Origin of the Name “Cricket”

 Cricket is called “The Gentleman Game.” Everybody is aware of the name of this game today. It is a bat-and-ball sport that is played between two teams, each consisting eleven players on a field. At the centre of the field there is a rectangular pitch with a set of three wooden stumps at each end that is called a wicket.

It is quite interesting to know about the origin of this amazing sport. No one knows when or from where this sport begun exactly, but there are circumstantial evidences, that strongly indicates that the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in south-east England. The name “Cricket” is originally either has been derived from the old French word “Criquet” that typically means “goal, post, or stick” or from the Middle Dutch word “kricke” meaning “stick.”  There were strong medieval trade connections between south-east England and Flanders that’s why the Middle Dutch derivation from “Kricke” is considered more likely.

The game of cricket itself is thought to have been played in the 13th century. Its first direct reference appears in 1598 in a court case which gave reference of a game called “Krekett” being played at the Royal Grammar School in England in 1550. Cricket gradually became popular, and in the 18th century, it was named as the official sport of England, as it was the favorite leisure activity of the privileged class.

By: Anita Aishvarya

Content: Wikipedia