CRICKET BANNED IN ENGLAND:1300-1500 AD

The 14th and 15th centuries were bad for "creagh", or "cricke". It was banned, and severe penalties were imposed on anyone owning equipment or sponsoring matches.Evidently the British barons and monarchs of the time took a dim view of a sport that occupied summer weekends. They preferred that yeomen spend that time practicing archery...because it was that assiduous practice every weekend with the fabled longbow that had brought victory to to the English in their European forays, and this was a military advantage the English were loth to relinquish. Richard II, in fact, seems to have banned all ball games in favor of archery practice. It was only after gunpowder eclipsed the legendary skills of the longbowmen that the restrictions on cricket began to be relaxed.
Not until the 16th century do we again hear of cricket....but the sport must have existed through that time, if only as a clandestine activity.
Indeed, it is rumored that the "outlaws" of the day made the best cricketers, and one Robert Locksley (better known to us as Robin Hood) may have also been a fine cricketer of this era! If so, the feudal lords would have had a very good reason to ban "cricke"...and the story, although perhaps apocryphal, may tell us something of why it did survive.