CRICKET AND SPORTS

 cricket was invented in England.

the word 'bat' simply means a stick or a club.

till the middle of the 18th century, bats were roughly the same shape as hockey sticks.

the first written 'laws of cricket' were drawn up in 1744.

stumps must be 22 inches high and the bails 6 inches long.

the ball must weigh from 5 to 6 ounces .

no limit on shape or size of the bat.

the world's first cricket club was formed in Hambledon in 1760s.

the Marylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787.

in 1788, the MCC published its first revision of laws and became guardian of cricket regulations.

after the MCC revision of laws, weight of ball was limited from 5.5 to 5.75 ounces the width of the bat was limited to 4 inches.

in 1774, the first Leg-Before law was published and 3 days had become the length of a major match.

the rich who could afford to play it for pleasure were called amateurs and those who played it for a living were called professionals.

amateurs were called gentlemen while professionals had to be content with being described as players. They even entered the ground from different entrances.

amateurs tended to be batsmen while professional were given the hard working part of being a bowler.

this is partly why cricket gives benefit of doubt to batsman.

the social superiority of the amateur was also  the reason the captain of a team was traditionally a batsmen.

Eton was one of the most famous public schools.

it is often said that ''battle of waterloo was won on the fields of Eton.''

The first record of cricket being played in india in 1721.

india's first cricket club , the Calcutta Cricket Club, was established in 1792.

the first indian community to play cricket were the parsis.

the Oriental Club of Bombay was established in 1848.

Ranji trophy was earlier called national cricket championship.

india entered the world of test cricket in 1932.

the first test was played between england and australia.

in 1971, the first ODI was played between england and australia at Melbourne.

Kerry packer was behind the idea of casting cricket in television and saw its money making potential.

the ICC headquarters have been shifted from London to Dubai.

among its ancestors, hockey can count the swedish game called shinty, the englis and the welsh game called Bandy and Irish Hurling.

the first hockey club was started in Calcutta in 1885-86.

India was represented in hockey games in olympics for the first time in 1928.in the finals, India defeated Holland by 3-0

2 other gold medals in hockey for India came in 1964 Tokyo olympics and 1980 Moscow olympics.