Test cricket is unique game in many
ways. Discuss some of the ways in which it is different from other
team games. How are the peculiarities of Test cricket shaped by its
historical beginnings as a village game?
Test cricket is unique game in many ways. Discuss some of the ways in which it is different from other team games. How are the peculiarities of Test cricket shaped by its historical beginnings as a village game?
Test cricket is a unique game in many ways. It was the first modern team game to give itself rules and regulations. Unlike other team games, it can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern team sport takes even half as much time to complete. While most team games (such as hockey and football) specify the dimensions of the playing area, the laws of cricket do not state the specific dimensions of the playing field.
The reasons for such peculiarities of Test cricket are related to its historical beginnings as a village game. Originally, cricket matches had no time limit. In rural England, a match would go on till a side was bowled out twice. This corresponded to the life in the countryside. Village life was unlike the strictly time-oriented routines of industrial city life. The absence of any specifications about the dimensions of the playing field can also be related to the rural origins of cricket. It was originally played on country commons or public grounds, and the sizes of such grounds varied from one village to another. The rural and pre-industrial past of cricket is also indicated by the game's equipment. The bat, even today, is made of wood, as are the stumps and the bails. Likewise, the ball is made with leather, twine and cork.
Test cricket is a unique game in many ways. It was the first modern team game to give itself rules and regulations. Unlike other team games, it can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern team sport takes even half as much time to complete. While most team games (such as hockey and football) specify the dimensions of the playing area, the laws of cricket do not state the specific dimensions of the playing field.
The reasons for such peculiarities of Test cricket are related to its historical beginnings as a village game. Originally, cricket matches had no time limit. In rural England, a match would go on till a side was bowled out twice. This corresponded to the life in the countryside. Village life was unlike the strictly time-oriented routines of industrial city life. The absence of any specifications about the dimensions of the playing field can also be related to the rural origins of cricket. It was originally played on country commons or public grounds, and the sizes of such grounds varied from one village to another. The rural and pre-industrial past of cricket is also indicated by the game's equipment. The bat, even today, is made of wood, as are the stumps and the bails. Likewise, the ball is made with leather, twine and cork.
