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72-399: The stadiums was constructed in 1978 and had a capacity of 2,500. In 2021, a new Eastern stand seating 1,478 people was opened. The stadium lacks floodlights , as such all the games have to be played under natural sunlight. 41°06′18″N 20°48′44″E  /  41.1051°N 20.8123°E  / 41.1051; 20.8123 This article about a North Macedonia sports venue is

144-414: A field , at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre; 66-foot) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails (small sticks) balanced on three stumps . Two players from the batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of either wicket holding bats , while one player from the fielding team, the bowler, bowls the ball toward the striker's wicket from the opposite end of

216-456: A public school education who had then gone to one of Cambridge or Oxford University . Society insisted that such people were "officers and gentlemen" whose destiny was to provide leadership. In a purely financial sense, the cricketing amateur would theoretically claim expenses for playing while his professional counterpart played under contract and was paid a wage or match fee; in practice, many amateurs claimed more than actual expenditure, and

288-501: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light . It can provide functional area lighting for travel-ways, parking, entrances, work areas, and sporting venues to enable visibility adequate for safe task performance, ornamental lighting for advertising, façades, monuments, or support perimeter security. Floodlights are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event

360-604: A "warm-up" period reduces game delays after power outages). They have replaced many metal halide floodlights. Halogen and electrodeless induction floodlights also exist. The first LED lit sports field in the United Kingdom was switched on at Taunton Vale Sports Club on 6 September 2014. In the top tiers of many professional sports , it is a requirement for stadiums to have floodlights to allow games to be scheduled outside daylight hours. Evening or night matches may suit spectators who have work or other commitments earlier in

432-561: A collared shirt with short or long sleeves; long trousers; woolen pullover (if needed); cricket cap (for fielding) or a safety helmet; and spiked shoes or boots to increase traction. The kit is traditionally all white, and this remains the case in Test and first-class cricket, but in limited overs cricket, team colours are now worn instead. i) A used white ball. White balls are mainly used in limited overs cricket , especially in matches played at night, under floodlights (left). The essence of

504-454: A fence, part of the stands, a rope, a painted line, or a combination of these; the boundary must if possible be marked along its entire length. In the approximate centre of the field is a rectangular pitch (see image, below) on which a wooden target called a wicket is sited at each end; the wickets are placed 22 yards (20 m) apart. The pitch is a flat surface 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, with very short grass that tends to be worn away as

576-518: A floodlit match against Notts Rangers at the Gregory Ground , Lenton, Nottingham on 25 March 1889. This match was illuminated by 14 Wells Lights which was a portable illumation system powered by paraffin Each light had 4,000 candlepower . These lights were placed around the ground and 'illuminated the playing arena well enough for the spectators to follow most, if not all, the points of play' according to

648-529: A floodlit piste. A number of permanent motor racing circuits are floodlit to allow night races to be held. These include Yas Marina Circuit , Losail International Circuit , and Bahrain International Circuit . Cricket First-class cricket One Day International Limited overs (domestic) Twenty20 International Twenty20 (domestic) Other forms Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on

720-534: A friendly match in Paris against RC Paris under floodlights. The floodlights were fixed to overhead wires strung above and across the pitch. A fresh white coloured ball was introduced after about every 20 minutes and the goalposts were painted yellow. In the 1930s, Herbert Chapman installed lights into the new West Stand at Highbury but the Football League refused to sanction their use. This situation lasted until

792-598: A highly popular format, putting the longer formats at risk. The new shorter format also introduced franchise cricket, with new tournaments like the Indian Premier League and the Australian Big Bash League . The ICC has selected the T20 format as cricket's growth format, and has introduced a T20 World Cup which is played every two years; T20 cricket has also been increasingly accepted into major events such as

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864-553: A template for every county and club ground in the country". Bramall Lane was the first stadium to host floodlit association football matches, dating as far back as 1878, when there were experimental matches at the Sheffield stadium during the dark winter afternoons. With no national grid , lights were powered by batteries and dynamoes , and were unreliable. Blackburn and Darwen also hosted floodlit matches in 1878, and in October of

936-417: A very high lumen to watt ratio (typically 80–140 lumens/Watt), making them a cost-effective choice when certain lux levels must be provided. These have been replaced by LED floodlights. LED floodlights are bright enough to be used for illumination purposes on large sport fields. The main advantages of LEDs in this application are their lower power consumption, longer life, and instant start-up (the lack of

1008-416: A winner or tie.) The wicket-keeper (a specialised fielder behind the batter) and the batters wear protective gear because of the hardness of the ball, which can be delivered at speeds of more than 145 kilometres per hour (90 mph) and presents a major health and safety concern. Protective clothing includes pads (designed to protect the knees and shins), batting gloves or wicket-keeper's gloves for

1080-480: Is being held during low-light conditions . More focused kinds are often used as a stage lighting instrument in live performances such as concerts and plays . Floodlights may also be used to add effects to buildings at night, called architectural illumination . The most common type of floodlight was the metal-halide lamp , which emits a bright white light (typically 75–100 lumens/Watt). Sodium-vapor lamps are also commonly used for sporting events, as they have

1152-529: Is aimed at a mark (the wicket) and driven away from it". It is generally believed that cricket originated as a children's game in the south-eastern counties of England, sometime during the medieval period . Although there are claims for prior dates, the earliest definite reference to cricket being played comes from evidence given at a court case in Guildford in January 1597 ( Old Style , equating to January 1598 in

1224-449: Is certain that cricket was being played c.  1550 by boys in Surrey . The view that it was originally a children's game is reinforced by Randle Cotgrave 's 1611 English- French dictionary in which he defined the noun " crosse " as "the crooked staff wherewith boys play at cricket", and the verb form " crosser " as "to play at cricket". One possible source for the sport's name

1296-423: Is drawn four feet in front of the bowling crease and parallel to it; although it is drawn as a 12 ft (3.7 m) line (six feet on either side of the wicket), it is, in fact, unlimited in length. The return creases are drawn at right angles to the popping crease so that they intersect the ends of the bowling crease; each return crease is drawn as an 8 ft (2.4 m) line, so that it extends four feet behind

1368-635: Is known, through numerous references found in the records of ecclesiastical court cases, to have been proscribed at times by the Puritans before and during the Commonwealth . The problem was nearly always the issue of Sunday play, as the Puritans considered cricket to be "profane" if played on the Sabbath , especially if large crowds or gambling were involved. According to the social historian Derek Birley , there

1440-556: Is the Old English word " cryce " (or " cricc " ) meaning a crutch or staff. In Samuel Johnson 's Dictionary , he derived cricket from " cryce , Saxon, a stick". In Old French , the word " criquet " seems to have meant a kind of club or stick. Given the strong medieval trade connections between south-east England and the County of Flanders when the latter belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy ,

1512-460: Is the earliest mention of adult participation in cricket and it was around the same time that the earliest known organised inter-parish or village match was played, at Chevening, Kent . In 1624, a player called Jasper Vinall died after he was accidentally struck on the head during a match between two parish teams in Sussex. Cricket remained a low-key local pursuit for much of the 17th century. It

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1584-402: Is thought, a " wicket gate " through which sheep were herded), that the batter must defend. The cricket historian Harry Altham identified three "groups" of "club ball" games: the "hockey group", in which the ball is driven to and from between two targets (the goals); the "golf group", in which the ball is driven towards an undefended target (the hole); and the "cricket group", in which "the ball

1656-567: The Asian Games . The resultant growth has seen cricket's fanbase cross one billion people, with 90% of them in South Asia. T20's success has also spawned even shorter formats , such as 10-over cricket (T10) and 100-ball cricket , though not without controversy. Outside factors have also taken their toll on cricket. For example, the 2008 Mumbai attacks led India and Pakistan to suspend their bilateral series indefinitely. The 2009 attack on

1728-685: The British Empire had been instrumental in spreading the game overseas, and by the middle of the 19th century it had become well established in Australia , the Caribbean , British India (which includes present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh ), New Zealand , North America and South Africa . In 1862, an English team made the first tour of Australia. The first Australian team to travel overseas consisted of Aboriginal stockmen who toured England in 1868 . In 1876–77, an England team took part in what

1800-461: The Dukes of Richmond , exerted their honour code of noblesse oblige to claim rights of leadership in any sporting contests they took part in, especially as it was necessary for them to play alongside their "social inferiors" if they were to win their bets. In time, a perception took hold that the typical amateur who played in first-class cricket, until 1962 when amateurism was abolished, was someone with

1872-622: The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company . A women's football match in 1921 used floodlights, when Preston North End 's ground was covered in thick fog and the spectators couldn't see the game. In 1929 the Providence Clamdiggers football club hosted the Bethlehem Steel "under the rays of powerful flood lights, an innovation in soccer" at their Providence, Rhode Island stadium. On 10 May 1933, Sunderland A.F.C. played

1944-466: The West Indies . Women's cricket , which is organised and played separately, has also achieved international standard. The most successful side playing international cricket is Australia , which has won eight One Day International trophies, including six World Cups , more than any other country, and has been the top-rated Test side more than any other country. Cricket is one of many games in

2016-401: The "club ball" sphere that involve hitting a ball with a hand-held implement. Others include baseball (which shares many similarities with cricket, both belonging in the more specific bat-and-ball games category ), golf , hockey , tennis , squash , badminton and table tennis . In cricket's case, a key difference is the existence of a solid target structure, the wicket (originally, it

2088-498: The 1950s, when the popularity of floodlit friendlies became such that the League relented. In September 1949, South Liverpool 's Holly Park ground hosted the first game in England under "permanent" floodlights: a friendly against a Nigerian XI. In 1950, Southampton 's stadium, The Dell , became the first ground in England to have permanent floodlighting installed. The first game played under

2160-675: The 19th century. The game's governing body is the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has over 100 members, twelve of which are full members who play Test matches. The game's rules, the Laws of Cricket , are maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London . The sport is followed primarily in South Asia , Australia , New Zealand , the United Kingdom , Southern Africa , and

2232-571: The Middle Dutch phrase for hockey, " met de (krik ket)sen " ("with the stick chase"). Gillmeister has suggested that not only the name but also the sport itself may be of Flemish origin. Although the main object of the game has always been to score the most runs , the early form of cricket differed from the modern game in certain key technical aspects; the North American variant of cricket known as wicket retained many of these aspects. The ball

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2304-516: The Nottingham Evening Post on 26 March 1889. However the same article also reported on 26 March 1889 that 'a strong wind was blowing from the Radford goal, and this caused the lights on the town side to shed a considerable portion of their radiance on the adjoining fields, so that dark shadows were often thrown upon the playing ground and it was almost impossible to see a case of handling unless

2376-560: The Sri Lankan team during their tour of Pakistan led to Pakistan being unable to host matches until 2019. In 2017, Afghanistan and Ireland became the 11th and 12th Test nations. In cricket, the rules of the game are codified in The Laws of Cricket (hereinafter called "the Laws"), which has a global remit. There are 42 Laws (always written with a capital "L"). The earliest known version of

2448-454: The ball hits the striker's wicket and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side either catching the ball after it is hit by the bat but before it hits the ground, or hitting a wicket with the ball before a batter can cross the crease line in front of the wicket. When ten batters have been dismissed, the innings (playing phase) ends and the teams swap roles. Forms of cricket range from traditional Test matches played over five days to

2520-466: The ball, which is a hard, solid spheroid made of compressed leather with a slightly raised sewn seam enclosing a cork core layered with tightly wound string. The earliest known definite reference to cricket is to it being played in South East England in the mid-16th century. It spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire , with the first international matches in the second half of

2592-449: The batting team are on the field at any given time. The order of batters is usually announced just before the match, but it can be varied. The main objective of each team is to score more runs than their opponents, but in some forms of cricket, it is also necessary to dismiss all but one of the opposition batters (making their team 'all out') in their final innings in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn (not ending with

2664-421: The bowling crease, but is also, in fact, unlimited in length. Before a match begins, the team captains (who are also players) toss a coin to decide which team will bat first and so take the first innings . "Innings" is the term used for each phase of play in the match. In each innings, one team bats, attempting to score runs , while the other team bowls and fields the ball , attempting to restrict

2736-467: The club moved back up north. The first floodlit match for rugby league played in the heartlands was on 31 October 1951 at Odsal Stadium , Bradford when Bradford Northern played New Zealand in front of 29,072. For a club to play in the Super League they must have a ground with floodlights adequate for playing a professional game. Winter sports, such as skiing and snowboarding, can be held under

2808-479: The code was drafted in 1744, and since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London . Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played on a cricket field (see image of cricket pitch and creases) between two teams of eleven players each. The field is usually circular or oval in shape, and the edge of the playing area is marked by a boundary , which may be

2880-413: The day, and enable television broadcasts during lucrative primetime hours. Some sports grounds which do not have permanent floodlights installed may make use of portable temporary ones instead. Many larger floodlights (see bottom picture) will have gantries for bulb changing and maintenance. These will usually be able to accommodate one or two maintenance workers. The first sport to play under floodlights

2952-548: The derisive term "shamateur" was coined to describe the practice. The game underwent major development in the 18th century to become England's national sport . Its success was underwritten by the twin necessities of patronage and betting. Cricket was prominent in London as early as 1707 and, in the middle years of the century, large crowds flocked to matches on the Artillery Ground in Finsbury . The single wicket form of

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3024-405: The earliest known contest that is generally considered a First Class match. The patrons and other players from the gentry began to classify themselves as " amateurs " to establish a clear distinction from the professionals, who were invariably members of the working class , even to the point of having separate changing and dining facilities. The gentry, including such high-ranking nobles as

3096-456: The existence of players like him who were nominally amateur but, in terms of their financial gain, de facto professional. Grace himself was said to have been paid more money for playing cricket than any professional. The last two decades before the First World War have been called the " Golden Age of cricket ". It is a nostalgic name prompted by the collective sense of loss resulting from

3168-631: The first limited overs Cricket World Cup in 1975 . Sri Lanka joined the ranks in 1982. Meanwhile, South Africa was banned by the ICC due to apartheid from 1970 until 1992. 1992 also brought about the introduction of the Zimbabwe team . The 21st century brought with it the Bangladesh Team , who made their Test debut in 2000. The game itself also grew, with a new format made up of 20-over innings being created. This format, called T20 cricket , quickly became

3240-510: The first match under the Highbury lights taking place on Wednesday 19 September 1951. The first international game under floodlights of an England game at Wembley was 30 November 1955 against Spain, England winning 4–1. The first floodlit Football League match took place at Fratton Park , Portsmouth on 22 February 1956 between Portsmouth and Newcastle United . Many clubs have taken their floodlights down and replaced them with new ones along

3312-450: The game at county level led to the creation of the county clubs , starting with Sussex in 1839. In December 1889, the eight leading county clubs formed the official County Championship , which began in 1890. The most famous player of the 19th century was W. G. Grace , who started his long and influential career in 1865. It was especially during the career of Grace that the distinction between amateurs and professionals became blurred by

3384-424: The game progresses (cricket can also be played on artificial surfaces, notably matting). Each wicket is made of three wooden stumps topped by two bails . As illustrated, the pitch is marked at each end with four white painted lines: a bowling crease , a popping crease and two return creases . The three stumps are aligned centrally on the bowling crease, which is eight feet eight inches long. The popping crease

3456-432: The game quickly grew from 500 tests in 84 years to 1000 within the next 23. Cricket entered a new era in 1963 when English counties introduced the limited overs variant. As it was sure to produce a result, limited overs cricket was lucrative, and the number of matches increased. The first Limited Overs International was played in 1971, and the governing International Cricket Council (ICC), seeing its potential, staged

3528-421: The greatest Test batter of all time. To curb his dominance, England employed bodyline tactics during the 1932–33 Ashes series . These involved bowling at the body of the batter and setting a field, resulting in batters having to choose between being hit or risk getting out. This series moved cricket from a game to a matter of national importance , with diplomatic cables being passed between the two countries over

3600-529: The hands, a safety helmet for the head, and a box for male players inside the trousers (to protect the crotch area). Some batters wear additional padding inside their shirts and trousers such as thigh pads, arm pads, rib protectors and shoulder pads. The only fielders allowed to wear protective gear are those in positions very close to the batter (i.e., if they are alongside or in front of him), but they cannot wear gloves or external leg guards. Subject to certain variations, on-field clothing generally includes

3672-515: The incident. During this time, the number of Test nations continued to grow, with the West Indies , New Zealand and India being admitted as full Test members within a four-year period from 1928 to 1932. An enforced break during the Second World War stopped Test Cricket for a time, although the Partition of India caused Pakistan to gain Test status in 1952. As teams began to travel more,

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3744-502: The lights failed to illuminate the whole ground, and the spectators struggled to make sense of the action in the murky conditions. Cricket was first played under floodlights on 11 August 1952, during an exhibition game at Highbury stadium in England. International day/night cricket , played under floodlights, began in 1979. Since then, many cricket stadiums have installed floodlights and use them for both domestic and international matches. Traditional cricket floodlights are mounted at

3816-476: The lights there was on 31 October 1950, in a friendly against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic , followed a year later by the first "official" match under floodlights, a Football Combination (reserve team) match against Tottenham Hotspur on 1 October 1951. Swindon Town became the first League side to install floodlights at The County Ground . Their first match being a friendly against Bristol City on Monday 2 April 1951. Arsenal followed five months later with

3888-413: The modern calendar). The case concerned ownership of a certain plot of land, and the court heard the testimony of a 59-year-old coroner , John Derrick , who gave witness that: Being a scholler in the ffree schoole of Guldeford hee and diverse of his fellows did runne and play there at creckett and other plaies. Given Derrick's age, it was about half a century earlier when he was at school, and so it

3960-541: The name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch (in use in Flanders at the time) " krick " ( -e ), meaning a stick (crook). Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word " krickstoel " , meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church that resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket. According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University , "cricket" derives from

4032-448: The newer Twenty20 format (also known as T20 ), in which each team bats for a single innings of 20 overs (each "over" being a set of 6 fair opportunities for the batting team to score) and the game generally lasts three to four hours. Traditionally, cricketers play in all-white kit , but in limited overs cricket , they wear club or team colours. In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by

4104-465: The officials were close to'. The match was played at 7:45pm and Forest lost 2-0 watched by 5000 spectators. Thames Ironworks (who would later be re-formed as West Ham United ) played a number of friendly matches under artificial light at their Hermit Road ground during their inaugural season of 1895–96 . These experiments, which included high-profile fixtures against Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion , were set up using engineers and equipment from

4176-445: The pitch. The striker's goal is to hit the bowled ball with the bat and then switch places with the nonstriker, with the batting team scoring one run for each of these exchanges. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally . The fielding team tries to prevent runs from being scored by dismissing batters (so they are "out"). Means of dismissal include being bowled , when

4248-491: The roof line of the stands. This previously had not been possible as many grounds comprised open terraces and roof lines on covered stands were too low. Elland Road , Old Trafford and Anfield were the first major grounds to do this in the early 1990s. Deepdale , The Galpharm Stadium and the JJB Stadium have since been built with traditional floodlights on pylons. The first rugby league match to be played under floodlights

4320-682: The same year 3rd Lanark RV played an exhibition match against Scottish Cup holders Vale of Leven at the first Cathkin Park , with press reports suggesting the lighting from a Gramme machine was not successful in illuminating the whole field. Subsequent tests over the next month using three Siemens dynamos at the first Hampden Park , Rugby Park in Kilmarnock and at Powderhall Stadium in Edinburgh produced mixed results, in part due to technical issues and weather conditions. Nottingham Forest played

4392-412: The scoring and dismiss the batters. When the first innings ends, the teams change roles; there can be two to four innings depending upon the type of match. A match with four scheduled innings is played over three to five days; a match with two scheduled innings is usually completed in a single day. During an innings, all eleven members of the fielding team take the field, but usually only two members of

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4464-443: The sport attracted huge crowds and wagers to match, its popularity peaking in the 1748 season . Bowling underwent an evolution around 1760 when bowlers began to pitch (bounce) the ball instead of rolling or skimming it towards the batter. This caused a revolution in bat design because, to deal with the bouncing ball, it was necessary to introduce the modern straight bat in place of the old "hockey stick" shape. The Hambledon Club

4536-413: The sport is that a bowler delivers (i.e., bowls) the ball from their end of the pitch towards the batter who, armed with a bat , is "on strike" at the other end (see next sub-section: Basic gameplay ). The bat is made of wood, usually Salix alba (white willow), and has the shape of a blade topped by a cylindrical handle. The blade must not be more than 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) wide and

4608-654: The top of a tall pole, to elevate them out of the fielder 's eyeline when the ball is hit high into the air. However, some cricket stadiums have lower-mounted floodlights, particularly if the stadium is shared with other sports. Noel Walsh 's advocacy was pivotal in the spread of floodlights in Gaelic games . When chairman of the Munster Council , Walsh had a pilot project for floodlights at Austin Stack Park in Tralee which "became

4680-523: The war, but the period did produce some great players and memorable matches, especially as organised competition at county and Test level developed. In 1844, the first-ever international match took place between what were essentially club teams, from the United States and Canada , in Toronto ; Canada won. In 1859, a team of English players went to North America on the first overseas tour . Meanwhile,

4752-651: Was bowled underarm by the bowler and along the ground towards a batter armed with a bat that in shape resembled a hockey stick ; the batter defended a low, two-stump wicket ; and runs were called notches because the scorers recorded them by notching tally sticks. In 1611, the year Cotgrave 's dictionary was published, ecclesiastical court records at Sidlesham in Sussex state that two parishioners, Bartholomew Wyatt and Richard Latter, failed to attend church on Easter Sunday because they were playing cricket. They were fined 12 d each and ordered to do penance . This

4824-643: Was polo , on 18 July 1878. Ranelagh Club hosted a match in Fulham , London , England against the Hurlingham Club . In August 1879, two matches of Australian rules football were staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground under electric lights. The first was between two "scratch" teams composed of military personnel. The following week, two of the city's leading football clubs, rivals Carlton and Melbourne , played another night match. On both occasions,

4896-538: Was a "great upsurge of sport after the Restoration " in 1660. Several members of the court of King Charles II took a strong interest in cricket during that era. Gambling on sport became a problem significant enough for Parliament to pass the 1664 Gambling Act, limiting stakes to £ 100, which was, in any case, a colossal sum exceeding the annual income of 99% of the population. Along with horse racing , as well as prizefighting and other types of blood sport , cricket

4968-592: Was founded in the 1760s and, for the next twenty years until the formation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the opening of Lord's Old Ground in 1787, Hambledon was both the game's greatest club and its focal point. MCC quickly became the sport's premier club and the custodian of the Laws of Cricket . New Laws introduced in the latter part of the 18th century include the three-stump wicket and leg before wicket (lbw). The 19th century saw underarm bowling superseded by first roundarm and then overarm bowling . Both developments were controversial. Organisation of

5040-611: Was on 14 December 1932 when Wigan met Leeds in an exhibition match played at White City Stadium in London (8pm kick off). Leeds won 18–9 in front of a crowd of over 10,000 spectators. The venture was such a success that the owners of the White City Ground took over the "Wigan Highfield" club and moved them to play Rugby League games at the ground under floodlights the following season, with most of their matches kicking off on Wednesday Nights at 8pm. That venture only lasted one season before

5112-490: Was perceived to be a gambling sport. Rich patrons made matches for high stakes, forming teams in which they engaged the first professional players. By the end of the century, cricket had developed into a major sport that was spreading throughout England and was already being taken abroad by English mariners and colonisers—the earliest reference to cricket overseas is dated 1676. A 1697 newspaper report survives of "a great cricket match" played in Sussex "for fifty guineas apiece",

5184-405: Was retrospectively recognised as the first-ever Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia . The rivalry between England and Australia gave birth to The Ashes in 1882, which remains Test cricket's most famous contest. Test cricket began to expand in 1888–89 when South Africa played England. The inter-war years were dominated by Australia 's Don Bradman , statistically

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