The Parsis were the first Indian community to set up a cricket club in India.
The origins of Indian cricket is to be found in Bombay and the first Indian community which started playing the game were the Parsis.
(i) This was because they were first to come into close contact with the British because of their trading interests.
(ii) They were also the first Indian community to westernize.
(iii) The Parsis founded the first Indian cricket club called the Oriental Club Bombay in 1848. The Parsis club was sponsored by rich Parsi business men like the Tatas and the Wadias.
Describe one way in which the nineteenth-century technology brought about a change in equipment and give an example where no change in equipment took place.
One major equipment which primarily is because of technological development is the protective gear including helmets, pads and other protective coverings.
The helmet and the face protector are made of metal and synthetic light materials.
Except the helmet, all other cricketing equipments did not change much. Bat, stumps, bails and balls showed little or not change.
Mahatma Gandhi condemned the Pentangular tournament.
Test cricket is a unique game in many ways. Discuss some of the ways in which it is different from other team games. How are the peculiarities of the test cricket shaped by its historical beginnings as a village game?
No doubt the Test cricket is a unique game. Its uniqueness can be attributed in the socio-economic history of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
(ii) Cricket’s vagueness about the size of a cricket ground is a result of its village origins. It was originally played on country commons, unfenced land that was public property. The size of commons varied from one village to another, so there were no designated boundaries or boundary hits.
(iii) Cricket’s most important tools are all made of natural, pre-industrial materials. The bat is to be made of wood as are the stumps and the bails. The ball is made with leather, twine and cork. Even today both bat and ball are handmade, not industrially manufactured.
Explain why cricket became popular in India and West Indies. Can you give reasons why it did not become popular in the countries of South America?