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2000 BCE – Tomb of Kheti- Beni Hassna – Egypt
I accept this is not cricket. But it is very old and is commonly believed to be a bat and ball game played with a hockey-style stick.
500 BCE – Kouros base with ball-players – Athens
A bas-relief on a base that would have supported a Kouros – an Ancient Greek sculptures of a naked male youth of noble rank. The image is of youths who seem to be in ball-game playing mode. A similar image to the one portrayed above. Hockey-style sticks much in evidence, clothing less so.
What is going on?
8th Century – Venerable Bede
From the Life of Cuthbert by the Venerable Bede. Hockey-style stick again.
13th Century – Canterbury Cathedral
The Six Ages of Man, Canterbury Cathedral, window in North West Transept depicting The Six Ages of Man. The Youth is holding a hockey-style stick, presumably indicating some type of sporting activity.
13th century – Manuscript of the Galician Cantigas de Santa Maria.
Young men playing a bat-and-ball game in a 13th-century manuscript of the Galician Cantigas de Santa Maria.
14th Century – Gloucester Cathedral
A medallion in the great East Window in Gloucester Cathedral. Around 1360, often associated with golf, but the ball could be moving.
A very similar image, supposedly from a 14th Century French prayer book, showing a game called bandy ball, which is considered to be a predecessor to golf. Notice that the head is forward and the toe of the front foot is pointing downwards in both illustrations.
14th Century – The Romance of Alexander
This illuminated manuscript from about 1340 (The Romance of Alexander) shows what appears to be some kind of ball-game. Benny Green in his book, A History of Cricket, is impressed with the line of monastic slip fielders.
14th Century – Ghistelles Hours
Another drawing of a ball game appearing on the edge of a manuscript – Ghistelles Hours, a 14th-century Flemish book of hours probably made for John III, Lord of Ghistelles, and Ingelmunster (Belgium).
15th Century – non-cricket image
This is not a cricket image, it present a less appealing form of medieval entertainment. It shows four blind men tasked with beating a pig to death. The amusement arose from their missing the pig and hitting each other instead. Cricket was definitely a step forward.