ORIGINAL LAWS OF CRICKET (HB)

Of all the rules governing sport, the laws of cricket are among the oldest. The first written rules of 1744 survive uniquely on the border of a piece of linen at the MCC Museum of Cricket, drawn up by certain 'Noblemen and Gentlemen' at a time when gambling on cricket matches was rife. These 'laws' were codified to ensure a fair outcome when so much was riding on the game and the story of their and how they affected the game is a fascinating and seldom told chapter in the history of cricket. This book reproduces the complete text of the original laws and is illustrated with images from the unique manuscript held at the MCC as well as images of the game from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also includes what is thought to be the first known image of cricket dating from a fourteenth-century manuscript now in the Bodleian Library.