Question 1.
When were the first laws of cricket drawn up? Mention any three such laws.
Or
Mention the first written Laws of Cricket’ drawn up in 1744. [CBSE March 2011,13,15]
Or
Describe the first written laws of cricket. [CBSE March 2011]
Answer:
The first written laws of cricket were drawn in 1774.

1. The principals shall choose from amongst the gentleman present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes.
2. Stumps must be 22 inches high and the bail across them six inches.
3. Balls must be between 5 to 6 ounces.

Question 2.
Mention any three peculiarities of Test Cricket.
Or
Why is cricket called a peculiar game? Give any three reasons. [CBSE 2014]
Answer:

• A match can go on for five days and still end in a draw.
• No specification regarding the size or shape of the ground.
• There were no limits on the shape or size of the bat.

Question 3.
“Cricket has changed with changing times and yet fundamentally remained true to its origin in rural England”. Justify by giving examples.
Answer:

• No specification for ground: Even after more than 300 years of its origin still there is no specification regarding the measurement of the playing ground.
• Equipments: Cricket’s most important tools are all made of natural, pre-industrial materials. The bat is s made of wood as are the stumps and bails. The ball is made with leather, twine and cork. Even today, both bat and ball are hand-made, not industrially manufactured. The material of the bat changed slightly over time. Once it was cut out of a single piece of wood. Now it consists of two pieces, the blade which is made out of the wood of the willow tree and the handle which is made out of cane that became available as European colonialists and trading companies established themselves in Asia. Unlike golf and tennis, cricket has refused to remake its tools with industrial or man-made materials: plastic, fibre glass and metal have been firmly rejected.
• Protective equipment: Some of its equipments have changed with the changing time like gloves, helmet and pads. They all are manufactured by machines.

Question 4.
‘The organisation of cricket in England reflected the nature of English society’. Explain.
Answer:

• The English society at that time was divided into the rich and the poor. Similarly, there was also a division in cricket. The rich players who played for leisure were called amateurs and the poor who played for livings were called professionals.
• As most of the administrative laws were favouring the rich class,
  Similarly most of the cricket laws
  Were in favour of the batsmen as Amateurs tended to be the batsmen.
• Most of the hard work was done by the poor, similarly, in cricket, fielding and bowling was done by the professionals.
• Only the rich were having the right to lead, similarly, in cricket only the batsmen were made the captain.

Question 5.
Mention any three features of post packer game of cricket.
Answer:

• Cricket became a marketable game.
• Colored dress, protective helmets, field restrictions, cricket under lights, became a standard part of the post Oackergame.
• Television coverage beamed cricket into small towns and villages.

Question 6.
‘Cricket in India was organised on the principle of race and religion.’ Justify.
Or
How was the cricket used by the Britishers to spread their policy of racism?
Answer:

• When there was a quarrel between the Bombay Gymkhana and the Parsi cricketers over the use of public park, the Britishers favoured the Bombay. Gymkhana.
• They regarded religious comm¬unities as separate national-iris. That is why they used to approve applications for clubs on the basis of community.
• They encouraged pentangular tournament as it was based on comm¬unities.
• The first class cricket was also organised on communal and racial fines. The teams that played colonial India’s greatest and most famous first-class cricket tournament did not represent regions, but religious communities.

Question 7.
‘The centre of gravity in cricket has shifted away from the old Anglo- Australian axis.’ Justify by giving examples. [CBSE 2015]
Answer:

• The cricket headquarters has been shifted from London to tax free Dubai.
• England and Australia have lost their veto power right.
• Innovations like IPL, doosra and reverse swing have mainly come from the subcontinental teams of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• India has the largest viewership for the game amongst the cricket playing nations and the largest market in the world.

Question 8.
Explain the journey of cricket progress in India.
Answer:

(i) Cricket at initial stage: Cricket in colonial India was organised on the principle of race and religion. The first record we have of cricket being played in India is from 1721, an account of recreational cricket played by: England sailors in Cambay.

(ii) The Cricket Clubs: The first Indian club, the Calcutta Cricket Club, was established in 1792. Through the
eighteenth century, cricket in India was almost wholly a sport played by British military men and civil servants in all-white clubs and gymkhanas.

(iii)  Cricket by Parsis: Parsis were the first to play cricket in India. They were close to Britishers because of their interest in trade and western education. They founded the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay in 1848 and later on Parsi Gymkhana.

(iv) Clubs by other communities: The establishment of the Parsi Gymkhana became a precedent for other Indians who in turn established clubs based on the idea of religious community. By the 1890s, the Hindus and Muslims were busy gathering funds and support for a Hindu Gymkhana and an Islam Gymkhana. The British did not consider colonial India as a nation.

(v) Quadrangular Tournament: This history of gymkhana cricket led to the first-class cricket being organised on communal and racial lines. The teams that played colonial India’s greatest and most famous first-class cricket tournament did not represent regions, as teams in today’s Ranji Trophy currently do, but religious communities. The tournament was initially called the Quadrangular, because it was played by four teams: the Europeans, the Parsis, the Hindus and the Muslims. It later became the Pentangular when a fifth team was added, namely, the Rest, which comprised all the communities left over, such as the Indian Christians.

Question 9.
What changes were brought by (MCC) Marylebone Cricket Club-in cricket laws in the later half of the 18th century? [CBSE 2015]
Or
Mention any three changes brought about in the game of Cricket by the MCC’s revision of the laws during the second half of the 18th century. [CBSE March 2011]
Answer:

• It was decided to pitch the ball in the air instead of rolling it along the ground. It gave the bowlers the options of length, deception through the air and increase in the pace.
• The curved bat was replaced by the straight one.
• The weight of the ball was limited to 51/2 to 53/4 ounces, while the width of the bat was limited to four inches.
• In 1774, the first leg before wicket law was published.
• At about the same time, a third stump became common.
• By 1780, three days had become the length of major matches.

Question 10.
“The social and economic history of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, cricket’s early years, shaped the game and gave cricket its unique nature.” Explain. [CBSE 2014]
Answer:

• Cricket and rural life: Cricket’s connection with a rural past can be seen in the length of a Test match. Originally, cricket matches had no time limit. The game went on for as long as it took to bowl out a side twice. The rhythms of village life were slower and cricket’s rules were made before the Industrial Revolution.
• Size of ground and the common land: In the same way, cricket’s vagueness about the size of a cricket ground is a result of its village origins! Cricket wag originally played on country commons, unfenced land that was public property. The size of the commons varied from one village to another, so there were no designated boundaries or boundary hits.
• Cricket’s tools: Cricket’s most important tools are all made of natural, pre-industrial materials. The bat is made of wood as are the stumps and the bails. The ball is made with leather, twine and cork.
• Division of the players: Cricket players were also divided on their social and economic status. The rich who could afford to play it for pleasure were called amateurs and the poor who played it for a living were called professionals.
• Cricket and the British Empire : Team sport like cricket and rugby were not treated as just as outdoor play, but as an organised way of teaching English boys the discipline, the importance of hierarchy, the skills, the codes of honour and, the leadership qualities that helped them build and run the British empire.

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