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England is the home of cricket and the
game has been in vogue right from the 17th century when it became a fad
with English estate owners who lived in their country estates. This
fashionable activity was so contagious that this leisure activity made a
foray into English clubs and by the 19th Century The MCC (Marylebone
Cricket Club) was formed. Till date it dominates English cricket, which
pervaded the commonwealth countries. Public schools in England, which
regarded Cricket as manly, fostered the game and it became almost an
institution by itself. The women’s cricket association ensured that
cricket was played in public schools and today England has a regular
women’s cricket team. County championship is an important competition
in England. Commencing as early as 1709(between Kent and Surrey), it was
officially recognized in 1890. In addition to this there is a minor
county championship for all those counties that do not partake in the
county championship.
The world wars temporarily suspended this crafted art and the public was
starved of entertainment. As the game was played on weekdays also, the
work going public failed to show up. The authorities turned to
commercial sponsorship for support. Home to the test match and the
one-day version, England played against Australia in 1877 (1st test
match) and in 1971(1st one day international). English cricket dominated
in all spheres of the game but the 1980’s saw a decline when Australia,
West Indies, South Africa, India and Pakistan eclipsed it. England lost
to Australia in 1882 and the English press wrote its obituary stating
that English cricket had died. It further stated that the body would be
cremated and the ashes would be taken to Australia. Ever since then a
test series between England and Australia is always referred to as “The
Ashes”. England beat Australia winning 2 test matches out of three when
they toured Australia the next winter and Ivo Bligh who was the captain
of England was actually presented an urn containing ashes of what is
claimed to be “a ball, a bail or a woman’s veil. “
W.G. Grace is the legendary hero of English cricket and averaged 60 –70
runs on pitches which were poorly prepared. He scored centuries and
along with his two brothers enabled English cricket to touch a new high.
He was a fine fielder in many fielding positions, a fast runner and had
a remarkable eye while throwing the ball. As a bowler he had many tricks
up his sleeve and bowled both fast and slow. He was perhaps one of the
greatest all rounders that the world has produced.
The 1930’s saw a twist in English Cricket. In order to curtail the
prolific Don Bradman of Australia, Douglas Jardine (captain of England)
developed in collusion with Larwood and Bill Voce “the controversial
Body line bowling”. The ball was not aimed at the stumps but
deliberately at the body of the batsmen. Although England won the
series 4-1, the huge controversy surrounding bodyline bowling threatened
to jeopardize the relations between Australia and England. Laws were
enforced by the cricketing bodies to ban such bowling and Jardine was
removed as captain. The 1980’s was a mixture of losses and victories.
The English team won the ashes in 1981, lost in 1982 and again won in
1985 and in 1986. Ian Botham, a good all rounder along with Mike Gatting,
David Gower and Graham Dilley helped English cricket a great deal. They
lost the world cup in 1983, lost to Australia in 1987 and also had to
endure the ignominy of losing to the West Indies in an away from home
series. The 1990’s saw further decline when Shane Warne and Glenn
McGrath of Australia had them spellbound. A home series loss to New
Zealand showed cricket in England at being at its lowest ebb. 1991 saw
English cricket under the captaincy of Graham Gooch and it began holding
its own against Sri Lanka and New Zealand and even the West Indies. In
the one-day version of the game, their performance was superb. They beat
Australia, the West Indies and even South Africa but could not tackle
Pakistan. When Michael Atherton took over the reins from Graham Gooch,
more disappointment followed. There was no balance in the playing teams
because of personal differences between the selectors and the poor
performance of the English team saw the exit of Atherton. A sole victory
in 1998 followed by subsequent failures and humiliating exits in the
World cup saw his Exit as captain. Nasser Hussein was unable to prevent
either New Zealand or South Africa from being defeated but subsequent
victories against Zimbabwe, a victory against the strong West Indies,
and an impressive win against Pakistan and Sri Lanka did salvage their
pride to some extent. He failed the final test against Australia and
that saw the exit of some major players. He resigned as Captain and
Michael Vaughan was appointed. He started off on a good note and proved
to be a good leader. Hoggard, Harmison and Andrew Flintoff were charged
players who helped defeat the West Indies and New Zealand. In 2004,
England beat South Africa and in 2005 won the ashes. However, they lost
the test series and the one-day series (3-2) to Pakistan in 2005.
Currently touring India, an injury-depleted England is holding its own
against the Indian cricket team.
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Authored by M. Hemdev.
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