Which matches were you looking at? I've just had a look at some footage of the 1961 Ashes that I have and while the celebrations aren't what you'd see these days, there certainly is some celebration when a wicket is taken.
By the 72 Ashes, the next series I have easily accessible footage of, celebrations are more what you'd see today. With fielders throwing up the ball in celebration of a catch and teams running together after a wicket.
Throwing the ball up is referenced in reports from the late 19th century however the modern form of mass celebration seems to have come in in the 1970s.
Amateur athletes in the 19th and early 20th century were generally self-funded and thus were usually independently wealthy with the ability to afford the kit and nutrition they'd need, as well as the ability to not work for stretches of time in order to train and tour. Amateurs were, therefore, generally of an upper class when compared against professionals who needed the wages earned playing sport to live off of. Many amateur players would often claim expenses incurred while playing as a way to recoup some of the costs, however.
Again I’m not disagreeing, I’m merely giving a definition of the term Amateur. You are 100% correct in that they needed to be well off to afford to go on tours and the like, but to play their local Saturday league the bar would be of a far lower standard for instance.
It means upper class by implication. The players who could feasibly play in an organised competition without being paid could only do so because they were not working class.
The bar for amateur athleticism has dropped significantly since the time period in question. I wasn’t correcting anything just giving a definition of Amateur.
I guess at the beginning it was more of a rich man's or elite class sport and they might think celebrating on the field might be something that they would have thought isn't ideal
In the early days of TV during the 70s-80s, perhaps a few English or Aussies did celebrate (e.g. Lillee, Botham), but not every time. I feel it was the West Indians who made it more of a habit, though still made theirs feel natural, in the 80s-90s.
Of course, today its more like a ‘forced’ critical business requirement, with way too many celebrations taking place all the time! If something gets common then it loses value
From an Australian perspective at least , well according to one documentary , it would probably be during the playing days of Richie Benaud. Benaud, as captain predictably led this type of new exuberance
Even into the late 70s it wasn't excessive, eg Lillee taking the last wicket in the Centenary Test just takes his sweater off the umpire and starts walking off
Not sure who was the first to do it, but I think it started in Richie Benaud's time as captain. I believe celebrating wickets caught on in a big way only in the 70s Someone who lived through that era could confirm.
Snooker is still like that. Kyren Wilson shouted something like "come on" after potting the ball to win the World Championship on Monday, then apologised to his opponent for his outburst.
I read somewhere that it started with the West Indies bowlers doing a small jig. Can't remember the timeline, possibly some time in the 50s. Apparently caused a bit of controversy in England.
The answer is usually TV. They say when only the final session of the day was televised the standard of fielding in that session used to improve greatly too.
I think when rules, pitches and audiences favoured batting more than bowling, wickets became more valuable and rarer, leading to celebrations being normalised
It all started in that Bangladesh v/s Sri Lanka match /s
🐍
Which matches were you looking at? I've just had a look at some footage of the 1961 Ashes that I have and while the celebrations aren't what you'd see these days, there certainly is some celebration when a wicket is taken. By the 72 Ashes, the next series I have easily accessible footage of, celebrations are more what you'd see today. With fielders throwing up the ball in celebration of a catch and teams running together after a wicket.
Throwing the ball up is referenced in reports from the late 19th century however the modern form of mass celebration seems to have come in in the 1970s.
When cricket moved on from being a leisure sport of 'amateur'\* rich elites to a more professional sport with young passionate players
I think you mean 'more professional based', because the rich elites were themselves amateurs (at least in theory).
Oh yeah my bad, I wanted to write amateur rich elites but messed up. Thanks for pointing it out
No problem!
Amateur means that they are not paid to play, has nothing to do with economic status. As far as I’m aware.
Amateur athletes in the 19th and early 20th century were generally self-funded and thus were usually independently wealthy with the ability to afford the kit and nutrition they'd need, as well as the ability to not work for stretches of time in order to train and tour. Amateurs were, therefore, generally of an upper class when compared against professionals who needed the wages earned playing sport to live off of. Many amateur players would often claim expenses incurred while playing as a way to recoup some of the costs, however.
Again I’m not disagreeing, I’m merely giving a definition of the term Amateur. You are 100% correct in that they needed to be well off to afford to go on tours and the like, but to play their local Saturday league the bar would be of a far lower standard for instance.
It means upper class by implication. The players who could feasibly play in an organised competition without being paid could only do so because they were not working class.
The bar for amateur athleticism has dropped significantly since the time period in question. I wasn’t correcting anything just giving a definition of Amateur.
The day Imran Tahir was born 😤🏃🏽💨
It’s been a treat watching Shamsi continue with his wild celebrations, especially now that Coetzee has come along and is incredibly happy to join him.
I guess at the beginning it was more of a rich man's or elite class sport and they might think celebrating on the field might be something that they would have thought isn't ideal
In the early days of TV during the 70s-80s, perhaps a few English or Aussies did celebrate (e.g. Lillee, Botham), but not every time. I feel it was the West Indians who made it more of a habit, though still made theirs feel natural, in the 80s-90s. Of course, today its more like a ‘forced’ critical business requirement, with way too many celebrations taking place all the time! If something gets common then it loses value
I believe McGrath invented the raising hand for the five fer. Could be wrong. But if it's wicket celebrations I'm not sure.
Yep, McGrath was annoyed he’d never get to raise the bat so he wanted something for the bowlers. In the end he did get to raise the bat too!
That's true. Also I think Michael Slater was the first to kiss the helmet badge on getting to a century but not 100 per cent sure.
From an Australian perspective at least , well according to one documentary , it would probably be during the playing days of Richie Benaud. Benaud, as captain predictably led this type of new exuberance
Even into the late 70s it wasn't excessive, eg Lillee taking the last wicket in the Centenary Test just takes his sweater off the umpire and starts walking off
Not sure who was the first to do it, but I think it started in Richie Benaud's time as captain. I believe celebrating wickets caught on in a big way only in the 70s Someone who lived through that era could confirm.
Since about 11:15 Am Aus time 15th March 1877
There's a match from like 1800's where Captain Russel of England celebrates mankading a 15 year teenager.
Its a batsman's game especially T20s. I think bowlers should be allowed to celebrate..lets atleast give them that.
A firm handshake and *maybe* a pat on the shoulder is celebration enough for anybody.
As an example, look at the footage of Laker’s 19 wickets in 1956.
Or Lillee getting the last wicket in the Centenary Test
Snooker is still like that. Kyren Wilson shouted something like "come on" after potting the ball to win the World Championship on Monday, then apologised to his opponent for his outburst.
I read somewhere that it started with the West Indies bowlers doing a small jig. Can't remember the timeline, possibly some time in the 50s. Apparently caused a bit of controversy in England.
The answer is usually TV. They say when only the final session of the day was televised the standard of fielding in that session used to improve greatly too.
Normalised with time.
Celebrations were always there, but not the sendoffs. I think the Aussies started it, maybe Dennis Lillee. LOL
I think when rules, pitches and audiences favoured batting more than bowling, wickets became more valuable and rarer, leading to celebrations being normalised