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Level 2 – Pre-intermediate
Cricket – a summer pastime
One of the most popular summer sports in Britain is cricket. Cricket is an important part of British national heritage. Children learn to play the game at school and there are local teams in most villages and towns around the country. It is a very ancient game which originated in the Middle Ages. The first recorded cricket match took place in Kent in 1700. Modern cricket started in 1787 when the members of a London club wrote down the rules for the first time. Cricket today is very similar because the rules have not changed much since then.
Cricket spread around the world with the British Empire and today international cricket is very popular in many countries. The main countries which play cricket today are England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the West Indies.
There are Test Matches between national teams all year round but in Britain they traditionally take place in summer because of the weather. A Test Match lasts five days and British people can follow it live on television. However, the English team does not have a good reputation because they lose most of their international matches!
Many foreigners find cricket very difficult to follow. This is because the rules are strange and not simple to explain. The game is also very slow and nothing exciting happens for long periods. For many English people, a local cricket match is also a social event and an opportunity to spend a day in the sun. Unfortunately, many matches are interrupted by rain!
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Answer the questions below to check how well you understand the text.
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C2 Mastery
