History of Cricket

Cricket at the highest level has developed into a fully professional international sport from which leading players can earn a large income. However professionalism has a long history in English cricket. The first professionals had appeared by the first half of the eighteenth century, when heavy gambling on the game encouraged wealthy patrons to draft the best players into their teams. They would often offer these players full-time employment as gardeners or gamekeepers on their estates. In the second half of the century, the famous Hambledon Club paid its players match fees.

In the middle of the nineteenth century William Clarke's All-England Eleven was a highly successful all-professional venture which did much to popularise the game. The earliest overseas tours were also all-professional affairs.

In the early 21st century cricket is as lucrative as some other sports, and domestic cricketers typically earn several times the average salary in their country. Regular members of the English cricket team earn several hundred thousand pounds a year. However, the highest paid cricketers in the world are the star members of the Indian cricket team or the Australian cricket team who make most of their income from endorsement contracts. Cricket is the main sport in India, and the players are front rank celebrities, especially Sachin Tendulkar, who is one of the world's highest paid sportsmen.

Amateurism in cricket

The amateur was, by definition, not a professional and the dictum of the amateur-dominated Marylebone Cricket Club was that "a gentleman ought not to make any profit from playing cricket". In theory, the amateur received expenses for playing cricket, whereas the professional was paid a wage or fee for playing. In fact, many leading amateurs were themselves "well paid" for playing and it is often supposed that the greatest amateur cricketer of them all, W G Grace, made more money out of playing the game than any genuine professional. In fairness to Grace, he had to pay for a locum tenens to run his medical practice while he was playing cricket and he had a reputation for treating his poorer patients without charging a fee.

The real distinction between amateurs and professionals was one of social status: amateurs belonged to the upper and middle classes; professionals invariably came from the working class.The long-running Gentlemen v Players fixture, first arranged by Lord Frederick Beauclerk in 1806, was "the ultimate declaration of social realities" and its title states the difference precisely: the amateurs were all perceived to be "gentlemen", most of whom played primarily for enjoyment; the professionals were simply "paid players", most of whom took the game, as their living, very seriously indeed.

The sporting types among the well-to-do relished strong competition and welcomed the opportunity to play against the best performers, who tended to be the working class professionals. But, although the gentry were happy to play with and against the working class, they still sought to emphasise their superiority and, consequently, the word amateur took on a peculiar meaning of its own in cricket terms that was redolent of social status and implied respectability. The amateurs insisted upon separate dressing rooms and the use of "Mr" or a more aristocratic title on the scorecard.

On a personal level, amateurs would refer to their professional colleagues by surname only, while the professionals were required to called the amateurs "sir". This was not specific to cricket as it was the normal nomenclature used between middle and working class associates during the 19th century. The "Gentlemen and Players" distinction was a reflection of the higher status enjoyed by officers above other ranks in the British Army, or between employers and the workforce in industry. It therefore seemed natural to most English people of all classes to have a similar distinction in sport. The Gentlemen v Players matches were a highlight of the English cricket season, although the Players could usually put a much stronger side into the field than the Gentlemen.

This perception of amateurs as officers and gentlemen, and thereby leaders, meant that any team including an amateur would tend to appoint him as captain, even though some or all of the professional players might be more skilled technically. The idea was applied to Test cricket from 1888. Some English touring teams to Australia until then had been all-professional, but England did not appoint another professional captain until Len Hutton in 1952. It should be pointed out that many of the amateur captains (e.g., C B Fry) were unquestionably worth their place in the side in terms of technical ability. In the 1930s, Walter Hammond switched from professional to amateur so that he could captain his country.

The abolition of amateur status in 1962 was partly the result of long-established disillusionment with a hypocrisy that has been termed "shamateurism". For example, some amateur players were given a largely nominal job as "club secretary" and there were sometimes allegations that a few were surreptitiously paid bonuses over and above the bona fide travelling and hotel expenses that they were entitled to claim. The underlying reason for the abolition was the tide of social change in the wake of the Second World War with the growth of both a more egalitarian society in general and a demand for dedicated professionalism in sports such as cricket and football that became increasingly conscious of their business obligations and the need to generate income through success on the field.

by Steve Dimitry's

The 19th century English class system and professional players

Public schools had a deep involvement in the development many team sports had codes of football as well as cricket and hockey. Moreover, the ethos of English public schools greatly influenced Pierre de Coubertin. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) invited a representative of the Headmasters' Conference (HC, the association of headmasters of the English public schools) to attend their early meetings. The Headmasters' Conference chose the Reverend Robert Laffan, the headmaster of Cheltenham College, as their representative to the IOC meetings. He was made a Member of the IOC in 1897 and, following the first visit of the IOC to London in 1904, he was central to the founding of the British Olympic Association a year later.

Until Recent times professional athletes in English sport, particularly cricket, were unthinkable and hence most players were amateurs.

The EPS subscribed to the Ancient Greek and Roman belief that sport formed an important part of education, an attitude summed up in the saying: mens sana in corpore sano – a sound mind in a healthy body. In this ethos, taking part has more importance than winning, because society expected gentlemen to become all-rounders and not the best at everything. Class prejudice against "trade" reinforced this attitude. The house of a typical EPS boy would have a tradesman's entrance, because tradesmen did not rank as the social equals of gentlemen.

Within this class view it follows that if a person played a sport as a paid "professional", that would make the person a member of a trade. How could a club function when expectations demanded that some of the players enter through a side entrance? How would the social side of the club flourish if some of the members did not rank as gentlemen? How could a club of gentlemen which played a club of professionals possibly entertain their social inferiors?

Another prejudice which existed amongst late Victorian and Edwardian gentlemen held that the all-round abilities of British gentlemen allegedly meant that, if they put their minds to something, they would perform better than anyone else. This included the other British classes. The British attempts under Scott to reach the South Pole illustrate this prejudice. In the Scott expeditions, gentlemen refused to take the instructions of Canadian dog-handlers seriously, or to learn from Scandinavians how to use cross-country skis properly. To compensate for their failures to master dog and ski they persuaded themselves (and their contemporaries) that walking and to man-hauling sledges to the South Pole made the process more of an achievement. If professional teams were to beat gentlemen amateur teams consistently, that might burst the illusion of social superiority, and that could lead to social instability, something not in the perceived interests of the British upper classes of the time.

by Steve Baily

Definition of Professional Sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are those in which athletes receive payment for their performance. While men have competed as professional athletes throughout much of modern history, only recently has it become common for women to have the opportunity to become professional athletes. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations or teams can command large incomes. As a result, more sportspeople can afford to make athleticism their primary career, devoting the training time necessary to increase skills, physical condition, and experience to modern levels of achievement. This proficiency has also helped boost the popularity of sports.

Most sports played professionally also have amateur players far outnumbering the professionals. Professional athleticism is seen by some as a contradiction of the central ethos of sport, competition performed for its own sake and pure enjoyment, rather than as a means of earning a living. Consequently, many organisations and commentators have resisted the growth of professional athleticism, saying that it was so incredible that he has impeded the development of sport. For example, rugby union was for many years a part-time sport engaged in by amateurs, and English cricket has allegedly suffered in quality because of a "non-professional" approach.

by James A. Mangan

UEFA Europa League, not Europe league

UEFA (Union of European Football Association) have a job already reached age 38 years. Homework was named UEFA Cup. Since first revolving, 1971. The tournament is always a two-class tournament, less than sparkling sister, Champions League.

League is not difficult to sell the Champions League, even when still using the name of champion trophies and cash flows have not been as fast as now. UEFA Champions tournament is among the richest clubs available. The financial observers say Champions League is one place the money for the club, especially in the era of the global financial crisis, such as at this time.

UEFA Cup? UEFA is also a headache thinking about this tournament. Perhaps one of the factors is the club participants. Participants Champions League is the top in their respective countries - each. That, UEFA champion here.

Participants UEFA Cup champion is domestic trophies and also those who are in a certain position in classment, the zone under the Champions League zone.

In fact, not a fight club in the UEFA Cup is not famous and less familiar.
UEFA have done a lot of renovation in order to change the fate this tournament second Tier. They remove the Winner Cup, the last time revolving 1998-99 season. The goal is clear, the UEFA Cup competition that classmates.

Then, they change the logo tournament. The original image has three people playing football changed into the form of a UEFA Cup trofi. logo is not bad, it is very good. Seemed luxurious. With the new logo, the League hopes a new image can be UEFA Cup.

There are phases of the group that is similar to the Champions League, the rivalry and more challenging than before. However, the UEFA Cup logo that is now still can not defeat a star ball logo a la Champions League.

Therefore, start the 2009-10 UEFA president, Michel Platini, once again reorganize this tournament. On the season, the UEFA Cup will use a new name, UEFA Europa League. Which the victim is Intertoto Cup. Entertainment eliminated this tournament, combined with the European league.

Of course this changes the name change along with the logo. According to the plan, the league has determined that Europe will be revolving until 2011-12. So there are three seasons to determine.

Then, why use the name Europa League and European League is not? What's your opinion and knowledge about the issues above, because the fate this tournament?

by BOLAnews