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Cricket is a popular sport in Wales. With its roots beginning in the late 18th century, Cricket has been played throughout Wales ever since. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is Wales' only first-class team, and Welsh players are eligible to represent England as the team represents both England and Wales. Cricket is played within the Welsh schools system, and is considered one of the country's main summer sports. ==History== Cricket, as a sport, found its origins in England, with its first set of rules adopted in 1744. By 1787 the Marylebone Cricket Club, cricket's first ruling body was founded in London. Before the creation of the MCC, cricket had spread to Wales, with the first recorded match played at Llanegwad in Carmarthenshire.〔Davies (2008), pg 177.〕 The first club to be mentioned is Swansea, in 1785.〔 With the development of the railways and better transportation links, the game of cricket began to spread slowly across Wales and by the 1830s the first interclub fixtures were regularly played.〔 On 5 May 1845, Cardiff Cricket Club was inaugurated, and after three years using the rented field at Longcross, now the location of the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, the team became associated with the Cardiff Arms Park. Both the Arms Park and St. Helen's, in Swansea were cricket venues before they became associated with rugby union. By 1850 cricket had become a popular activity in many schools, and this in turn helped cricket to be adopted as a working-class sport rather than one associated with the gentry as it occurred in England. 1859 saw the first match between select English and Welsh teams, when the All England XI played a South Wales XXII.〔 The South Wales team were victorious and this led to the first attempt to form a first-class team in Wales. Although county teams were formed after this date, most were short lived; but in 1888 Glamorgan County Cricket Club was formed, which would become the most important first-class team in Wales. Glamorgan entered the Minor Counties Cricket Championship in 1897 and was joined by other county teams from Wales: Carmarthenshire, Monmouthshire and Denbighshire. In 1921 Glamorgan became the first county team to gain first-class status, and was the 17th member of the County Championship. From its earliest days Glamorgan refused to designate a county headquarters, playing its matches at both St. Helen's in Swansea and Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, in an attempt to remain neutral to the two main cities of the county. In 1975, St. Helen's Ground in Swansea held the first international game to be played outside the normal Test venues of England, hosting a One-day International between England and New Zealand.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cricket in Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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