The history of cricket to 1725 traces the sport's growth from its
perceived origins to the stage where it had become a major sport in England and
had been introduced to other countries.
The earliest definite reference to cricket occurs in 1598 and makes clear
that the sport was being played c. 1550, but its true origin is a mystery.
All that can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that its beginning was
earlier than 1550, somewhere in south-east England within the counties of Kent,
Sussex and Surrey. Unlike other games with batsmen, bowlers and fielders, such
as stool ball and rounder’s, cricket can only be played on comparatively short
grass, especially as the ball was delivered along the ground until the 1760s.
Therefore, wooded area clearings and land where sheep had graze would have been
appropriate places to play.
The meager information available about cricket's early years suggests that
it was originally a children's game. Then, at the beginning of the 17th
century, it was taken up by working men. During the reign of Charles I, the
gentry took an greater than before interest as patrons and occasionally as
players. A big attraction for them was the opportunity that the game offered
for gambling and this escalate in the years following the reinstatement. By the
time of the Hanoverian progression, project in cricket had created the
professional player and the first major clubs, thus establishing the sport as a
popular social activity in London and the south of England. in the meantime,
English colonist had introduced cricket to North America and the West Indies,
and the sailors and traders of the East India Company had taken it to the Indian
subcontinent.
