Even in pre-historic times the game of cricket was played in some form or the other. It's said to originate with one player throwing a ball-like object at a stool or similar item, while another player, standing in front of it, tried to fend the ball off from hitting the target with his hand. Other players stood around waiting for their turns either to defend or attack the stool.

At a later stage, players were divided into two groups or sides. While one side tried to defend the wicket, the other stood around to assist the bowler to recover the ball when struck away. In this way, fielding began and with it the practice of counting runs, when the striker hit the ball and ran to and from an appointed mark. The individual or side that scored greater number of runs was the winner, as it is today.

A later development was the introduction of a piece of wood, the crooked form of a bat, instead of the hand to hit the ball with. So the essentials of the modern game, i.e. bat, ball and a wicket were all present. It became an accepted rule that if the ball hit the stool or wicket the striker was out, as he was if caught by a fieldsman before the ball touched the ground.

The next change was the replacement of the stool by a single stick or stump placed behind a round hole. The hole played an important part because the batsman was obliged to put his bat into it each time he took a run. Similarly if the ball was placed into the hole when the batsman was out of his ground, he was declared 'out'. The concept of hitting or uprooting the stump to claim a 'run-out' did not exist then.

The further development was to enlarge the size of the target by pitching two stumps with a cross piece of wood placed on top but the hole in front of them was retained. The next move was to do away with the hole replacing it with a line in front of the wicket, the origin of the popping crease of today. Three sticks were then substituted for two and two cross pieces known as bails were placed on top of them, the whole apparatus forming the wicket.

After some time the size of the wickets was standardised and remained unchanged until World War I. Then, in order to assist the bowlers who were finding it difficult to dismiss the batsmen, it was enlarged further. The principle of pitching the three stumps sufficiently close to prevent the ball going through was, however, maintained.

It may be interesting to know that in the late 70s we discovered a Gandhara Art statue picture from Lord Buddha's era in the archives of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) then BCCP. The statue depicts some boys hitting a ball with a crooked wooden stick. It indicates that the type of game discussed above, was also played in the region forming present-day Asia, long before it came to be known as 'cricket'.

Though such a pastime existed in many countries of the world before the year 1200, it is almost certain that the modern game originated in England. Cricket matches between the public schools, however, began towards the close of the 18th century. There was a good deal of wagering in these matches, which were usually played for money involving pretty high stakes.

Worse than the gambling was a kind of the cheating that accompanied it. Men sat near the pavilion to give and take bets. It was normal for them to circulate a false rumour about a player, in order to influence betting. Umpires were intimidated and there is a case on record, when an umpire was dragged by the losing team to the village pond and summarily ducked.

Taken up by the gentlemen of wealthy families, cricket became very popular in the 18th century. A blow from a cricket ball killed Frederick, the Prince of Wales and a devotee of the game, in 1751 but this incident did not affect the game's popularity. Matches were played between two sides of eleven players each, although in the earlier days it was not uncommon for a strong XI agreeing to play against a team comprising of a larger number of weaker players.

Similarly, there were four balls to an over but the number was increased in 1889 to five and in 1900 to six. This meant a considerable saving in time because after each over the fieldsmen were required to change their places to receive bowling from the other end. At one time the Australians even had eight balls an over, which were later reduced to six. The white coat that the umpires wear to distinguish them from the players was introduced in 1861.

Cricket is perhaps the only game, which requires a player to learn so many skills, batting, bowling, fielding and wicket keeping. In the old days, the bowling was underhand. In 1794 round-arm bowling was tried in a match at Dartford but was disallowed. Sometime in the 19th century it was permitted but later changed to the over-arm style of today. Bowling can be fast, medium pace or slow. A fast bowler relies upon pace but the accuracy of line and length are highly desirable. It was the combination of these three, which made Tom Richardson, the Surrey professional, the greatest fast bowler of his times. In modern cricket, Jeff Thomson of Australia enjoyed a similar distinction.

A history making controversy between authorities in England and Australia erupted when England's fast bowler Harold Larwood, developed a theory known as 'bodyline bowling' and put it into action during England's tour of Australia in 1932. Pitching his deliveries at the leg stump he devastated the Aussies by making the batsmen give away easy catches to a leg trap formed by close-in fielders. Considered as 'negative bowling' it was not repeated again.

A googly ball attracted a great deal of attention when it was first introduced in about the year 1900. BJI Basanquet of England and the South African RO Schrwas are regarded as the inventors and perfectionists of this perplexing art of slow bowling.

There were a host of great cricketers during the past centuries but their deeds were eclipsed soon after 1850, when the gigantic figure of Dr WG Grace appeared on the scene. Grace was the man who did more than any other player to make cricket a popular spectacle as well as a healthy pastime. This is proved by a well known incident, when early in an innings, Grace being probably out by an excellent stumping, was declared 'not out'. After a loud appeal from the wicket-keeper, the umpire retorted, "These people have come to see Dr Grace bat and not to watch your monkey tricks."

A superb batsman, Dr Grace was a useful bowler and an excellent fielder too. Although no one has matched Sir Don Bradman in terms of his batting and there have been a galaxy of great cricketers since, but Dr WG Grace is regarded as the undisputed father of the game.

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