There is a consensus of expert opinion that cricket may have been invented during Saxon or Norman times by children living inthe Weald. It is an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south England. The first reference to cricket being played as an adultsport was in early sixteenth century. In the same year a dictionary defined cricket as a game. There is also the thought thatcricket may have derived from bowls. It was an intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball from reaching its target byhitting it away. Village cricket had developed by the middle of the seventeenth century. The first English county teams wereformed in the second half of the same century. The local experts from village cricket were employed as the earliest professionals. The first known game in which the teams use county names was played in the first decade of the seventeenth century. In the firsthalf of the eighteenth century cricket established itself as a leading sport in London and its nearby counties. Its spread waslimited by the constraints of travel. Still it was slowly gaining popularity in all the other parts of England. The first laws ofcricket were written in the middle of the seventeenth century. In the last quarter of seventeenth century these laws wereamended. The two prime changes being the addition of the third stump and defining the maximum bat width. The codes weredrawn up by the Star and Garter Club. The members of this club ultimately founded the famous Marylebone Cricket Club. Marylebone Cricket Club immediately became the custodian of the laws and has made revisions ever since then to the currentday. Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies as early as the seventeenth century. In the eighteenthcentury it arrived in other parts of the globe. It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists and to India by British East IndiaCompany mariners. It arrived in Australia almost as soon as colonisation began and the sport reached New Zealand and SouthAfrica in the early years of the nineteenth century. The development of the railway network also helped the spread of cricket asteams from a long distance apart could play one other without a time consuming journey. Now even the spectators could travellonger distances to matches. This resulted in increasing the size of crowds. The overarm bowling was leaglised in the seventhdecade of eighteenth century. It also marked a notable first with the publication of the first Wisden Almanack. This continues tothis day. In the same year Grace began his long and influential career. He contributed greatly in increasing the popularity of thecricket. The first every international cricket game was played between the United State and Canada. This game was played in themiddle of the eighteenth century. Six year after the first English team toured Australia a team of Australian aborigines touredEngland. The first test matched were played at the start of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The following yearAustralians toured England for the first time and the success of this tour ensured a popular demand for similar ventures infuture. The Australian victory in a tense finish gave rise to The Ashes series.