literature of the 18th century

Written and pictorial records of cricket may go back to the Plantagenet period, although it is impossible to distinguish between what may be cricket and its brothers, cat and dog, stool-ball, rounders etc., and even at times its cousins, hockey and golf. The firmest, though still not secure, pictorial evidence is an illustration apparently of a man demonstrating a stroke with a stump to a boy holding a straight club and a ball in a Decretal of Pope Gregory IX that was illuminated in England; while in the Wardrobe Accounts of the Royal Household for the year 1300 the sums of 100 shillings and 6 pounds are mentioned as being spent on "creag" and other sports of Prince Edward (the grandfather of the Black Prince).

In the Tudor period there are references to boys playing "creckett" and in the seventeenth century there are many references such as that by Sir William Dugdale that Oliver Cromwell played cricket in his youth, while in 1653 Sir Thomas Urquhart even makes Gargantua play cricket in his translation of Rabelais. At the very end of this century cricket makes its appearance in the newspapers, a trend that grows rapidly in the eighteenth century but is concerned with announcements of matches, the wagers involved and, occasionally, the ensuing riots rather than with descriptions of matches. Rather different is the "Code of 1744" that contains at least two strata, one of which, wherein for instance the ball is referred to as "she" rather than "it", is clearly rustic rather than metropolitan and may be of considerable antiquity. All this, however, cannot be classed as literature.

Literature begins, for cricket, suddenly, unexpectedly and fully grown, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, in a Latin poem of 95 lines on a rural cricket match that was written by William Goldwin and published in his Musae Juveniles in March 1706. Little is known of the author: he left Eton for King’s College Cambridge in 1700 and subsequently became Master of Bristol Grammar School and then was Vicar of Saint Nicholas, Bristol, until his death in 1747. His poem, In Certamen Pilae (On a Match at Ball), has been translated into English verse by Harold Perry in Etoniana in 1922 and, with copious scholarly notes, again into verse by H.P.-T. (P.F. Thomas) in Early Cricket the following year. In early spring "a chosen cohort of youths, armed with curved bats, ...descends rejoicing to the field". Each team tries to impose its own laws, until a grey-haired Nestor composes the squabble. They mark the pitch and on the stumps place the bail which "cries out for good defence" against "the leathern sphere". Two umpires stand "leaning on their bats" while the scorers "sit on a hummock ready to cut the mounting score on sticks with their little knives". The game begins and a batsman "propels the strident ball afar ...but a clearsighted scout (fieldsman) prepares his ambush in the deep and with outstretched palms joyfully accepts it as it falls ...and grief overwhelms those who silently mourn their friend’s disaster". The tale of misfortune continues, and one batsman in going for a second run "falls headlong at the very foot of the wicket. (as) the shaken earth groans beneath his great weight" and the rustic throng exult in laughter". The other side fares better and "Victory , long striven for, noisily flaps its wings and fills the sky with the shouts and roars of success".

Cricket literature in English also gets off to a flying start with the appearance of Cricket: an Heroic Poem. illlustrated with the Critical Observations of Scriblerus Maximus. In 316 lines it describes the earliest match for which individual scores have been recorded, between Kent and England at the Artillery Ground, London, on June 18th 1744. It was written by James Love (really Dance), the bankrupt son of the architect of the Mansion House, who had taken to acting and writing for the stage to earn his living. It contains the much quoted couplet "Hail, cricket! Glorious manly, British Game! / First of all Sports! be first alike in Fame", as it lauds cricket to the detriment of "puny Billiards, where, with sluggish Pace, / The dull Ball trails before the feeble Mace" and even "Tennis self, thy sister sport" that cannot "charm, / Or with thy fierce Delights our Bosoms warm". Its style may, however, be better judged by the description of the fall of the famous lefthander Richard Newland of Slindon:

The champion strikes. When scarce arriving fair, The glancing ball mounts upward in the air.

The batsman sees it, and with mournful eyes Fixed on the ascending pellet as it flies, Thus suppliant claims the favour of the skies.

And now illustrious Sackville where he stood The approaching ball with cautious pleasure viewed,

At once he sees the chiefs impending doom, And pants for mighty honours yet to come.

Swift as the falcon darting on its prey, He springs elastic on the verdant way; Sure of success, flies upward with a bound, Derides the slow approach, and spurns the ground.

Prone slips the youth, yet glories in his fall, With arm extended shows the captive ball.

The notes are worth reading, being partly informative of participants in the match and literary inspirations from Vergil and partly mock scholarly like that on Book 2, verse 47: "A Place there is.) Est in secessu Locus. The Author here has exactly follow’d the Example of all great Poets, both ancient and modern, who never fail to prepare you with a pompous Description of the Place where any great Action is to be perform’d."

A more frivolous poem on a cricket match appeared in 1773 when the Rev. John Duncombe wrote a parody on the ballad Chevy Chace called Burry Triumphant:

This called forth a rejoinder from John Burn by, an attorney-at-law in Canterbury. His description of the Duke of Dorset is memorable:

His Grace the Duke of Dorset came,...

Equall’d by few, he plays with glee,

Nor peevish seeks for victory...

And for unlike the Modern way

Of blocking every ball at play,

He firmly stands with bat upright,

And strikes with athletic might,

Sends forth the ball across the mead,

And scores six notches for the deed.

A more unusual match was the subject of an anonymous poem of 1796: it was played between the one-legged and the one armed:

...Though bloody deeds by fortress wall

Are parodied when bat and ball

Defend and storm the stubborn wicket.

Thus thought I, when with vision dim,

With feeble step and loss of limb,

Old warriors in the strife contended...

Poems could give advice, on cricket (1772):

Ye bowlers take heed, to my precepts attend,

On you the whole state of the game must depend,

Spare your vigour at first nor exert all your strength,

But measure each step, and be sure pitch a length.

Ye strikers observe when the foe shall draw nigh,

Mark the bowler advance with a vigilant eye;

Your skill all depends upon distance and sight,

Stand firm to your scratch, let your bat be upright.

and even through cricket on life (1756):

The outward side, who place and profit want,

Watch to surprise and labour to supplant;

While those who taste the sweets of present winnings

Labour as heartily to keep their innings.

On either side the whole great game is play’d -

Untry’d no shift is left, unsought no aid;

Skill vies with skill, and pow’r contends with pow’r ,

And squint-eyed prejudice computes their score.

The enthusiasm for cricket in the eighteenth century is well represented by a letter from Mary Turner of East Hoathly to her son in September 1739: "Last Munday youre Father was at Mr Payns and plaid at Cricket and come home pleased anuf for he struck the best Ball in the game and whished he had not anny thing else to do he wuld play Cricket all his life". However, the active participation in cricket of members of the nobility called forth adverse criticism from both poets and poetasters. Alexander Pope attacks probably Lord John Sackville in his "The Judge to dance his brother serjeant call, / The Senator at cricket urge the ball", while in 1778 a lampooner inveighs against the Duke of Dorset in his The Noble Cricketers:

When Death (for Lords must die) your doom shall seal,

What sculptured Honors shall your tomb reveal?

Instead of Glory , with a weeping eye,

Instead of Virtue pointing to the sky,

Let Bats and Balls th’ affronted stone disgrace,

While Farce stands leering by, with Satyr face,

Holding, with forty notches mark’d, a board -

The noble triumph of a noble Lord!

The last words for the eighteenth century must, however, be for its most famous club, Hambledon, for which the Rev. Reynell Cotton, master of Hyde Abbey School, Winchester, wrote his Cricket Song:

...The wickets are pitch’d now, and measured the ground;

Then they form a large ring, and stand gazing around -

Since Ajax fought Hector, in sight of all Troy,

No contest was seen with such fear and such joy.

Derry down, etc Then fill up your glass, he’s the best that drinks most.

Here’s the Hambledon Club! - who refuses the toast ?

Let’s join in the praise of the bat and the wicket,

And sing in full chorus the patrons of cricket.

Derry down, etc.

And when the game’s o’er, and our fate shall draw nigh

(For the heroes of cricket, like others, must die),

Our bats we’ll resign, neither troubled nor vex’d,

And give up our wickets to those that come next.

Derry down, etc.

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Dates in cricket history

1550 (approx) Evidence of cricket being played in Guildford, Surrey.

1598 Cricket mentioned in Florio?s Italian?English dictionary.

1610 Reference to ?cricketing? between Weald and Upland near Chevening, Kent. 1611 Randle Cotgrave?s French?English dictionary translates the French word ?crosse? as a cricket staff.

Two youths fined for playing cricket at Sidlesham, Sussex.

1624 Jasper Vinall becomes first man known to be killed playing cricket: hit by a bat while trying to catch the ball ? at Horsted Green, Sussex.

1676 First reference to cricket being played abroad, by British residents in Aleppo, Syria.

1694 Two shillings and sixpence paid for a ?wagger? (wager) about a cricket match at Lewes.

1697 First reference to ?a great match? with 11 players a side for fifty guineas, in Sussex.

1700 Cricket match announced on Clapham Common.

1709 First recorded inter-county match: Kent v Surrey.

1710 First reference to cricket at Cambridge University.

1727 Articles of Agreement written governing the conduct of matches between the teams of the Duke of Richmond and Mr Brodrick of Peperharow, Surrey.

1729 Date of earliest surviving bat, belonging to John Chitty, now in the pavilion at The Oval.

1730 First recorded match at the Artillery Ground, off City Road, central London, still the cricketing home of the Honourable Artillery Company.

1744 Kent beat All England by one wicket at the Artillery Ground.

First known version of the Laws of Cricket, issued by the London Club, formalising the pitch as 22 yards long.

1767 (approx) Foundation of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire, the leading club in England for the next 30 years.

1769 First recorded century, by John Minshull for Duke of Dorset?s XI v Wrotham.

1771 Width of bat limited to 4 1/4 inches, where it has remained ever since.

1774 LBW law devised.

1776 Earliest known scorecards, at the Vine Club, Sevenoaks, Kent.

1780 The first six-seamed cricket ball, manufactured by Dukes of Penshurst, Kent.

1787 First match at Thomas Lord?s first ground, Dorset Square, Marylebone ? White Conduit Club v Middlesex.

Formation of Marylebone Cricket Club by members of the White Conduit Club.

1788 First revision of the Laws of Cricket by MCC.

1794 First recorded inter-schools match: Charterhouse v Westminster.

1795 First recorded case of a dismissal ?leg before wicket?.

1806 First Gentlemen v Players match at Lord?s.

1807 First mention of ?straight-armed? (i.e. round-arm) bowling: by John Willes of Kent.

1809 Thomas Lord?s second ground opened at North Bank, St John?s Wood.

1811 First recorded women?s county match: Surrey v Hampshire at Ball?s Pond, London.

1814 Lord?s third ground opened on its present site, also in St John?s Wood.

1827 First Oxford v Cambridge match, at Lord?s. A draw.

1828 MCC authorise the bowler to raise his hand level with the elbow.

1833 John Nyren publishes his classic Young Cricketer?s Tutor and The Cricketers of My Time.

1836 First North v South match, for many years regarded as the principal fixture of the season.

1836 (approx) Batting pads invented.

1841 General Lord Hill, commander-in-chief of the British Army, orders that a cricket ground be made an adjunct of every military barracks.

1844 First official international match: Canada v United States.

1845 First match played at The Oval.

1846 The All-England XI, organised by William Clarke, begins playing matches, often against odds, throughout the country.

1849 First Yorkshire v Lancashire match.

1850 Wicket-keeping gloves first used.

1850 John Wisden bowls all ten batsmen in an innings for North v South.

1853 First mention of a champion county: Nottinghamshire.

1858 First recorded instance of a hat being awarded to a bowler taking three wickets with consecutive balls.

1859 First touring team to leave England, captained by George Parr, draws enthusiastic crowds in the US and Canada.

1864 ?Overhand bowling? authorised by MCC.

John Wisden?s The Cricketer?s Almanack first published.

1868 Team of Australian aborigines tour England.

1873 WG Grace becomes the first player to record 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season.

First regulations restricting county qualifications, often regarded as the official start of the County Championship.

1877 First Test match: Australia beat England by 45 runs in Melbourne.

1880 First Test in England: a five-wicket win against Australia at The Oval.

1882 Following England?s first defeat by Australia in England, an ?obituary notice? to English cricket in the Sporting Times leads to the tradition of The Ashes.

1889 South Africa?s first Test match.

Declarations first authorised, but only on the third day, or in a one-day match.

1890 County Championship officially constituted.

Present Lord?s pavilion opened.

1895 WG Grace scores 1,000 runs in May, and reaches his 100th hundred.

1899 AEJ Collins scores 628 not out in a junior house match at Clifton College, the highest individual score in any match.

Selectors choose England team for home Tests, instead of host club issuing invitations.

1900 Six-ball over becomes the norm, instead of five.

1909 Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC ? now the International Cricket Council) set up, with England, Australia and South Africa the original members.

1910 Six runs given for any hit over the boundary, instead of only for a hit out of the ground.

1912 First and only triangular Test series played in England, involving England, Australia and South Africa.

1915 WG Grace dies, aged 67.

1926 Victoria score 1,107 v New South Wales at Melbourne, the record total for a first-class innings.

1928 West Indies? first Test match.

AP "Tich" Freeman of Kent and England becomes the only player to take more than 300 first-class wickets in a season: 304.

1930 New Zealand?s first Test match.

Donald Bradman?s first tour of England: he scores 974 runs in the five Ashes Tests, still a record for any Test series.

1931 Stumps made higher (28 inches not 27) and wider (nine inches not eight ? this was optional until 1947).

1932 India?s first Test match.

Hedley Verity of Yorkshire takes ten wickets for ten runs v Nottinghamshire, the best innings analysis in first-class cricket.

1932-33 The Bodyline tour of Australia in which England bowl at batsmen?s bodies with a packed leg-side field to neutralise Bradman?s scoring.

1934 Jack Hobbs retires, with 197 centuries and 61,237 runs, both records. First women?s Test: Australia v England at Brisbane.

1935 MCC condemn and outlaw Bodyline.

1947 Denis Compton of Middlesex and England scores a record 3,816 runs in an English season.

1948 First five-day Tests in England.

Bradman concludes Test career with a second-ball duck at The Oval and a batting average of 99.94 ? four runs short of 100.

1952 Pakistan?s first Test match.

1953 England regain the Ashes after a 19-year gap, the longest ever.

1956 Jim Laker of England takes 19 wickets for 90 v Australia at Manchester, the best match analysis in first-class cricket.

1957 Declarations authorised at any time.

1960 First tied Test, Australia v West Indies at Brisbane.

1963 Distinction between amateur and professional cricketers abolished in English cricket.

The first major one-day tournament begins in England: the Gillette Cup.

1969 Limited-over Sunday league inaugurated for first-class counties.

1970 Proposed South African tour of England cancelled: South Africa excluded from international cricket because of their government?s apartheid policies.

1971 First one-day international: Australia v England at Melbourne.

1975 First World Cup: West Indies beat Australia in final at Lord?s.

1976 First women?s match at Lord?s, England v Australia.

1977 Centenary Test at Melbourne, with identical result to the first match: Australia beat England by 45 runs.

Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer, signs 51 of the world?s leading players in defiance of the cricketing authorities.

1978 Graham Yallop of Australia wears a protective helmet to bat in a Test match, the first player to do so.

1979 Packer and official cricket agree peace deal.

1980 Eight-ball over abolished in Australia, making the six-ball over universal.

1981 England beat Australia in Leeds Test, after following on with bookmakers offering odds of 500 to 1 against them winning.

1982 Sri Lanka?s first Test match.

1991 South Africa return, with a one-day international in India.

1992 Zimbabwe?s first Test match.

Durham become the first county since Glamorgan in 1921 to attain firstclass status.

1993 The ICC ceases to be administered by MCC, becoming an independent organisation with its own chief executive.

1994 Brian Lara of Warwickshire becomes the only player to pass 500 in a firstclass innings: 501 not out v Durham.

2000 South Africa?s captain Hansie Cronje banned from cricket for life after admitting receiving bribes from bookmakers in match-fixing scandal.

Bangladesh?s first Test match.

County Championship split into two divisions, with promotion and relegation.

The Laws of Cricket revised and rewritten.

2001 Sir Donald Bradman dies, aged 92.

2003 Twenty20 Cup, a 20-over-per-side evening tournament, inaugurated in England.

2004 Lara becomes the first man to score 400 in a Test innings, against England

Source: www.rediff.com