History of cricket in England

England invented many ball sports, including football (soccer), rugby and, of course, cricket, which dates back to the 16th century. It was England's national sport by the end of the 18th century, and the game was expanded to the colonies. England is also responsible for introducing over arm bowling and one-day cricket - however inadvertently, and credit must also be shared with Australia. It also came up with the idea of professional Twenty20 matches - introduced to the counties in 2003 - which went on to take the world by storm.

International competition and developing the game

For the founder of cricket - and the country that subsequently spread the game across the globe - it seems anomalous that the England's men side was yet to win a world event until its first victory in a major ICC tournament when it claimed the ICC World Twenty20 2010 title in the West Indies. Ashes series winners at home in 2005, 2009 and 2013, England’s greatest success came when winning the ICC 50 over World Cup in 2019 also on home soil under Irish captain Eoin Morgan. The women's side has an outstanding recent record as well, winning the ICC Women's World Cup, the ICC World Twenty20 and the Ashes in 2009. Cricket Unleashed is the plan for the game of cricket. Aimed at getting a bat and ball into more hands, introducing more people to the power of cricket and showing a generation how to get involved.