How the bat and ball came into being...

by A. C. de Silva

CRICKET: The game of cricket right now is a sophisticated game that ranks high in the popular list of sports. However, it will be interesting to recall how the game progressed to occupy the high seat it occupies right now.

All available records show that cricket was first played with stones, pieces of wood and probably all other sundry missiles. The first 'manufactured' ball was made interfacing narrow strips of hide and was first mentioned in 1658.

The first seam ball was made in 1755 by Dukes, a family firm of Penhurst, in Kent who presented it to the Prince of Wales (later George IV).

Balls are made of hand-stitched leather quarters dyed red, covering an interior of cork wound round with twine.

Coming on to the bat, the oldest surviving cricket bat is inscribed 'J.C. 1729' - J. C. was John Chitty of Knaphill - and can be seen in the pavilion at the Oval.

There has never been any restriction on a bat's weight. Some used in the 1770s weight as much as 5 pounds and many players in the 19th century used 4-pound bats. The average weight of a modern bat is 2 pounds 5 ounces.

The bat used today consists of a willow blade with a cane handle (invented in 1853) layered with thin strips of rubber bound with twine. This is covered by a light rubber sheath - the grip. The 'V' shaped extension of the handle into the blade is the splice.

Originally, there were only stumps used and the third stump is believed to have been introduced in 1775. Not until 1785 did the third stump become mandatory.

Bowling is a very important aspect of the game of cricket. Originally bowling in cricket was exactly the same as the bowling in bowls, with the ball rolled under-arm along the ground. This method of bowling was unchallenged by experiment until the middle of the 18th century. Sometime after 1744, bowlers began to pitch the ball and two new weapons, length and direction had been added to the armoury.

The first exponent of round-arm bowling was John Willes of Kent. He used to practice batting against the bowling of his sister - Christina. Because of her tall skirt of the period, she could only deliver the ball round-arm and Willes found it very difficult to play.

When he opened the bowling round-arm for Kent against the MCC at Lord's on 15th July 1822, he became the first bowler in the game's history to be no-balled for throwing. By 1827, many bowlers had tried out the round-arm method.

Then the MCC authorised round-arm bowling. The bowlers were allowed to raise their hand level with the elbow. The change was incorporated into a revision of the laws in 1835, but with 'shoulder' replacing 'elbow'.

By this time, there were some already experimenting with overarm bowling and it was frequently employed in matches and the umpires 'standing' then allowed this practice.

However, Edger Willsher of Kent was the first to be 'no-balled' for bowling overarm by umpire John Lillywhite at The Oval on 26th August 1862. Opening England's bowling against Surrey, he was called six times and the England team left the field causing play to be abandoned for the rest of the day. Lillywhite refused to change his mind and he was replaced as umpire for the final day. Thus reprieved, Willsher went on to take 6 for 49.

Overarm bowling was legalised when an amendment to the laws passed on 10th June 1864.