A short description of cricket as given to a foreigner is “There are two teams of 11 players. When one side is in batting the other side is fielding, when the side that is in is out the side that was out goes in!”  

It was in about 1780 that the first records of cricket began to be kept when the club at Hambledon, in the southeast corner of Hampshire became the strongest team in England. They had a great batsman in “Silver Billy” Beldham and a fine bowler in David Harris. In the 18^th. century all bowling was underarm and batsmen used slightly curved bats to defend very wide wickets that considered of two stumps with a cross bar laid across the top. The creases were cut into the ground and the score was kept by means of notches cut in a stick for each run scored, with an extra deep notch for every tenth run. The teams played in buckle shoes and knee britches and their games were often for bets of as much as £500. The nobility who used to gamble heavily ran most of the great elevens.  

After much argument the laws allowed round-arm bowling in 1828 and over arm in 1869. When a team whose best bowlers continually beat the batsmen had lost a famous match in 1776, only for the ball to pass between the two stumps without hitting them a middle stump was added. 

In about 1800 the game took a strong hold in London and William Lambert the Surrey all-rounder became the outstanding player. Thomas Lord’s third ground the present Lords at ST. John Wood, London became the headquarters and later the property of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).  

There were many changes in the players dress and their headgear passed through stages of top hats, bowlers, pillboxes and tam o’shanters to the cap of the present day. At one stage coloured shirts were worn, the famous professional sides of the second half of the 19^th. century had spotted shirts while the custom of wearing a tie continued into the 20^th. century. Pads and gloves for batting and wicket keeping were first used in 1836.  

The first international match (test) was played in 1877 in Melbourne where Australia beat England. In 1882 Australia beat England at The Oval and after that match the Sporting Times coined the term “The Ashes”. The paper published a paragraph telling of the “death of English cricket” and added that “the body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia” The actual Ashes are made from a bail which was burnt during the England tour of Australia in 1883. The first England side to tour overseas went to Canada and the United States in 1859. 

The England and Wales Cricket Board has issued new safety guidance on the wearing of cricket helmets by young players.

 ·         It is recommended that a helmet is worn by young players when batting and when standing up to the stumps when keeping wicket against a hard cricket ball in matches and in practice.  

·         A young player should not be allowed to bat or to stand up to the stumps when keeping wicket without a helmet against a hard ball except with written parental consent. Coaches, teachers, managers and umpires should always ensure that a young player wears a helmet if this written parental consent has not been received.   

·         Players should regard a helmet with a faceguard as a normal item of protective equipment when batting against a hard ball, together with pads, gloves and, for boys, an abdominal protector (box). 

·         There is a British Standard (BS7928:1998) for cricket helmets and it is in the best interests of players to ensure that their helmet conforms to this standard.  

The ECB is recommending that this guidance is followed by all players up to the age of 18. It applies to young players in adult cricket as well as to all junior cricket played with a hard cricket ball.