather of a quintessentially English summer.
Many foreigners find it difficult to see the point of a game which you can play for five days and still not get a result, but that would be to miss the point.
From its earliest beginnings in a game called ‘creag’ played in Kent in the 14th century and banned by Edward III who wanted his archers to practise without any sporting distraction, cricket has appealed to the whole spectrum of English society.
From the humble blacksmith to the lord of the manor and from Mick Jagger to John Major, cricket is part of the fabric of English society.
And no sport has a more fascinating background than this elegant game of skill, grace and tactics which has seen many developments over the centuries and yet whose spirit has remained largely unchanged.
Its long-established and distinguished position in the annals of sporting history has awarded it a special place in the hearts of its followers and continues to baffle those not familiar with its intricacies and peculiarities.
The word cricket derives from the Anglo-Saxon word cric, meaning a staff or crutch, giving us a game played with a lo