35 !) 
C R I 
appears to have patted in 1580. He then vifited Mantua; 
and a ftory is told, but from no good authority, of his 
killing in a duel a famous matter of the fvvord, who had 
foiled the mod eminent fencers of the time, and had lately 
killed three antagonifts. His reputation caufed him to 
be chol'en by Gonzaga duke of Mantua, preceptor to his 
fon Vincenzo, a riotous and difTolute youth. Not long 
after, as he was rambling one night of the carnival in the 
ftreets of Mantua, with his guitar, he was attacked by 
fome aftaflins, and, after a brave defence, loft his life; 
and his own pupil was fufpeCted to have been a contriver 
and actor in the deed. This is faid to have happened in 
1583. Such appears to be the outline of Crichton’s lite 
and character, diverted of the marvellous and manifeftly 
falfe additions of fome of his biographers. He certainly 
poffeft'ed uncommon dexterity of body and quicknefs of 
underftanding, with a due degree of confidence. His great 
readinefs at deputation will not be highly eftimated by 
thofe who know how eafy it was to hold arguments upon 
any topic whatfoever in the forms of the fchools ; and it 
may be regarded as certain, that real knowledge would 
never have made fuch boaftful pretenfions. Of his claf- 
fical proficience he has, rather unfortunately, left fpeci- 
mens by which it may be meafured. Thefe are four 
Latin poems, of fuch very moderate poetical merit, and 
fo faulty in language and profody, that they mutt abso¬ 
lutely exclude him from the rank of the eminent and cul¬ 
tivated fcholars of that age. They are his only relics. 
The reft of him is an air-blown bubble of reputation, 
which at length appears'to have burft, from the tenuity 
of its texture. 
CRICK, J. [from cricco, Ital.] The noife of a door. 
[From cjiyce, Sax. a ftake.) A painful ftiffnefs in the 
neck, or back. 
CRICK'ET, f. [krekel , from kreken, to make a noife, 
Dut.] An infedl that chirps about ovens and fire-places. 
See Gryllus. 
Didft thou not hear a noife ?— 
,—I heard the owl fcream, and the crickets cry. Shakefp. 
The folemn death-watch click’d the hour file died, 
And fhrilling crickets in the chimney cried. Gay. 
[From kricchen, Germ, to creep.] A low feat or ftool. 
CRICK'ET, J'. [from cjiyce, Sax. a Hick.] An ath¬ 
letic and fafhionuble game, played on a fmooth turf or 
lawn, with bats and ball: 
The judge, to dance, his brother ferjeant call; 
The lenator at cricket urge the ball. Pope. 
The laws eftablifhed for the game of cricket are as 
follow :—The ball rnuft weigh not lefs than five ounces 
and a half, nor more than five ounces and three quarters. 
It cannot be changed during the game, but with confent 
of both parties.—The bat mutt; not exceed four inches 
and one quarter in the wideft part.—The ftumps muft be 
twenty-two inches, the bail fix inches long.—The bowl- 
ing-creafe muft be parallel with the ftumps, three feet in 
length, with a return-creafe.—The popping-creafe muft 
be three feet ten inches from the wickets ; and the wick¬ 
ets muft be oppofite to each other, at the diftance of 
twenty-two yards.—The party which goes from home 
to play, fttall have the choice of the innings, and the 
pitching of the wickets, which fttall be pitched within 
thirty yards of a center fixed by the adverfaries.—When 
the parties meet at a third place, the bowlers fttall tofs 
up for the pitching of the firft wicket, and the choice 
of going in.—The bowler muft deliver the ball with 
one foot behind the bowling-creafe, and within the re- 
turn-creale; and fttall bowl four balls before he changes 
wickets, which he fttall do but once in the fame innings. 
.—He may order the player at his wicket to ftand on which 
fide of it he pleafes.—The ftriker is out if the bail is 
bowled off, or the (lump bowled out of the ground : or 
if the ball, from a ftroke over or under his bat, or upon 
his hands (but not wrifts), is held before it touches the 
C R I 
ground, though it be hugged to the body of the catcher; 
or if, in ftriking, both his feet are over the popping- 
creafe, and his wicket is put down, except his bat is 
grounded within it: or if "he runs out of his ground to 
hinder a catch : or if a ball is ftruck up, and he wilfully 
rtrikes it again: or if, in running a notch, the wicket is 
ftruck down by a throw, or with the ball in hand, before 
his foot, hand, or bat, is grounded over the popping- 
creafe ; but if the bail is off, a ftump muft be ftruck out 
of the ground by the ball: or if the ftriker touches or 
takes up the ball before it has lain ftill, unlefs at the 
requeft of the oppofite party : or if the ftriker puts his 
leg before the wicket, with a defign to flop the ball, and 
actually prevents the ball from hitting his wicket by it. 
If the players have crofted each other, he that runs for 
the wicket that is put down is out; if they are not crofted, 
he that has left the wicket that is put down is out.—- 
When the ball has been in the bowler’s or wicket-keep¬ 
er’s hands, the ftrikers need not keep within their ground 
till the umpire has called play ; but if .the player goes 
out of his ground with an intent to run, before the ball 
is delivered, the bowler may put him out.—When the 
ball is ftruck up in the running-ground between the 
wickets, it is lawful for the ftrikers to hinder its being 
catched ; but they muft neither ftrike at, nor touch the 
ball with their hands.—If the ball is ftruck up, the ftriker 
may guard his wicket either with his bat or his body. 
In (ingle-wicket matches, if the ftriker moves out of 
his ground to ftrike at the ball, he {hall be allowed no 
notch for fuch ftroke.—The wicket-keeper fliall ftand at 
a reafonable diftance behind the wicket, and fliall not 
move till the ball is out of the bowler’s hand, and {hall 
not by any noife incommode the ftriker; and if his hands* 
knees, foot, or head, be over or before the wicket, 
though the ball hit it, it {hall not be out.—'The um¬ 
pires {hall allow two minutes for each man to come in, 
and fifteen minutes between each innings. When the 
umpires {hall call play , the party refufing to play {hall 
lofe the match.—They are the foie judges of fair and 
unfair play, and all difputes fliall be determined by them. 
When a ftriker is hurt, they are to allow another to come 
in, and the perfon hurt {hall have his hands in any part 
of that innings.—They are not to order a player out, un¬ 
lefs appealed to by the adverfaries. But if the bowler’s 
foot is not behind the bowling-creafe, and within the re¬ 
turn-creafe, when he delivers the ball, the umpire, un- 
afked, muft call no ball. If the ftrikers run a Ihort notch, 
the umpire muft call no notch. 
With regard to Bets. —If the notches of one player 
are laid againft another, the bet depends on both innings, 
unlefs otherwife fpecified. If one party beats the other 
in one innings, the notches in the firft innings {hall deter¬ 
mine the bet. But if the other party goes in a fecond 
time, then the bet muft be determined by the numbers 
on the feore. 
CRICK'ET-M ATCH, f. A match at cricket: 
An ill-tim’d cricket-match there did 
At Biftiop{bourn befal. Duncombe „ 
CRICK'ETER, f. One that plays at cricket : 
We have not any cricketer 
Of fuch account as he. Duncombe » 
CRICK'HAETH, or Crickeith. See Crickleith. 
CRICK'HOWEL, or Crug-hywel, a market-town 
of South Wales, in Brecknockfliire, pleafantly fituated 
on the river Ulk, over which it has a bridge of fourteen 
arches. It commands many pidturefque and beautiful, 
fcenes, and lies within two miles of the confines of Mon¬ 
mouth, fix miles from Abergavenny, thirteen from Breck¬ 
nock, and 151 from London. The river abounds with 
trout, and the neighbouring hills with groufe. This 
place is highly in repute for goats’ whey, which is here 
in great perfection ; and is much reforted to by valetu¬ 
dinarians. The town is lituate on the direct road from 
* London 
