There are numerous people around the country that have what might best be described as a ‘difficult’ relationship with the national team when it comes to football. The same isn’t particularly true in terms of cricket, however, with those that might turn their nose up at the Three Lions being more than happy to celebrate the success of those with bat and ball. That might well have something to do with the typical demographic of cricket lovers, who will often be more readily inclined to be supportive of nationalism in general, as well as love King and Queen and so on.
It is also fair to say that cricket is a touch more complicated than football, in the sense that there are numerous different versions of the sport, each of which boasts its own team. The oldest form of the sport is Test cricket, which sees matches last for five days. Then there are One Day Internationals, which are played over a single day. Twenty20 cricket was designed in order to try to make the game more appealing to people who find the length and nature of Test cricket a bit too tedious, with both of the men’s and women’s sides of the sport having teams for all disciplines.
Then there is the England Lions team, which is essentially the ‘B’ team for England and Wales. It is in place to give promising young cricketers a way of gaining experience on the international stage. This team only tends to play the equivalent of Test cricket, although it has played in one-day matches in the past. Because cricket tends to naturally sit well behind football in terms of popularity on the national stage, one of the main things that the England and Wales Cricket Board looks to do is to find ways of bringing more people to the sport, often by focusing on younger people in general.
England Cricket Teams
Men's Team
One of the things that the eagle-eyed amongst might well have realised is the fact that the England cricket team is actually made up of people from England and Wales. This has been the case since 1997, when the England and Wales Cricket Board replaced the Marylebone Cricket Club as the governing body for the men’s national team. The very first Test match was played between England and Australia in a contest that later became known as the Ashes. The team that plays in Test matches is often similar to, although not the same, as the one that plays ODIs and T20 matches.
Women’s Team
Whilst the men’s cricket team has been playing Tests and other forms of the sport since the late 19th century, it wasn’t until 1934 that Betty Archdale led a team of women to tour Australia and pioneer the women’s game. Initially governed by the Women’s Cricket Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board took on the responsibility for governing the women’s game for the first time in 1998. As with the men, the women’s team plays Test matches, as well as One Day Internationals and Twenty20 variations of the sport, taking part in the likes of the Women’s Ashes and the Cricket World Cup.
England Lions
Essentially a junior team, the England Lions was created as England B in 1982 when it took on a team from Pakistan, later going on a full tour of Sri Lanka. A team called England A went to Zimbabwe in 1989-1990, playing three first-class matches and three games with 50 overs in each. It is the second-tier international team of England, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a direct line from the England Lions to the main England team. Instead, it is about giving experience on the international stage to younger cricketers who show some promise, being named the Lions since 2007.
