Introduction

Cricket is a game that is said to have been played since the times of the Saxon and the Norman in the 16th century by the children living in the region of Weald in England. Although, there have been speculations that it originated from France and its references can be found in times as early as the 14th century. It was noted that King Edward II played this game in the "creag and other games" in Westminster and Newenden. It is suggested the "creag" was an Old English name for Cricket but according to some experts it was the early spelling of the word "craic" which means "fun and games in General"

Some people believe that Cricket was derived from the sport known as "Bowls". Bowls was a sport in which a ball made of a lump of wool (procured from sheep-grazing) used to be bowled and it required an intervention of a batsman who used to hit the ball with the bat to prevent it from going into the target. The target was usually made up of a tree-stump known as the "gate" or "wicket". This game of "Bowls" was generally played by the children but was becoming increasingly popular in adults in the 15th century.

 In 1597, there was a court case over the dispute of an ownership of a land where a 59-year old coroner John Derrick is said to have testified that he and his friend used to play a sport known as creckett some 50 years ago on that site. Creckett word was derived from Middle Dutch word "krick" which meant a stick. According to a European language expert from the University of Bonn, Heiner Gillmeister, "cricket" had derived from Middle Dutch phrase of hockey, met de (krik ket)sen (means "with the stick chase").

After the English Civil War in the 17th century, Cricket had become an adult game in the parish community. It was also popular in many villages which led to the development of village Cricket and eventually a much more competitive Cricket known as the county Cricket. This game soon spread to the West Indies and Australia due to colonialism in the late 17th century and eventually reached the British India through the East India Company.