OK, so maybe we aren’t ready to write off the football season completely, but our recent visit to the exclusive Philadelphia Cricket Club opened our eyes to a whole new game.
Here’s the basic premise: It’s a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on a field at the center of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. Each team takes a turn to bat, attempting to score runs, while the other team fields. Each turn is known as an innings.
Here’s 5 interesting facts we learned about the sport of cricket and the Philly club.
1. The Philadelphia Cricket Club was founded in 1894.
2. It is said that the first recorded game of cricket was played in 1646, but it is said that similar games were played before this.
3. The longest cricket match took place in 1939 between England and South Africa, after 14 days it ended with a tie.
4. Cricket is reportedly the second most popular sport in the world behind soccer.
5. In the year 1900 cricket made its first and only appearance in the Olympics.