It is official – Saugeen Shores has a cricket ground and pitch in Port Elgin after Mayor Luke Charbonneau cut the ribbon on Thursday (July 13) to open the Saugeen Shores Cricket Grounds.
Mayor Charbonneau went on to say that, with over 150 members, cricket has already become a popular sport in the area. “We are just catching up and it’s about time that we put together a proper space for people to play cricket. For years, we’ve seen people playing at Nodwell Park or even on the street, so it’s high time we have a place for folks to play. We had this spot where we could put an improvised cricket ground and as it continues to grow, maybe we can do something more permanent in the future.”
Part of the cricket grounds coming to fruition was due to a family donation in memory of Peter and Brenda Eudoxie by daughters Jennifer and Lauren. “Our parents were very involved in the community,” said daughter Jennifer Frayne (Eudoxie). “Dad belonged to Rotary, took part in the Jeff Preston Golf tournament and Mom was involved in the Tim Hortons Children camp. Dad had played cricket in St. Lucia and then in Waterloo so, when this project came up, it seemed to be a connection to Dad.”
Karishk Sharma, organizer of the local cricket group and a long-time cricket player who often travels to Brampton to play, said that the local group plays three to four times a week. “We play Tuesday and Thursday evenings and on weekends. We also have 15 to 20 players who come from Owen Sound. We have playing anywhere we found space, including on school grounds and in Nodwell Park so, to have this space as our own is great.”
The Mayor, donor Jennifer Frayne (Eudoxie) and Town Parks Manager, Frank Burrows all tried their hand at batting. (for larger view, Click on Image)
Cricket is also a family social event in Saugeen Shores where food plays a big part and children run and play as the men play the sport.
Cricket is the second largest game in the world, second only to soccer, and has a long history dating back to the 1500s. Having originated in south-east England, it became an established sport in the country in the 18th century and developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries.
There are several theories on how the game evolved and how it got its name. One expert, (Wikipedia), thought the name developed from the early spelling ‘craic’ meaning ‘fun and games’ and, another, that it came from the word ‘creckett’. In any event, it started out as a children’s game in England and only evolved into an adult sport with the first recorded reference from 1611.
Looking back at the history of cricket is delving into a long and complex history of not only the sport but society of the ages.
With the British Empire, cricket was introduced to North American in the English colonies in the 17th century and was also introduced to the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent by the East India trading company and then making its way to Australia in 1788, and New Zealand and South Africa in the late 1800s. The one country in the British Empire that did not embrace cricket was, Canada. The first game in India was played in 1721.
Army units around the Empire brought cricket with them and encouraged the locals to play so that they would have a sporting competition. Indian cricket came of age in the 1970s and 1980s and this was the era in which cricket, from being a hugely popular sport, became India’s all-consuming passion (Hindustan Times). In 1848, the Parsi community in Mumbai formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians.
Looking back at bat and ball:
The ‘bats’ were light in weight and shaped somewhat like a hockey stick. An Englishman visiting Ireland in 1673 referred to the common people as playing bandy (hurling) with balls and crooked sticks much after our play at stow-ball.9 In fact we can get an idea of these bats by looking at some examples. Around 1700 they are like hockey-sticks, shaped with flat surfaces, and the batsman is usually called a striker. He stood with knees bent and used a downward sweep to hit the ball. The objective was to loft the ball over the heads of the fielders, known as catchers and seekers. Balls were hit to either side of the bowler, further emphasizing that a hockey-type stick was used. This picture gives us a glimpse of the ‘play of the game’ with strategically placed catchers and seekers who appear as long stops. The toss of a coin determined which team would choose the pitch, and or, the team to bat first.
The ball itself also came in various sizes and colours and were earlier waterproofed with grease to avoid picking up moisture. The heavy modern-type ball with wound core and thick leather cover did not come into use much before 1760 when Richard, Duke of Penshurst, Kent was making first class balls between 1748 and 1762 and is credited with inventing the modern ball.
The term ‘bat’ is comparatively rare before 1720. The older terms are ‘staff’, ‘stave’, or ‘stick’, which tended to be used regionally: for example, ‘stave’ was used in the Gloucester area, and ‘bat’ in the south-east, while ‘staff’ and especially ‘stick’ were more widely used. ‘Bat’ is derived from the French battledore, shaped like a table tennis bat, which were used by washer women to beat their washing with.22 The use of the ‘bat’ in cricket is peculiar to Kent and Sussex and their coastal smugglers were known as batmen, because of the cudgels they carried. We first hear of the ‘flatfaced’ bat in 1622.
Today, with the official opening of the Saugeen Shores Cricket grounds, the legacy of cricket continues and becomes part of the fabric of Saugeen Shores sports.
NOTE: The original cricket grounds were on the property that is now occupied by Maple Square Mall, which for many years was the high school.
