Interesting Facts About England Cricket Team

England is the birthplace of Cricket. England and cricket go hand in hand and are exported to various countries in the truest English sporting fashion. You may know about the cricket craze in England, but you may be unaware of how it started. Here are some interesting facts about the England Cricket team.

Interesting Facts about England Cricket Team

England Cricket team has played the most significant number of test matches: The England national team is the only one in the world to have played 1000 test matches. This milestone was achieved in August 2018 during a test match against India at Edgbaston.

The first official mention of cricket was centuries before Cricket started in England as a good sport: The first official mention of cricket was in the year 1597 and it was related to some court case involving ownership of a plot of land referred to as the game of ‘creckett’. It was after several centuries more precisely, in 1877 that the first official test match was played. This match was between England and Australia with the Aussies taking the win.

The Longest cricket match ever: There is a joke around England that cricket goes on for far too long. Cricket features frequent breaks, primarily due to England’s indecisive weather.

The longest-ever cricket match was played in 1939. The match was between England and South Africa, and this match lasted a ridiculous 14 days. The interesting point is that the game came out as a draw as the English ship was about to leave to take the teammates back home.

The first cricket ball was made of wool: Although no one knows who started cricket, some studies say shepherds invented it. They came up with the idea as a way of passing the time while they guard the sheep. Naturally, the ball was made from what is abundant with them ‘wool’. Today’s bowling speed was most likely unachievable at that time since the ball was made of wool.

At one point, the English cricket team played 8-ball overs: It is interesting to note that the history of one over in cricket is unique and interesting. An over in cricket did not always have six deliveries. 

When international cricket started, there were 4 deliveries an over. This rule was in action for eight years and started from 1880 to 1888. After that, the number of legal deliveries per over was increased to five. From 1888 to 1899, this rule of five legal deliveries was in action but from 1900 onwards the number of legal deliveries per over was increased to 6 balls which is how cricket is being played till today.

However, there was a short phase in England Cricket History when the number of legal deliveries was eight balls per over. This was during the period from 1939-1945. This was the time of World War 2 and international cricket was halted at that time. Any cricket game played in England consisted of 8 balls per over in that period.

England’s first-ever world cup win (Men’s): Many cricket enthusiasts will agree that the 2019 men’s cricket world cup is the most nail-biting experience ever. Thanks to the incredible performance by Ben Stokes and that luck factor. It helped England end an embarrassing run of never having won the most surprising sports tournament the English invented.

The cricket player from England who also played football and won medals: Back in those days, it was pretty common for a player to take part in multiple games, but few were the players who excelled in various competitions. 

Many cricket players used to play Football or Rugby when the cricket season was not on. One of England’s greatest and most notable cricketers, Dennis Compton, was quite an exception. Compton was one of England’s greatest middle-order batsmen, and he had a batting average of 56.40 in test cricket throughout his career that lasted twenty years. 

On the other hand, he was also a good footballer and remained in Middlesex in the County Championships for at least thirty years. He played for one of the most prominent English football clubs Arsenal, when the club was the most dominant among football clubs. Compton as a footballer made his first appearance in 1936 and in 1948 he won honors. He scored fifteen goals in his football career lasting fourteen years.

The women’s England cricket team won their first world cup: This is very unusual but true. The first-ever women’s cricket world cup was held two years before the men’s tournament and this time the English side won the tournament.

This legendary cricketer is the first cricketer to endorse a product: We all know the legendary cricketer W. G. Grace. He was a magician on the cricket field, which is why he is regarded as the father of modern batting techniques.

He was a pioneer of all sorts of things, including sledding and refusing to accept dismissal. He can be easily considered the backbone of English cricket, but do you know, he was the first cricketer to endorse any product. In the year 1895 he became an ambassador for Colman’s mustard.

The advertisement was in the form of a poster featuring W. G. Grace who was seen walking down the pavilion.

The name of England’s cricket team was not England Cricket team until 1996: When the national cricket team toured other nations to play cricket, they were not officially called the ‘England Cricket Team. It was known as MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club).

The MCC which governs Lord’s was an ultimate power holder of the English cricket team. As you know they are the ones who first started playing cricket so they also write the laws of cricket. Back in the day MCC was charged with the organization and management of cricket tours to the rest of the world and they took up the responsibility well from 1903 to 1976.

In 1976, there was a change of power in cricket. The Test and County Cricket Club took the responsibility in 1993, but the team was known as MCC and the players also used to wear the club’s distinct red and yellow colors on the jumpers. It was as recently as 1996-97 when the team visited New Zealand the team was known as MCC. After that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) took up the responsibility and now the team is referred to as England everywhere.

The ground considered ‘The Home of Cricket’ was not the ground that hosted the first Test match.: Lord’s is considered ‘The Home of Cricket’ and proudly flaunts its historic Marylebone Cricket Club, which controlled England Cricket for over a century. However, It is not the ground that hosted the first Test Match.

The first-ever Test match was played between England and Australia in September 1880, and this match was played in the Oval which is situated in London. Interestingly Lord’s is not even the second ground to host a Test match.

The first match at Lord’s was played after four years of the first Ever Test match of Cricket. In that match England thrashed Australia by an innings and five runs.

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