Search This Blog

Monday 4 August 2014

Cricket International

The first international cricket match took place as early as August 28, 1841 when 18 members of the New York club travelled to Toronto to play a Canadian "eleven." They played for a stake of $250 a side, and in front of a decent crowd, the Americans won by ten wickets.


A tour to Australia in 1861 by an unofficial English team was seen as a "test of strength and competency," which led to the term "Test match."

In 1868 Australia’s first touring cricket company consisted of 13 Aboriginal men from the Gunditjimara, Jardwadjali, and Wotjobaluk nations in Australia. The men traveled to England to play 47 matches and were coached and captained by former all-England cricketer Charles Lawrence. 

The first official Test cricket match was played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Australia, on March 15, 1877. The match started at 1:00 pm local time, and the first ball was bowled at 1:05 pm. Charles Bannerman of Australia faced the first ball, which was bowled by England's Alfred Shaw.

The match was played over four days, and Australia won by 45 runs. Charles Bannerman scored the first century in Test cricket, making 165 runs in Australia's first innings. 

The first official Test cricket match was umpired by two Australians, George Coulthard and Edmund Barton (who later became the first Prime Minister of Australia)

At a historical cricket match between England and Australia played at the Oval in 1882 the Englishmen were beaten by 7 runs. On the following morning the Sporting Times published an obituary note on English cricket. It read:
IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE
of ENGLISH CRICKET,
Which died at the Oval
29th August 1882.
Deeply lamented by a large circle
of Sorrowing Friends and
Acquaintances.
RIP
NB - The body will be cremated,
and the ashes taken to Australia.

The following year, an English team went to Australia, its captain, the Hon. Ivo Bligh, was asked to bring back "the ashes." After England defeated the Australians 2-1, the Aussies burned a bail and put its ashes into an urn, which they presented to their victorious visitors. The Australians and Englishmen have fought for this urn (see below) ever since.

  Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgreef/431806671/

The Australian cricket team captained by Warwick Armstrong became on March 1, 1921 the first team to complete a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.

Armstrong (centre, middle row) with his 1920–21 team, considered one of the great Test teams of all time.

The controversial "Bodyline" cricket tactics used by Douglas Jardine's England peaked on January 14, 1933 when Australian captain Bill Woodfull was hit by a ball balled by English fast bowler Harold Larwood over the heart.  A bodyline delivery was one where the cricket ball was bowled at the body of the batsman, in the hope that when he defended himself with his bat, a resulting deflection could be caught by one of several fielders standing close by.  The tactic was devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman.

The first-ever cricket Test match in India was played at the Bombay Gymkhana ground between England and India on December 15 to December 19, 1933. Temporary stands were put up at the ground to accommodate a record crowd of 50,000 people, with tickets selling at five times their usual price. England won by nine wickets.



On August 18, 1948 the Australian cricket team  captained by Don Bradman completed a 4–0 Ashes series win, earning them the nickname of "The Invincibles" for being the first Test side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match.

It was the last Test in Don Bradman's career. Going into the match, if Australia batted only once, Bradman needed only four runs from his final innings to have a Test batting average of exactly 100, but he failed to score, bowled second ball for a duck by leg spinner Eric Hollies.

On March 28, 1955, at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand were bowled out by England in the second innings of the second test match for 26 runs. Only opener Bert Sutcliffe reached double figures, scoring 11 and only three batsmen scored more than 1. This total is still a record test low.

The first ever One-Day International (ODI) was played on January 5, 1971, between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Interestingly, it wasn't planned as a regular fixture! The third Test during that Australia vs England series was washed out for the first three days, and officials decided to fill the gap with a one-off, 40-over-per-side game using white kits and a red ball. Despite its unplanned nature, this match is considered the official birth of ODI cricket. Australia won the inaugural match by 5 wickets.


in 1973 the first women's Cricket World Cup was held in England, two years before the first men's tournament.

In the first ever men's cricket World Cup in 1975, West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs in the final.

The 1977 Centenary Test was played between Australia and England to commemorate 100th anniversary of first Test match. Australia won by 45 runs, exactly the same margin as the first Test match.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to hit a double century in a one day international when he scored 200* against South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010. The Indian star took 147 balls, to reach the milestone and his innings included 25 fours and 3 sixes.

Mohinder Amarnath of India is the only player to be dismissed for both handling the ball and obstructing the field in One Day International cricket

Source Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999. Published by Webster Publishing,

No comments:

Post a Comment