CRICKET AS RATIONAL
RECREATION
WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT…..
 SIGNIFICANT
PEOPLE
 GROWTH OF AMATEUR AND
PROFESSIONAL ASPECTS
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CROWD
IN URBAN COMMUNITIES
 DEVELOPMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
AND ADMINISTRATION
TASK
 WHAT
WERE THE INFLUENTIAL
FACTORS THAT MADE CRICKET AS
RATIONAL RECREATION?
CLASS DIVISIONS
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1870s ONWARDS COUNTRY CRICKET TOOK OVER AS A
SPECTATOR ATTRACTION.
COUNTY COMMITTEES (AMATEUR) – KEPT PROFESSIONALS
FIRMLY IN THEIR PLACE, THEYHAD DIFFERENT NAMES – PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR
THEIR NAMES IN THE PROGRAMME APPEARED
DIFFERENTLY.
DIFFERENT EATING ARRANGEMENTS
THEY DID NOT TRAVEL TOGETHER OR USE THE SAME
CHANGING ROOM.
THEY ENTERED THE FIELD OF PLAY FROM A DIFFERENT
DOOR.
THE CAPTAIN WAS ALWAYS AN AMATEUR.
THERE WERE ‘LADS’ AND UNIVERSITY MEN (AMATEURS) IN
THE SAME SIDE. THIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN GENTLEMAN
AND PLAYERS WAS ABOLISHED IN 1963.
CRICKET BECAME THE
NATIONAL GAME OF ENGLAND
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RULES WERE REVISED BY THE M.C.C. AND THE
COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS ESTABLISHED.
TEST MATCHES WERE HELD REGULARLY, WITH
AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH AFRICA THE MAIN
OPPONENTS.
AMATEURS IMPROVED TO RIVAL THE PROFESSIONAL
PLAYERS.
WOMEN’S CRICKET WAS LIMITED BY VICTORIAN
ATTITUDES, BUT IN THE 1880s THERE WAS A
REVIVAL OF THE ‘LADIES’ GAME AS THE RESULT OF
INCREASED ATHLETICISM IN THE MIDDLE-CLASS
GIRLS’ SCHOOLS.
INFLUENTIAL MEN
WILLIAM
CLARK
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A REMARKABLE CRICKETER WITH VISION
HAD A BUSINESS BRAIN
TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE CHANGING ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE 1840s
FOCUSED CRICKET’S LOCAL AND FRAGMENTED
POPULARITY INTO A NATIONAL SUCCESS.
WHAT DID PROFESSIONALS / THE WILLIAM CLARKE X1 DO
FOR CRICKET?
MANY COACHED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
DEVELOPED PROFESSIONAL TOURING SIDES
TOURED ENGLAND FOR MANY SEASONS, ALSO COUNTY
SIDES
STIMULATED GROWTH OF CRICKET
GEORGE PARR TOOK OVER AS CAPTAIN AND SECRETARY
OF THE ALL-ENGLAND IN 1856 WHEN CLARKE DIED.
W. G. GRACE (1849-1915)
W. G. GRACE (18491915)
POWERFUL ALL-ROUND ATHLETE AND
THE MOST FAMOUS CRICKETER OF
HIS TIME.
 GRACE WAS A DOCTOR BY
PROFESSION AND GENTLEMAN
AMATEUR BY STATUS, YET HE WAS
PAID £50 PER GAME. BETWEEN 1870
AND 1910, HE EARNED £120,000
EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY
FROM CRICKET.
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 THE
ARGUMENT AGAINST
PROFESSIONALISM IN CRICKET
 FEAR OF:
 CORRUPTION
 PROFESSIONALS OUTCLASSING
AMATEURS
 LOSS OF FAIR PLAY.
HOMEWORK
 COMMENT
ON THE LEVEL OF
PARTICIPATION IN CRICKET TODAY
 WHAT FACTORS HAVE HELPED
DEVELOP THE LEVEL OF
PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE
 WHAT ARE THE MAIN BARRIERS
THAT MIGHT AFFECT THE LEVEL OF
PARTICIPATION?