CRICHTON 



CRICKET 



5C3 



Crichtnn appeared in 1819, and the second in |vj.,. 

 Aldus'* testimony to Crichton's versatility is alone 



worthy of BeriouB consideration. Aldus was in the 

 h:il>it of praising extravagantly promising young 

 strangers at the Italian universities, and ;iscril>e> 

 Polish contemporary of Crichtnn, Stanislaus 

 N ^oseuski, almost the identical aooomplifthmenti 

 with whicli lie credits ('rielitoii. That Crichton's 

 power of memory was extraordinary, is, however, 

 independently corroltorated ly a physician of Treviso 

 near Venice, named Hartolomeo Kmvhelati, in liis 

 J>/ii/ifi Sffitnit ( l.~S3). And there is 



no reason to doubt his linguiKtic facility or his 

 skill as a fencer. But the numerous Latin verses 

 and prose essays which Crichton printed indicate 

 no special capacity. Harrison Ainsworth wrote 

 a novel on Crichton's apocryphal career in 1837. 

 For a critical and bibliographical account, see 

 articles in Dictionary f National Biography, and 

 in Gentle mini's Magazine for March 1888 (both by 

 Sidney L. Lee). A genealogical paper by John 

 Stuart in Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries of 

 Xi-ntliiiiil ( 1855), ii. 103-18, is also useful. Unique 

 copies of most of Crichton's publications are in the 

 Grenville Library of the British Museum. 



Cricket. Like that of most games played with 

 a ball, the origin of cricket may DC said to be lost 

 in obscurity. Numerous researches have been 

 made in the hope of fixing a date, but no really 

 satisfactory conclusion has oeen arrived at, though 

 it is tolerably certain that the game, in some 

 shape or form, existed at a very remote period of 

 antiquity. Various attempts have been made to 

 prove that the birthplace of cricket was outside the 

 limits of Great Britain ; but the weight of evidence 

 favours the popular view that to England alone the 

 world is indebted for this manly and universally 

 liked game. It is considered highly probable that 

 the word cricket is a corruption of creag, a variation 

 of an old Saxon word signifying a game played 

 with a crooked bat ; if so, it would appear that 

 cricket was known amongst us nearly 600 years 

 ago, as the word is found to have been in use 

 during the reign of Edward I. (1300). This, how- 

 ever, is supported only by material of slender 

 character. Strutt, one of our best authorities on 

 ancient sport, adduces some evidence to show that 

 'club-ball,' played in the 14th century, may have 

 been the parent of cricket, but both ' cat-and-dog ' 

 ( mention of which occurs in the 16th century ) and 

 ' stool-lull 1' (frequently referred to in the 17th 

 century) have a closer affinity. It is stated in 

 Russell's History of Guildford that cricket was 

 played in that well-known Surrey town in the 

 middle of the 16th century, but for 'fifty years sub- 

 sequently no trace has been found; and indeed 

 history tells us really little or nothing of the game 

 that is not speculative until the opening of the 18th 

 century, from which period its growth may be 

 readily followed, though scarcely anything of a 

 definite character is to be gleaned even at that 

 time as to the mode of playing the game. While 

 it was then generally admitted to be healthful, it 

 was condemned on account of the amount of 

 gambling associated with it. 



There is some evidence of a match having been 



Elayed between Kent and All England previously ; 

 ut the earliest matches of which copies of the 

 scores have been preserved were those of Kent 

 v. All England, decided on the Artillery Ground, 

 Finsbury, in 1746, an<| of Hambledon ( a club started 

 about 1750, and which held a somewhat similar 

 position to that afterwards taken un by the 

 Nlarvlebone Club, inasmuch as the Hambledonians 

 played matches in different parts of England, and 

 generally promoted the interests of the game) 

 against Kent, which took place at Bishopsbourne 

 Paddock, near Canterbury, August 19, 1772. 



ly two years after the latter match viz. 

 February 25, 1774 a committee of noblemen and 

 gentlemen met at the Shu- n,,il Hm-tr.r, in Fall Mall, 

 London, and formally drew up a Met of lawH for the 

 government of the game, and these are believed to 

 have been the first written lawB. They have from 

 time to time undergone extensive alteration and 

 addition. In those days the runs scored were 

 recorded by means of notches made on the edge of 

 a strip of worn! ; the wickets were placed, as now, 22 

 yards apart, with a popping-crease, 3 feet 10 inches 

 (now 4 feet) in front of each ; the stumps, two in 

 number, were 22 inches long, and the bail 6 inches 

 ( a previous wicket having been 2 feet wide, with a 

 hole dug out of the ground in the centre, and 

 1 foot nigh); the ball weighed from 5 to 6 

 ounces. Towards the end of the 18th century a 

 third stump was added to the wicket, which then 

 became 2 inches higher and 1 inch broader, and the 

 only change made since has been a further increase 

 both in height and width. There was at first no 

 limit to the size of the bat, and the early instru- 

 ments were curved at the end, so that little else 

 than hitting could have been attempted ; but as 

 the character of the bowling changea and became 

 more destructive, alterations were made in the in- 

 strument of defence, which even at the beginning 

 of the 19th century was inelegant compared with 

 that now used. The later portion of the 18th 

 century was remarkable for the formation of the 

 Marylebone Club, which took place in 1787 on the 

 dissolution of the White Conduit Club, which had 

 had an existence of several years, and had played 

 matches in the fields from which the club took" its 

 name. The new club, destined to become the con- 

 troller of cricket, located itself in Dorset Square, 

 in the parish of Marylebone, for about a quarter of 

 a century ; then went to North Bank, Regent's 

 Park, but after a brief period had again to make 

 a move, and finally in 1814 settled down in the 

 St John's Wood Road, its present quarters. 

 'Lord's,' as the home of the M.C.C. has always 

 been known, is the best-appointed cricket ground 

 in the kingdom. 



To John Nyren ( born in 1764 ) and Lambert ( born 

 in 1779) we are indebted for the earliest printed 

 instructions as to how to play the game ; but these 

 cricketers of vast experience had many imitators, 

 and the comparatively large amount of cricket 

 literature that sprung up at this period furthered 

 the interests of the game in a marked degree. 

 Round-arm bowling was introduced during the life- 

 times of these two famous cricketers, and both 

 viewed it with disfavour, Lambert declaring that 

 if continued it would have a degenerating effect. 

 Two counties claimed to have introduced the new 

 style, Kent averring that Wills was the discoverer, 

 and Sussex that the honour rested with Broad- 

 bridge. Wills was perhaps the first to really put 

 into practice the style of bowling identical with 

 that no\\ so universally adopted, though the 

 delivery then was not nearly so high as it sub- 

 sequently became. Hound-arm bowling was not 

 allowed to have an uninterrupted career. The 

 delivery increased in height as the advantage of 

 so doing was observed, and so suspiciously like 

 throwing was some of this bowling thought, that 

 after it nod been practised for eight or ten years 

 the Marylebone Club discarded it altogether. It 

 was revived, however, about 1825, and on the hard 

 ami uneven surfaces upon which cricket was then 

 frequently played, it became so dangerous that 

 recourse was had to leg-guards and batting-gloves, 

 articles which had had no previous existence. 

 During the second quarter of the 19th century the 

 game made rapid strides, and grew in popularity 

 with the middle and upper classes. The celebrated 

 I Zingari, consisting entirely of gentlemen, was 



