Cricket
Cricket names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Cricket a well-known game
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a well-known game, played in the United States, Great Britain, being arranged in two contesting parties Australia, and India, the players of 11 each. Strutt, one of the best English Eng authorities on ancient sport, adduces some evidence to show that "club-ball," played in the 14th century, may have been the parent of cricket. Cricket stands pre-eminent in England among the many outdoor pastimes pursued during the summer months. Cricket is not solely an affair of skill; chance is also a factor to a very large extent. To excel at cricket it is necessary that the study of the game should begin early, as a gre a great deal of patience and practice is re requisite. At nearly all, if not all of the English public schools, a cricket "coach" or tutor is engaged. Cricket may be played either singlewicket or double-wicket, but it is now so rarely played in the former manner that we can safely confine our attention to the latter. For a double-wicket match game 11 players on a side are necessary, and after the captains have tossed to settle who shall go to the bat first, the loser places his field and the winner sends in two of his surest, safest batters to defend the wickets and to make runs. The disposition of the field de depends upon the style of bowling, whether it be fast, medium pace or slow, and the following diagrams will give a pretty clear idea of how the fielders are placed and what dangers the batsman has to guard against. A distance of 22 yards separates the wickets, and by the scale the relative position of the players may easily be estimated. The field having been duly placed, the batsmen having taken their stand, with legs carefully protected by pads, and hands by ingenious rubber gloves, the umpire calls "play," and the bowler sends down his first ball. After five balls have been delivered from one wicket the umpire calls "over," and the whole field changes about till the position of the men bears the same relation to the other wicket that it did to the one first bowled against. against. These "overs" continue to be bowled from alternate ends by different bowlers until the whole 11 players have tried their hand at the bat and been disposed of. Runs are made by the batsman driving the ball far enough gh away to give him time to change places with the other batter before the ball returns. Each change constitutes a run, and in matches in England it has sometimes happened that one batsman has made over 400 runs in this way. Six is the largest number of runs that can be made from a single hit, that being what is allowed when the ball is driven clear out of the grounds. The business of the bowler is to try in every possible way to knock down the wickets in front of which the batsman stands, or else to tempt him into hitting the ball up into the air so that it may be caught on the fly by one of the fielders. Besides being bowled or caught out, a batter may be "run out," i. e., have his wicket knocked down by the ball while he is busy making a run, or he may be "stumped out," which is to have the same thing happen when he incautiously steps out of his ground to hit The ball at an unusually tempting ball. all. comes to the batter on the first bounce, and the bowler's skill is shown in varying the pitch, speed, and direction of the ball so that the batter may become bewildered and fail to defend his wickets. The best kind of bowling is what is known as a "bowling with a break," the peculiarity of which consists in that the ball after striking the ground does not continue straight on, but swerves sharply to the right or left like a "cut" tennis ball, a kind of bowling, therefore, which bears much the same relation to the ordinary that "curve pitching" does to the oldfashioned style. It is not easy to acquire, and few have the art in perfection. In the United States the two chief homes of cricket are in Philadelphia and Boston, although there are good clubs in New York, Detroit, and elsewhere, and also at some of the larger colleges.
Cricket an insect closely related to the grasshopper and locust
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
an insect closely related to the grasshopper and locust. The old English name is grig, whence the proverbial expression, "as merry as a grig." The back is flat. The wing covers bend squarely down over the sides of the abdomen. The antennae are long. "Black, glossy crickets," says Holmes, "with their long filaments sticking out like whips of four-horse stage coaches." The characteristic noise or chirp is made by the male by raising his wing covers and rasping one on the other. An examination of a male cricket shows that ridges and rasping edges, used like a fiddle and bow, are admirably and ingeniously adapted to produce chirps at the player's pleasure. Crickets, like grasshoppers, lay their eggs in pockets in the earth to hatch the following spring. In grain-producing regions crickets sometimes infest grain shocks and do not a little damage, especially by way of cutting bands. They get into clothing also, and cut holes. If a coat be left on the stubble over night, it is likely to be riddled. Crickets have an active, cheerful way that has made them a place in literature and in the regard of households, well expressed in Dickens' Cricket on the Hearth. The following is a more juvenile view: Old Dame Cricket, Down in a thicket, Brought up her children nine- Queer little chaps, In glossy black caps And brown little suits so fine. In olden times the Florentines kept crickets in cages for good luck. The custom still prevails, it is said, in some parts of Japan. See Cicada ; Grasshopper ; Locust ; Katydid
Cricket the national ball game of England
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the national ball game of England. The term is probably related to "crooked," in reference to the shape of the crooked hockey-like bats with which the game was formerly played. The regular match game is played by two elevens. At one time a game of the village green and of the school, cricket has become as professional as baseball in this country. Games are played by clubs in circuits, with immense crowds in attendance. As compared with baseball the game is played with two wickets instead of four bases. The pitcher is called a bowler. The bowler aims to knock down the wicket behind the batsman. A run is made from a wicket to the bowler's crease in front of the other wicket. Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown at Rugby gives a stirring picture of a cricket match. American boys consider the game a trifle tame in comparison with baseball. See Baseball
Cricket the name given to any insects of the genus Acheta
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the name given to any insects of the genus Acheta, or the tribe Achetina. The antennæ are long and tapering, the wings are laid flat upon the back. When at rest they are folded, but are so long that they project behind the wing-cases. The tail ends in two bristles, besides which the female has an ovipositor. The best known species are the following: The common cricket or house cricket. Its appropriate habitat is the kitchen hearth, where it makes its presence known by its song. The field cricket is found in burrows among stones and sand. The mole cricket has curious mole-like hands or hand-like organs, admirably adapted for digging.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 it described five-ball overs, named Philadelphia and Boston as the chief American homes of the game, and marvelled that a batsman had once made "over 400 runs" in an innings. Six-ball overs are now the international standard, club cricket in Philadelphia faded away within a generation, and the game's centre of gravity and money has moved to South Asia, above all India. The old account knows only the long match: one-day internationals began in 1971, the first World Cup was played in 1975, and Twenty20 arrived in the 2000s, with televised ball-tracking now used to review umpires' decisions. Brian Lara passed the old landmark twice, with 501 not out in a county match in 1994 and 400 not out in a Test in 2004. The insect entry, meanwhile, still reads accurately, though crickets are now farmed commercially as protein.
Written for this edition, 2026.