You may have heard a lot of talk about cricket this year during the London Games. A quintessentially British sport, it was played by English royalty as far back as the 14th century. Last week, the 2012 Olympic archers competed on Lord’s Cricket Ground, home of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Founded in 1787, Marylebone can be considered the mother ship of world cricket: The club maintains the official rules of the sport as it is played around the world.
Though relatively uncommon in the United States, cricket is the second most popular spectator sport in the world (after soccer), with some 2.5 billion fans. That astounding figure is largely due to its prevalence in the densely populated Indian subcontinent, but it’s also enjoyed in England, Asia and Australia. It also has a growing audience in other countries, thanks in part to the recent introduction of a new, shorter match format of three hours.
According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such "pagan cults" be banned.