Amateur and professional cricketers

Since the early Nineteenth century, cricket has gradually developed from an amateur recreational sport in England into a fully professional international sport from which leading players can earn a large income.

Amateur and professional status in English cricket

For many generations there was a formal divide in English cricket between amateurs and professionals, or "Gentlemen and Players" as they were known at the time. Although amateurs and professionals often played together in the same team, they would use separate dressing rooms. The amateurs referred to the professionals by their surname only, but the professionals called the amateurs "sir". However, this was not specific to cricket, but was the normal nomenclature used between middle and working class associates at that time. The "Gentlemen and Players" divide was a reflection of the divide between officers and other ranks in the army and it seemed perfectly natural to most English people of all classes in the 19th Century.

Related Topics:
Army - 19th Century

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An amateur would often be appointed as the captain of a team despite being one of the worst players, or even not good enough to belong in the team at all on the basis of cricketing skills. This even applied to international test cricket.

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In the 20th century the position gradually changed in cricket as English society became more egalitarian. There was also a mounting problem of shamateurism as the number of men who could afford to play cricket full time for several months each year without being paid to do so decreased. Some "amateur" players were given a largely nominal job as "club secretary" and there were sometimes allegations that a few were paid surreptiously. The old distinction became increasingly out of step with social conditions after the Second World War and amateur status was abolished in English cricket at the end of the 1962 season.

Related Topics:
20th century - Shamateurism - Second World War

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