A short history of cricket, from 1598 to 2008

Cricket has a written history of about 450 years. These are the dates that explain how it became what we watch today.

Before 1700

The earliest accepted reference is a 1598 court case in Guildford about common land. A coroner testified that he had played "creckett" there around 1550. After the English Civil War, the Puritan government clamped down on some sports, though cricket still flourished in fee-paying schools such as Winchester.

1700s: laws and clubs

• 1744: the Laws of Cricket were written down for the first time, then amended in 1774 with lbw, the middle stump and a maximum bat width.
• 1760s: Hambledon club in Hampshire becomes the focal point of the game.
• 1787: the Marylebone Cricket Club forms and Lord's opens.

1800s: going international

The game was organised around county clubs in the 1800s. Sussex came first in 1839, and all the modern county clubs were founded in that century. In 1846 William Clarke created the travelling All-England Eleven, a commercial side that took matches around the country. In 1864 overarm bowling was legalised, and the first Wisden Cricketers' Almanack came out the same year. W. G. Grace began his career at about that time and did a lot to make the sport popular.

The first international match, in 1844, was between club teams from the United States and Canada, played in New York. In 1877 an England team in Australia played two matches that are now counted as the first Tests. In 1882, Australia's win at The Oval gave rise to the Ashes.

1900s: governing bodies and new formats

• 1909: the Imperial Cricket Conference, now the ICC, is founded by England, Australia and South Africa.
• 1932: India play their first Test (their story).
• 1971: the first limited-overs international at the MCG, played as a time-filler after a Test was rained off.
• 1979/80: six-ball overs become the standard in Australia and New Zealand, after eight-ball overs had been used there at times.

How the international game widened

The ICC created Affiliate Member status in 1984 for teams with less history in the game, and renamed itself the International Cricket Council in 1989. Zimbabwe became a Full Member in 1992 and Bangladesh in 2000. Afghanistan and Ireland were both admitted as Test teams in 2018. In 1992 the third umpire arrived, first used for run-out decisions in the South Africa v India series, and his role has grown to cover stumpings, catches, boundaries and reviews of on-field decisions. The ICC introduced a Test Championship table in June 2001 and a one-day international table in October 2002.

2000s to now

T20 begins in 2003, the first T20 World Cup follows in 2007 and the IPL starts in 2008. For what changed since, see recent developments.

Source: History of cricket (Wikipedia).