In sport, why are some playing surfaces called different names, such as cricket pitch, football field, fives court, etc.?

Kainantu

Origins... CRICKET PITCH is so called because: 1. The cricket pitch length of 66 feet is the exact width of a Saxon farmer's holding under the Medieval agricultural system 2. The earliest known Laws of Cricket, the 'Code of 1744', give the length of the pitch as 22 yards. FOOTBALL FIELD A football field was originally called a ground: 3. ground - O.E. grund 'foundation, ground, earth, William Fitzstephen in 1175 in London described the activities of youth of the city on Shrove Tuesday: 'After dinner they went to a local piece of ground just outside the city for the famous game of ball.' 4.and in the 'Rules For The Simplest Game.' 1862, J.C. Thring,also calls the area of play 'ground' 'Rule 6 ...in a straight line towards the middle of the ground.' 5.Ground is also used in The Cambridge University Rules November 1863, Rule 1 The ground shall be marked... Rule 6 When the ball goes out of the ground by crossing the sidelines... Because ground and field were interchangeable the use of field was introduced. 6. field (n.) - O.E. feld 'field,' probably related to O.E. folde 'earth, land,' from P.Gmc. *felthuz 'flat land,' FIVES COURT 7. is a game played with a ball against a wall, resembling tennis. 8. Tennis was played first by hitting against a wall, then later over a crude net.(in an enclosed area) 9 court - 1175, from O.Fr. curt, from L. cortem, acc. of cors (earlier cohors) 'enclosed yard,' Sporting sense is from 1519, originally of tennis. Apr 06 03, 11:16 AM

Kainantu

References to the above for those who want them: 1. http://www.canberraworkerscc.org.au/TheGame.html 2.http://www.cricket.org/ 3.http://boundstonepe.250free.com/alevel/footballhistory.htm 4.http://www.everyday.demon.co.uk/cfrp/history.html 5.http://www.everyday.demon.co.uk/cfrp/history.html 6.http://www.etymonline.com/c9etym.htm 7.www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/Fives 8.http://tennis.about.com/library/weekly/aa082001.htm 9.http://www.etymonline.com/c9etym.htm Apr 06 03, 12:01 PM

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