Test cricket is a unique game in many ways. It was the first modern team game to give itself rules and regulations. Unlike other team games, it can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern team sport takes even half as much time to complete. While most team games (such as hockey and football) specify the dimensions of the playing area, the laws of cricket do not state the specific dimensions of the playing field.

The peculiarities of Test cricket are :
→ A match can go on for five days and still end in a draw. No other modern day team sport takes even half as much time to complete. Baseball completes nine innings in less than half the time that it takes to play a limited overs match.
→ The length of the pitch is specified (22 yards) but the size or shape of the ground is not. No dimensions of the playing area are mentioned for cricket.

With the changing times technology brought about a change in Cricket equipment but it remained true to its origins:
→ Introduction of pads and protective gloves. These protective equipments came forth as a result of the invention of vulcanised rubber.
→ Cricketing most important tools are made from natural and pre-industrial materials. The bats, even today, are made of wood. Also, they are not factory manufactured, but made by hand.

Cricket became popular in India and the West Indies because of its colonial background. British imperial officials used it as a symbol of racial and social superiority. They did not popularise the game for the masses. For the colonised, playing cricket implied being the racial equals of the British. Success at cricket came to imply a measure of racial equality and political progress. On the other hand, the game was not so popular in countries like those of South America since they were not dominated by imperial England.

(i) The Parsis were the first Indian community to set up a cricket club in India.
(ii) Mahatma Gandhi condemned the Pentangular tournament.
(iii) The name of the ICC was changed from the Imperial Cricket Conference to theInternational Cricket Conference.
(iv) The shift of the ICC headquarters from London to Dubai.

Answer

(i) The Parsis were a small trading community in close contact with the British, and hence, they were the first ones to westernise. During this process of westernisation, they founded the first Indian cricket club, in Bombay, in 1848, called the Oriental Cricket Club.
(ii) Mahatma Gandhi condemned the Pentangular tournament as he felt that it was a divisive competition that went against the need of the hour. At a time when the nationalists were trying to unite India’s diverse population, the Pentangular tournament divided them on communal lines and the colonial government encouraged these divisions.

(iii) The name was changed because of decolonisation. This was a process by which the British influence in many areas, one of them sports, declined. Cricket was no longer the monopoly of the imperial powers. Cricket was becoming international. In time, it came to be accepted that the laws of cricket could not continue to be framed for British or Australian conditions of play and they became part of the technique of all bowlers, everywhere in the world.

(iv) The shift of the ICC headquarters from London to Dubai happened on account of India's location in South Asia. Since India has the largest viewership and market for cricket, the balance of power in cricket has shifted from the colonial domain to the decolonised domain. The shifting of headquarters symbolised and formally marked the end of English or imperialist domination over the game.

Advances in technology, especially television technology, have affected the development of contemporary cricket by making it marketable game:→ Cricket boards sold television rights to television companies and reaped profits.
→ Television channels sold television spots to companies. They aired their commercials and advertised their commodities to a large number of audience. They made huge profits.
→ Continuous television coverage made cricketers celebrities.They became rich. They were paid by cricket boards and also by companies whose commercials they endorsed.
→ Cricket audience expanded. Cricket was taken to the smaller towns. People could watch and learn by imitating their heroes.
→ Coloured uniforms, protective equipments, field regulations, and day-night, limited-overs matches have all helped this pre-industrial, rural game to adapt to the changing modern world.
→ Balance of power shifted to South Asia as most viewership was from here. ICC headquarters shifted from London to tax-free Dubai.

1. Cricket matches are organised:

(a) News of cricket hits newspaper headlines

(b) Cricketers are seen as ambassadors

(c) Game represents the unity of India

(d) To establish friendship between nations

2. Game of cricket was invented in:

(a) England

(b) India

(c) Australia

(d) Pakistan

3. Cricket was said to represent

(а) English values of fair play and discipline

(б) English racial superiority

(c) English sense of enterprise

(d) English sportsmen spirit

4. Cricket in 19th century India was linked to

(a) politics of colonialism

(b) politics of nationalism

(c) Civilising mission of the British

(d) colonialism and nationalism

5. Cricket grew out of

(a) hockey

(b) volleyball

(c) stick and ball games

(d) baseball

6. Early cricket bats were shaped like

(a) hockey sticks

(b) flat sticks

(c) rackets

(d) curved outwards

7. First written laws of cricket were in

(a) 1474

(b) 1447

(c) 1774

(d) 1744

8. Where and when was the world's first cricket club formed?

(a) Hambledon 1760s

(b) Marylebone 1760s

(c) London 1670s

(d) Melbourne 1760s

9. Change in game rules in the 1760s led to immediate change in

(а) weight of ball got limited to 5-1/2 to 5-1/4 ounces

(б) third stump became common

(c) opened possibilities for spin and swing

(d) curved bat was replaced by a straight one

10. Cricket is a

(a) post industrial sport

(b) 19th century sport

(c) pre industrial sport

(d) 20th century sport

11. Rural origins of cricket are not visible in

(a) bat and stumps

(b) ball and bats

(c) field size

(d) protective equipment

12. Post industrial influence in cricket

(a) pads

(b) bat

(c) ball

(d) stumps

13. Who were 'Amateurs'?

(a) Those who did not know how to play the game well

(b) Those proficient at the game

(c) The rich who played for pleasure

(d) Those who played for the money

14. Professionals were described as

(a) Gentlemen

(b) batsmen

(c) Players

(d) spinners

15. Amateurs were generally

(a) Bowlers

(b) Aristocrats

(c) Fast bowlers

(d) Miners

Answers:

1. (d)	2. (a)	3. (a)	4. id)	5. (c)
6. (a)	7. (d)	8. (a)	9. (d)	10. (c)
11. (d)	12. (a)	13. (c)	14. (c)	15. (b)

16. The first professional to lead the English team

(a) Vijay Hazare

(b) Thomas Hughes

(c) Len Hutton

(d) Garry Sobers

17. The first among Indian communities to set up a cricket club

(a) Parsis

(b) Hindus

(c) Muslims

(d) Christians

18. Spread of the game cricket was confined to

(a) British colonies

(b) Australia and New Zealand

(c) Africa and West Indies

(d) Third World

19. Elites of colonies viewed playing cricket as symbolising

(a) progress

(b) equality

(c) superior, social and racial status

(d) English values

20. West Indies won its first Test series against England in

(a) 1930

(b) 1949

(c) 1950

(d) 1960

21. Cricket in colonial India was organised on the principle of

(a) national loyalties

(b) religion

(c) region

(d) race and religion

22. The game of cricket was brought to India by

(a) East India Company

(b) Governor Generals

(c) The Portuguese

(d) British Imperial Officers

23. Mulattos were

(a) Afro Caribbeans

(b) Blacks

(c) Tribals

(d) Afro Europeans

24. Where did Cricket in India originate?

(a) Bombay

(c) Madras

(b) Calcutta

(d) Pondicherry

25. Dalit Captain of Hindu Gymkhana:

(a) Palwankar Baloo

(b) Vijay Hazare

(c) S.A. Brelvi

(d) Palwankar Vithal

26. In Ranji Trophy teams represent

(a) regions

(b) communities

(c) races

(d) religions

27. Who among the following was not critical of the Pentangular Tournament?

(a) M.K. Gandhi

(b) Dada Bhai Naoroji

(c) AFS Talyarkhan

(d) S.A. Brelvi

28. Which of the following constituted the 5th team in the Pentangular Tournament?

(a) The Europeans

(b) The Christians

(c) The Rest

(d) The Muslims

29. First Test Captain of India

(a) Palwankar Baloo

(b) Palwankar Vithal

(c) Vijay Hazare

(d) C.K. Nayudu

30. India entered World Test Cricket in

(a) 1932

(b) 1950

(c) 1877

(d) 1847

31. Test Cricket celebrated 100 years in the year

(a) 1877

(b) 1977

(c) 1875

(d) 1774

32. Who among the following introduced the world to One-Day Internationals?

(a) Kerry Packer

(b) Len Hutton

(c) Frank Worrell

(d) Thomas Hughes

33. Pakistan's contribution to advancing the cricket is

(a) No ball

(b) Run-out

(c) Reverse swing

(d) Leg before wicket

Answers:

16. (c) 17. (a) 18. (a) 19. (c) 20. (c) 21. (d) 22. (d) 23. (d)  24. (a)

25. (d)  26. (a) 27. (b) 28. (c) 29. (d) 30. (a) 31. (b) 32. (a) 33. (c).

Parsis