Cricket

              Did you know that the world’s second most popular sport, next to soccer, can sometimes take days to complete a match? You may know that I am referring to cricket. Although the sport is not popular in North America, it is in most other parts of the world.

                But how did it all come about?

                To be accurate, the origins of cricket are not known, although there is a reference of a similar game being played in Kent, England in the days of King Edward I around 1300. Around 1550 in Guildford, England, a game was played similar to cricket using a bat and ball. However, the first recorded cricket match took place in Kent, southeast of London, in 1646, and grew wildly popular in England during the 1700s. William Goldwyn published the first description of the game in 1706, and the first “laws of cricket” were set forth in 1744. The world’s first cricket club was formed in the 1760s in Hambledon, England, and the game as it is known today started to take shape in the 1770s. Nobles saw their servants and tenants playing the game, and realized that it was such an entertaining sport that they wanted to play it as well. In addition, the game lent itself to betting. Members of the royalty formed their own teams, and stakes on the matches were exceedingly high.

                Gradually, the center of the cricket universe became London. A leading London club was the White Conduit in Islington, and was led by George Finch.

                A controversy has always centered on the delivery of the ball. By the 1860s some bowlers had experimented with the overarm delivery, although it had been originally outlawed. The underarm and round-arm styles were still practiced in the 1800s, but by World War I, both styles disappeared. By 1878, Australia had fielded an entirely overarm attack, and the rest of world followed suit.

                Cricket has generally remained the same during the part roughly 150 years. Changes have been made regarding covered wickets, the weight of the balls, and protective clothing, among others, but in general, the game has stayed the same. England has always been a powerhouse, naturally, but so has other countries in which the English monarchy has ruled, such as the West Indies and India. All this time, most people in the United States in particular have only a vague idea on how the game is played.

                Despite the obscurity from many sports fans across the world, there are collectibles that have sold at auction. For example, cricket shin guards have periodically been auctioned. In a 2008 Heritage auction, a vintage pair of shin guards, each about 22 inches high, which were used as protection, were auctioned. Surprisingly, there were only few bids on the item. The shin guards were auctioned for nearly $360.

                In another auction, this one a Roland auction, a group of six vintage cricket bats were auctioned. There were same cracks and chips in bats, and it is unclear how much usage the bats had. However, the group of six cricket bats were auctioned for $200. As they were all vintage, most likely the high bidder may very well thought of displaying them rather than actually using them. However, it is somewhat unusual to be the high bidder on a group of six bats. But since cricket items are rarely auctioned, and since cricket items are not typically sold in a United States sporting goods store, it may be that the bidder figured that this was the perfect opportunity to acquire some cricket equipment that could not be obtained easily by some other means. However, now the person had six items when most likely he redly only wanted one or maybe two.

                However, it is possible that when cricket becomes more popular in the United States, and elsewhere, that those six vintage items might indeed become valuable treasures.