Cricket in Britain is one of the most popular games in the country. In earlier days of its inception, only the rich and the aristocratic people of the British society played cricket. It was regarded as the nobleman’s game. Presently, Britain cricket has gained immense popularity and a huge fan following in the country as well as abroad. Originally, founded in England, cricket became popular to other countries of the world in no time. The English summer till date is marked for the various cricket matches that are played all over the country during this time.
Cricket is Britain has been made popular with the various counties that are present in Britain. These counties have produced many internationally renowned players who have added to the glory of the England cricket team rich. At present, many of these counties also hire players from other countries for a particular season of cricket. However, first class cricket is mainly played between the top 18 cricket clubs in the country.
As per British cricket history, the first players of the England cricket team toured Canada and United States in 1859. England and Australia played the first test match in 1877. Lords is considered as the haven of cricket in Britain as well as in the world. Playing at the Lords Cricket Ground is considered to be a dream come true to most of the cricketers. The stadium has hosted some of the best games of international cricket both at the test level as well as in one-day games. Many county and club matches are also played at Lords in Britain.
Britain has a number of cricket academies for training and coaching the budding cricketers. The cricket academies are busy during the summer season, when training procedures are at the peak. The following are the some renowned cricket academies of United Kingdom.
- ACE Academy
- Excel Cricket Academy
- Cricket Academy
- World Cricket Academy
Cricket is widely followed in Britain. People of all age groups throng the various stadiums in the country to catch a glimpse of the matches that are held, especially during the summer season. Some of the popular cricket players of Britain in the yesteryears are as follows:
- Graham Gooch
- David Gower
- Mike Gatting
- WG Grace
- Mike Atherton
- Douglas Jardin
Some members of the recent England team are as follows:
- Michael Vaughan
- Andrew Flintoff
- James Anderson
- Marcus Trescothick
- Alastair Cook
- Kevin Pietersen
- Paul Collingwood
- Stuart Broad
- Ian Bell
- Darren Gough
- Matthew Hoggard
- Andrew Strauss
- Chris Tremlett
