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How did cricket likely begin in medieval England?
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cricket
Jonny Bairstow of England batting during a semifinal match against Australia at the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Cricket is believed to have originated in medieval England, possibly as early as the 13th century. It likely began as a pastime for country boys who would bowl at a tree stump or the hurdle gate of a sheep pen.12
This early gate, known as a wicket, consisted of two uprights and a crossbar called a bail. The game was designed such that the bail could be dislodged when the wicket was struck, a feature that made the gate preferable to a simple stump. While the ball used in these early games was presumably a stone, the bat was likely a shaped tree branch, resembling a long, heavy hockey stick.1