Some people say that Cricket was invented, in England, by shepherds in their fields, around the beginning of the 13th Century.  After some years, and as its popularity grew, the wealthy took over playing the game of Cricket and set standards for the numbers of players and how many balls would be in play in a game.  A man named W. G. Grace who played in the 1860’s is called the “father of Cricket” because he played for over 40 years, was very talented, and made the sport become well known.   As the years went by Cricket took on other formats, and some games lasted for five days, while others were played in one day, with as many as 300 balls being used per game.  However, if you ask someone from New Zealand, they will tell you that they invented this game, while the French are quite sure that it was definitely their people who first played it in rural towns, where there was little entertainment, and that they came up with this game around the 15th Century.  Perhaps all of these people had some kind of stick and ball, and the games that they invented have all become blended into the great sport that we all enjoy today.