The German academic Heiner Gillmeister and his Australian colleague, John Campbell uncovered an apparent reference to cricket in the 16th Century work, "The Image of Ipocrisie", attributed to the English poet John Skelton, which refers to Flemish weavers who settled in southern and eastern England. They are described as "kings of crekettes"; "wickettes" are mentioned too. It is thought the weavers brought the game to England and played it close to where they looked after theirsheep, using shepherd’s crooks as bats. The discovery challenges the long established theory thatthe sport evolved from English children’s games.
He points to a 1533 poem attributed to John Skelton, a poet and playwright, named The Image of Ipocrisie
O ! lodre of Ipocrites,
Nowe shut vpp your wickettes,
And clappe to your clickettes!
A! Farewell, kings of crekettes!
Mr Campbell’s research was based on earlier investigations by Mr Gillmeister, a linguist from the University of Bonn. He is certain cricket cannot have started in England. "There is no way to relate the term to any existing English word," he told the BBC. "I was brought up with Flemish children and I know the language well.
I immediately thought of the Flemish phrase ’met de krik ketsen’which means to ’chase a ball with a curved stick’." In response, cricket historian David Frith said: "It is hard to deny that this is a breakthrough. This discovery points to an addition to the great historyof cricket." He added: "It does make you wonder why Belgium isn’t playing test cricket though,doesn’t it?"
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
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