History and Sport: The Story of Cricket – CBSE 9th SST

Page [IV]

Question: What changes were brought by (MCC) Marylebone Cricket Club-in cricket laws in the later half of the 18th century?
Or
Mention any three changes brought about in the game of Cricket by the MCC’s revision of the laws during the second half of the 18th century.

Answer:

1. It was decided to pitch the ball in the air instead of rolling it along the ground. It gave the bowlers the options of length, deception through the air and increase in the pace.
2. The curved bat was replaced by the straight one.
3. The weight of the ball was limited to 51/2 to 53/4 ounces, while the width of the bat was limited to four inches.
4. In 1774, the first leg before wicket law was published.
5. At about the same time, a third stump became common.
6. By 1780, three days had become the length of major matches.

Question: ‘The social and economic history of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, cricket’s early years, shaped the game and gave cricket its unique nature.’ Explain.

Answer:

1. Cricket and rural life: Cricket’s connection with a rural past can be seen in the length of a Test match. Originally, cricket matches had no time limit. The game went on for as long as it took to bowl out a side twice. The rhythms of village life were slower and cricket’s rules were made before the Industrial Revolution.
2. Size of ground and the common land: In the same way, cricket’s vagueness about the size of a cricket ground is a result of its village origins! Cricket wag originally played on country commons, unfenced land that was public property. The size of the commons varied from one village to another, so there were no designated boundaries or boundary hits.
3. Cricket’s tools: Cricket’s most important tools are all made of natural, pre-industrial materials. The bat is made of wood as are the stumps and the bails. The ball is made with leather, twine and cork.
4. Division of the players: Cricket players were also divided on their social and economic status. The rich who could afford to play it for pleasure were called amateurs and the poor who played it for a living were called professionals.
5. Cricket and the British Empire: Team sport like cricket and rugby were not treated as just as outdoor play, but as an organised way of teaching English boys the discipline, the importance of hierarchy, the skills, the codes of hon-our and, the leadership qualities that helped them build and run the British empire.

Question: How have advances in tech-nology, especially television technology, affected the development of contemporary cricket?

Answer:

1. Expansion in the audience: Television coverage has changed the cricket. New cricket is watched in almost all the continents of the world.
   It has expanded the audience for the game by beaming cricket into small towns and villages.
2. A big industry: Television has made cricket, a big industry. Co-loured dress, protective helmets, field restrictions, cricket under fights, became a standard part of the Post Packer game. Cricket boards became rich by selling television rights to television companies. Television channels are making money by selling television spots to companies who were happy to pay large sums of money to air commercials for their products to cricket’s captive television audience. Continuous television coverage has made cricketers celebrities who, besides being paid better by their cricket boards, are now making even larger sums of money by doing commercials for a wide range of products, from tyres to colas on television.
3. Shift in the center of gravity: Television has shifted the balance of power in cricket. Since India had the largest viewership for the game amongst the cricket-playing nations, and the largest market in the cricketing world, the game’s center of gravity shifted to South Asia. This shift was symbolized by the shifting of the ICC headquarters from London to tax-free Dubai.
4. Improvement in the game: The ICC, which is the governing body has made it compulsory to telecast all international matches. Now, the third empire has been introduced and television is also being used to improve the game.

Question: The Parsis were the first Indian community to set up a cricket club in India. Explain their contribution to cricket.
Or
Who set the first cricket club in India? Explain the contribution of them in the field of cricket.

Answer: The Paresis, a small community of the Zoroastrians, was the first Indian community to start playing cricket. They founded the first Indian cricket club, Known as the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1848. The chief causes for the same were the following:

1. They came into a close contact with the British because of their interest in trade. x
2. They were the first Indian community to westernise and learn English language and literature.
3. They built their own Gymkhana to play cricket.
4. A Parsi cricket team beat the British cricket team in 1889. This triumph filled their heart and soul with pride.
5. The Paresis thus became the pioneers of Indian cricket. Their example encouraged other Indians to establish their own clubs.

Question: How did Indian Enter test cricket during the British period?

Answer:

1. While some English team games like hockey and football became international games, played all over the world, cricket remained a colonial game, limited to countries that had once been part of the British empire.
2. The origins of Indian cricket, that is, cricket played by Indians are to be found in Bombay and the first Indian community to start playing the game was the small community of Zoroastrians, the Parsis.
3. India entered the world of Test cricket in 1932, a decade and a half before it became an independent nation. This was possible because Test cricket from its origins in 1877 was organised as a contest between different parts of the British empire, not sovereign nations.