Interesting cricket facts you most likely did not know

Cricket is quite a fascinating sport. It
has a longer history than many think and is popular in numerous countries. You
can even bet on cricket if you want to on sites like sportsbetting24.in. With such a long
history, there should be no surprise to see that there are numerous interesting
cricket facts that can be mentioned. Here are some that you most likely did not
know.

Cricket Historical Facts

• Numerous cricketers in the past
  were listed as being the best bowlers ever. However, Sri Lanka’s Murali Muralitharan
  is considered to be the very best by “The Wisden Cricketer”, a renowned English
  magazine.
• Historians think that cricket
  originated in England when shepherds created the game in order to pass some
  time as sheep were being guarded.
• The longest cricket match in
  history took place in the year 1939. The teams that played were England and
  South Africa. This one match actually lasted 13 days. Even then the game was
  not over. England needed 42 extra runs to win. The problem was that the team’s
  ship had to leave the following day. This made the match a draw.
• The first ever recorded cricket
  game happened in 1646. This led to the game being so popular that fines were
  issued to the people that missed church to play.

Cricket Equipment Facts

• There are 3 parts in a cricket
  bat: blade, handle and grip. The ball is hit with the blade.
• The cricket bat has a weight of
  2 to 3 pounds. Traditionally, it is made out of willow wood because the
  material is really tough and light.
• Modern cricket bats have to be
  rubbed with quality linseed oil. This makes the cricket bat shrink. As a
  result, the hitting surface is tougher.
• The cricket
  ball has a weight of 5 and a half ounces.
• The cricket ball has layered
  cork in the middle. The cork is wrapped with string and then covered with an
  outer layer made out of leather.

Other Interesting Cricket Facts

• Baseball is the most popular
  game with a bat and a ball in the US. However, the very first such game played
  in the country was cricket. The sport was really popular between the years 1834
  and 1914. In total, there were more than 1000 cricket clubs that were opened in
  46 states.
• Bert Sutcliffe is one of the
  best batsmen in the history of New Zealand. He was really unlucky. In 42 tests
  between 1949 and 1965, he never managed to win a game. Although New Zealand’s
  team won some games during that time, it was when he did not play.
• John Traicos is the only
  cricket player that was born in a country but ended up playing matches for 2
  extra countries. Egypt was his home country, but he played for South Africa and
  Zimbabwe.
• Leslie Hylton is the only
  cricket player in history that was hanged for a murder charge.

Wilfred Rhodes has the distinction of being the
oldest England player ever. He was 52 when he played his last match.