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Today we turn our attention to one of the greatest English exports – Cricket.

The game was first played in southern England in Tudor times and by the end of the 18th century, it had developed into the national sport of England.

The earliest written reference to the game was in evidence given at a 1598 court case that mentions ‘creckett’ played on common land in Guildford, Surrey. ‘Creckett’ is a name that may have been derived from the Middle Dutch work ‘krick’ menaing stick, or the Old English ‘cricc’ or ‘cryce’ meaning crutch.

By the end of the C17th cricket had become an organised sport and it is believed that the first professionals appeared in the years following the Restoration in 1660. As the British Empire expanded, cricket became popular overseas, with the first international match being held in the mid C19th.

The quintessentially British sport is popular globally, particularly in Australasia, India, the West Indies and South Africa.  The fierce rivalry between England and Australia gave spurned The Ashes in 1882; this has remained Test cricket’s most famous contest.

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My mother-in-law fell down a wishing well, I was amazed, I never knew they worked.

– Les Dawson

Dame Judith Olivia “Judi” Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (9 December 1934) is one of the nation’s best loved film, stage and television actresses.

Dench’s professional career started in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. She played roles in several Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth before branching into film, and winning a BAFTA as Most Promising Newcomer.

Over the next 20 years, Dench’s established a career as one of the UK’s most significant actresses, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Companies, and playing parts in TV series A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By.

In 1995 Dench was cast as M in the Bond film GoldenEye in 1995, a role she has reprised in all subsequent Bond films. From here, her film career blossomed and she has received critical acclaim for her roles in Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, Iris, Mrs Henderson Presents and Notes on a Scandal.

Dench has received many award nominations including ten BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In June 2011, she received a fellowship from the British Film Institute (BFI).

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Today in 1964, Jim Marshall amplification was founded.

Jim Marshall was running a drum shop, and by request of his customers, who included Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend, he created the revolutionary JTM45 50-watt amp. Piled high in the famous ‘speaker stack,’ they created the hard rocking sound that his customers wanted to acheive!

Jim Marshall (James Charles Marshall OBE) died on the 5 April 2012, leaving his iconic brand and ‘the Marshall sound’ as a legacy.

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Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian.

She is widely regarded as one of the greatest film and fashion icons of the C20th.

Hepburn’s career started as a chorus girl in various West End musicals before moving onto British films, and starring in the Broadway play Gigi. She gained instant stardom when she played the lead in Roman Holiday in 1953, later performing in Sabrina, The Nun’s Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charade, My Fair Lady and Wait Until Dark.

Later in her life, Hepburn starred in fewer films, and devoted much of her time to UNICEF, inspired by the wartime struggles that dominated her early years. She worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities in Africa, South America and Asia in the late eighties and early nineties.

In 1992, the year before her untimely death at the age of 63, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Hepburn also remains one of few entertainers who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.

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Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE (born 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, author and true national treasure.

A former child star in England, Andrews performed in Broadway musicals such as The Boyfriend, My Fair Lady and in a TV role as Cinderella, before landing a part in Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music. These films made Andrews’ career and are the 25^th and 3^rd highest grossing films of all time, respectively.

From 1964 to 1967, Andrews was the biggest film star in the world, with the additional box office successes of her subsequent films The Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Torn Curtain, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Following quieter periods in the 70s, 80s and 90s, Andrews’ film career had a revival in the 2000s, with kids’ films such as The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Shrek and Despicable Me.  Andrews has also worked as a stage director, and as an author of children’s books and her autobiography.

She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People’s Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honours.

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