Cricket Comau
Along with prizefighting, horse racing and blood sports, cricket was perceived to be a playing sport. Rich patrons made matches for prime stakes, forming groups by which they engaged the first professional players. By the tip of the century, cricket had developed into a major sport that was spreading throughout England and was already being taken overseas by English mariners and colonisers – the earliest reference to cricket overseas is dated 1676. A 1697 newspaper report survives of "an excellent cricket match" played in Sussex "for 50 guineas apiece" – that is the earliest identified contest that's generally thought of a First Class match. At the grassroots stage, local club cricket is actually an newbie pastime for those concerned but still often entails teams enjoying in competitions at weekends or in the night. Schools cricket, first identified in southern England within the seventeenth century, has a similar situation and both are extensively performed ...