Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea. The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait; the legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo. Sri Lanka's documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years, it has a rich cultural heritage and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, date back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to the modern Maritime Silk Road. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule as Ceylon. A nationalist political movement arose in the country in the early 20th century to obtain political independence, granted in 1948.
Sri Lanka's recent history has been marred by a 26-year civil war, which decisively ended when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. The current constitution stipulates the political system as a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system, it has had a long history of international engagement, as a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77, the Non-Aligned Movement. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of only two South Asian countries rated "high" on the Human Development Index, with its HDI rating and per capita income the highest among South Asian nations; the Sri Lankan constitution accords Buddhism the "foremost place", although it does not identify it as a state religion. Buddhism is given special privileges in the Sri Lankan constitution; the island is home to many cultures and ethnicities. The majority of the population is from the Sinhalese ethnicity, while a large minority of Tamils have played an influential role in the island's history.
Moors, Malays and the indigenous Vedda are established groups on the island. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names. According to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers' hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Ramayana, the island was referred to as Lankā; the Tamil term Eelam, was used to designate the whole island in Sangam literature. The island was known under Chola rule as Mummudi Cholamandalam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni; the Persians and Arabs referred to it as Sarandīb from Cerentivu or Siṃhaladvīpaḥ. Ceilão, the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese Empire when it arrived in 1505, was transliterated into English as Ceylon; as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon. The country is now known in Sinhala in Tamil as Ilaṅkai. In 1972, its formal name was changed to "Free and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka".
In 1978 it was changed to the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka". As the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority; the pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years and even as far back as 500,000 years. The era spans the Palaeolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, which dates back to 37,000 BP, Batadombalena and Belilena are the most important. In these caves, archaeologists have found the remains of anatomically modern humans which they have named Balangoda Man, other evidence suggesting that they may have engaged in agriculture and kept domestic dogs for driving game. One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana, which provides details of a kingdom named Lanka, created by the divine sculptor Vishwakarma for Kubera, the Lord of Wealth, it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara.
The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravana's airport. Early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka; the 19th-century Irish historian James Emerson Tennent theorized that Galle, a city in southern Sri Lanka, was the ancient seaport of Tarshish from which King Solomon is said to have drawn ivory and other valuables. According to the Mahāvamsa, a chronicle written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600 BC and other signs of advanced civilisation have been discovered in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese history traditionally starts in 543 BC with the arrival of Prince Vijaya, a semi-legendary prince who sailed with 700 followers to Sri Lanka, after being expelled from Vanga Kingdom (present-day Ben
Pakistan national cricket team
The Pakistan Men's National Cricket Team, popularly referred to as the Shaheens, Green Shirts and Men in Green, is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The team is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council, participates in Test, ODI and Twenty20 International cricket matches. Pakistan has played 423 Test matches, winning 136, losing 128 and drawing 159. Pakistan was given Test status on 28 July 1952, following a recommendation by India, made its Test debut against India at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi, in October 1952, with India winning by an innings and 70 runs. In the 1930s and 40s, several Pakistani Test players had played Test cricket for the Indian cricket team before the creation of Pakistan in 1947; the team has played tying 8 with 19 ending in no-result. Pakistan was the 1992 World Cup champion, was the runner-up in the 1999 tournament. Pakistan, in conjunction with other countries in South Asia, has hosted the 1987 and 1996 World Cups, with the 1996 final being hosted at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The team has played 142 Twenty20 Internationals, the most of any team, winning 90 losing 49 and tying 3. Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and were runners-up in the inaugural tournament in 2007. Pakistan won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy for the first time, defeating India. Pakistan has the distinct achievement of having won each of the major ICC international cricket tournaments: ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy; as of 25 March 2019, the Pakistani cricket team is ranked seventh in Tests, sixth in ODIs and first in T20Is by the ICC. In the past, Pakistan has suffered a lot from terrorism which prevented foreign teams from visiting Pakistan due to the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team; as a result, their home matches have been held in the United Arab Emirates since then. However, due to a decrease in terrorism in Pakistan over the past few years, as well as a sharp increase in security, many teams have toured Pakistan since 2015 and the situation appears to be getting better.
These teams include Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, an ICC World XI. Cricket in Pakistan has a history predating the creation of the country in 1947; the first international cricket match in Karachi was held on 22 November 1935 between Sindh and Australian cricket teams. The match was seen by 5,000 Karachiites. Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, cricket in the country developed and Pakistan was given Test match status at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference at Lord's in England on 28 July 1952 following recommendation by India, being the successor state of the British Raj, did not have to go through such a process; the first captain of the Pakistan national cricket team was Abdul Hafeez Kardar. Pakistan's first Test match was played in Delhi in October 1952 as part of a five Test series which India won 2–1. Pakistan made their first tour of England in 1954 and drew the series 1–1 after a memorable victory at The Oval in which fast bowler Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets. Pakistan's first home Test match was against India in January 1955 at Bangabandhu National Stadium, East Pakistan, after which four more Test matches were played in Bahawalpur, Lahore and Karachi.
The team is considered a unpredictable team. Traditionally Pakistani cricket has been composed of talented players but is alleged to display limited discipline on occasion, making their performance inconsistent at times. In particular, the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is emotionally charged and can provide for intriguing contests, as talented teams and players from both sides of the border seek to elevate their game to new levels. Pakistan team contests with India in the Cricket World Cup have resulted in packed stadiums and charged atmospheres; the team is well supported at home and abroad in the United Kingdom where British Pakistanis have formed a fan-club called the "Stani Army". Members of the club are known to provide raucous support; the Stani Army takes part in charity initiatives for underprivileged Pakistanis, including annual friendly cricket matches against British Indian members of the similar "Bharat Army". The 1986 Austral-Asia Cup, played in Sharjah in UAE, is remembered for a famous last-ball victory for Pakistan against arch-rivals India, with Javed Miandad emerging as a national hero.
India batted first and set a target of 245 runs, leaving Pakistan with a required run rate of 4.92 runs per over. Miandad came in to bat at number 3 and Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. Recalling the match, he stated that his main focus was to lose with dignity. With 31 runs needed in the last three overs, Miandad hit a string of boundaries while batting with his team's lower order, until four runs were required from the last delivery of the match. Miandad received a leg side full toss from Chetan Sharma, which he hit for six over the midwicket boundary. At the 1992 World Cup Semi-final, having won the toss, New Zealand chose to bat first and ended with a total of 262 runs. Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. With the departure of Imran Khan and Saleem Malik shortly thereafter, Pakistan still required 115 runs at a rate of 7.67 runs per over with veteran Javed Miandad being the only known batsman remaining at the crease. A young Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had just turned 22 and was not a well-known player at the time, burst onto the international stage with a match-winning 60 off 37 balls.
Once Inzamam got out, Paki
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, with a population of 545,500 as of 2017. It lies within the United Kingdom's second-most populous built-up area, with a population of 3.2 million. It is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation; the local authority is Manchester City Council. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium or Mancunium, established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell, it was a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated in the 20th century. The first to be included, was added to the city in 1931. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city.
Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and directly linking the city to the Irish Sea, 36 miles to the west, its fortune declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation, but the IRA bombing in 1996 led to extensive investment and regeneration. In 2014, the Globalisation and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city after London and Edinburgh, it is notable for its architecture, musical exports, media links and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the world's first inter-city passenger railway station. Manchester hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games; the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, either from mamm- or from mamma.
Both meanings are preserved in Insular Celtic languages, such as mam meaning "breast" in Irish and "mother" in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and from that castra in latin for camp or settlement; the Brigantes were the major Celtic tribe in. Their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Stretford. Following the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century, General Agricola ordered the construction of a fort named Mamucium in the year 79 to ensure that Roman interests in Deva Victrix and Eboracum were protected from the Brigantes. Central Manchester has been permanently settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the final version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield; the Roman habitation of Manchester ended around the 3rd century. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell and Irk sometime before the arrival of the Normans after 1066. Much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North.
Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor and constructed a collegiate church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral; the library, which opened in 1653 and is still open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282. Around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the region's textile industry. Manchester became an important centre for the manufacture and trade of woollens and linen, by about 1540, had expanded to become, in John Leland's words, "The fairest, best builded and most populous town of all Lancashire." The cathedral and Chetham's buildings are the only significant survivors of Leland's Manchester. During the English Civil War Manchester favoured the Parliamentary interest. Although not long-lasting, Cromwell granted it the right to elect its own MP. Charles Worsley, who sat for the city for only a year, was appointed Major General for Lancashire and Staffordshire during the Rule of the Major Generals.
He was a diligent puritan, banning the celebration of Christmas. Significant quantities of cotton began to be used after about 1600, firstly in linen/cotton fustians, but by around 1750 pure cotton fabrics were being produced and cotton had overtaken wool in importance; the Irwell and Mersey were made navigable by 1736, opening a route from Manchester to the sea docks on the Mersey. The Bridgewater Canal, Britain's first wholly artificial waterway, was opened in 1761, bringing coal from mines at Worsley to central Manchester; the canal was extended to the Mersey at Runcorn by 1776. The combination of competition and improved efficiency halved th
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. It is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club, is used for Test matches, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. Edgbaston has hosted the T20 domestic finals day more than any other cricket ground. Edgbaston was the first English ground outside Lord's to host a major international one day tournament final when it hosted the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2013. With permanent seating for 25,000 spectators, it is the fourth-largest cricketing venue in the United Kingdom, after Lord's, Old Trafford and The Oval. Edgbaston was the venue of the first senior game under floodlights in English cricket in July 1997 between Warwickshire and Somerset in the AXA Life Sunday League and hosted the first day/night Test match in England in August 2017 when England played the West Indies; the land that now makes up Edgbaston Cricket Ground was owned by the Calthorpe Estate, who have now sold the site onto Wylam Investments on a long lease.
Calthorpe Estates had developed the manor of Edgbaston into an exclusive Birmingham suburb over the course of the 19th century, believed that a cricket ground would be an asset that would add to the genteel image of the area. Warwickshire County Cricket Club had considered Rugby and Leamington Spa for their headquarters, but club secretary William Ansell believed that Birmingham's large population and comprehensive railway connections made it preferable – envisaging first-class status for the county and Test status for the ground; the club had favoured the Wycliffe Ground on Pershore Road, but were instead offered a 12-acre "meadow of rough grazing land" in an undeveloped area on the banks of the River Rea by the Calthorpe Estate – the less attractive development land having more to gain from association with the cricket ground. With the site only 20 minutes' walk from New Street Station, Warwickshire agreed in 1885 to lease the land for £5 per acre over a 21-year period. A further £ 1,250 was spent on building a wooden pavilion.
The new ground's first match took place on 7 June 1886 against the MCC, watched by 3,000 spectators over two days, with 6,000 turning out on 9 and 10 August to watch Warwickshire play Australia. Edgbaston's first Test match was the first in The Ashes series against Australia in 1902, for which the club erected a permanent stand, two temporary stands and facilities for 90 members of the press; these developments cost a total of £1,500, Warwickshire's share of the tour funds was only £750. The first piece of development in the post-war era was the construction of the Rea Bank and the Thwaite Memorial Scoreboard in 1950. In 1956 an Indoor Cricket School was built and the Pavilion Suite was completed in the same year. By the time the William Ansell Stand opened in 1967 the facilities at Edgbaston were considered to rival those at Lord's. In 1989 executive boxes were added to the rear of the Priory and Raglan Stands and the Sidney Barnes Stand was reconstructed and enlarged, expanding the ground capacity of 17,500.
In July 1997, Edgbaston was the scene of the first competitive floodlit day-night cricket match in Britain. The pavilion end on the south side of the ground was redeveloped between 2010 and 2011 at a cost of £32 million paid for from a £20 million loan from Birmingham City Council, bringing the ground's capacity up to 25,000. Demolition of the pavilion – parts of which dated back to the 1890s – and the Leslie Deakins, R. V. Ryder and William Ansell Stands took place in January 2010, with construction of the new South and West Stands starting in April 2010 and reaching completion 66 weeks later. 5 permanent floodlight pylons were erected around the ground at the same time, allowing up to 15 days of day-night cricket annually. The new development was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 25 July 2011; the first test match to be played at the redeveloped venue was the third Test vs India on 10 August 2011, which saw England reach the number 1 position in the ICC Test Championship for the first time with victory by an innings and 242 runs on the fourth day of the match.
Edgbaston is considered to be one of England's leading cricket grounds. Wisden's guide to cricket grounds in 1992 commented that "Lord's is its only superior in the United Kingdom" with The Daily Telegraph agreeing in 2009 that "taken all in all, it is now the best ground outside Lord's." After the opening of the new South and West Stands in 2011 the England and Wales Cricket Board commented that "the spacious facilities are cutting edge, marginally better than the Home of Cricket". The atmosphere at Edgbaston is reputed to be the most hostile in England for visiting teams. Former England captain Alec Stewart recalled "On a world level I would put it up there with Eden Gardens in Calcutta, which holds about 100,000, it inspires a team. It's like having another man in your side." And the former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones describes how "The crowd here makes such a big noise when you are doing well... it's a unique environment." After winning the 2015 Ashes Test Match with Australia at Edgbaston, England captain Alastair Cook commented "The Edgbaston crowd was up there with the loudest I can remember.
With some of the chants guys who have played a fair bit of cricket were looking at each other and realising how special it was. Edgbaston has been a fantastic venue for us."The record attendance at a County Championship match at Edgbaston is 28,000 against Lancashire in the championship-winning season of 1951, the record for a single day of a test match is 32,000 against the West Indies in 1957. For some years until 2000, Edgbaston had a distinctive motoriz
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, England, 128 miles north of London, 45 miles northeast of Birmingham and 56 miles southeast of Manchester, in the East Midlands. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making and tobacco industries, it was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination. In 2017, Nottingham had an estimated population of 329,200; the population of the city proper, compared to its regional counterparts, has been attributed to its historical and tightly-drawn city boundaries. The wider conurbation, which includes many of the city's suburbs, has a population of 768,638, it is the second-largest in The Midlands. Its Functional Urban Area the largest in the East Midlands, has a population of 912,482; the population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,610,000. Its metropolitan economy is the seventh largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $50.9bn.
The city was the first in the East Midlands to be ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Nottingham has an award-winning public transport system, including the largest publicly owned bus network in England and is served by Nottingham railway station and the modern Nottingham Express Transit tram system, it is a major sporting centre, in October 2015 was named'Home of English Sport'. The National Ice Centre, Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, Trent Bridge international cricket ground are all based in or around the city, the home of two professional league football teams; the city has professional rugby, ice hockey and cricket teams, the Aegon Nottingham Open, an international tennis tournament on the ATP and WTA tours. This accolade came just over a year. On 11 December 2015, Nottingham was named a "City of Literature" by UNESCO, joining Dublin, Edinburgh and Prague as one of only a handful in the world; the title reflects Nottingham's literary heritage, with Lord Byron, D. H. Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe having links to the city, as well as a contemporary literary community, a publishing industry and a poetry scene.
The city has two universities—Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham—both of which are spread over several campuses in the city, with a total university student population of over 61,000. The city predates Anglo-Saxon times and was known in Brythonic as Tigguo Cobauc, meaning Place of Caves. In modern Welsh it is known poetically as Y Ty Ogofog and Irish as Na Tithe Uaimh "The Cavey Dwelling"; when it fell under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot it became known as "Snotingaham". Some authors derive "Nottingham" from Snottenga and ham, but "this has nothing to do with the English form". Nottingham Castle was constructed in 1068 on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen; the Anglo-Saxon settlement was confined to the area today known as the Lace Market and was surrounded by a substantial defensive ditch and rampart, which fell out of use following the Norman Conquest and was filled by the time of the Domesday Survey. Following the Norman Conquest the Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall and Law Courts.
A settlement developed around the castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the castle. The space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later. Defences, consisted of a ditch and bank in the early 12th century; the ditch was widened, in the mid-13th century, a stone wall built around much of the perimeter of the town. A short length of the wall survives, is visible at the northern end of Maid Marian Way, is protected as a Scheduled Monument. On the return of Richard the Lionheart from the Crusades, the castle was occupied by supporters of Prince John, including the Sheriff of Nottingham, it was besieged by Richard and, after a sharp conflict, was captured. In the legends of Robin Hood, Nottingham Castle is the scene of the final showdown between the Sheriff and the hero outlaw. By the 15th century Nottingham had established itself as a centre of a thriving export trade in religious sculpture made from Nottingham alabaster.
The town became a county corporate in 1449 giving it effective self-government, in the words of the charter, "for eternity". The Castle and Shire Hall were expressly excluded and remained as detached Parishes of Nottinghamshire. One of those impressed by Nottingham in the late 18th century was the German traveller C. P. Moritz, who wrote in 1782, "Of all the towns I have seen outside London, Nottingham is the loveliest and neatest. Everything had a modern look, a large space in the centre was hardly less handsome than a London square. A charming footpath leads over the fields to the highway. … Nottingham … with its high houses, red roofs and church steeples, looks excellent from a distance."During the Industrial Revolution, much of Nottingham's prosperity was founded on the textile industry.
New Zealand
New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 2,000 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia and Tonga; because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal and plant life; the country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington. Sometime between 1250 and 1300, Polynesians settled in the islands that were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands.
In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a dominion. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.9 million is of European descent. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration; the official languages are English, Māori, NZ Sign Language, with English being dominant. A developed country, New Zealand ranks in international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, economic freedom. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy; the service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, agriculture. Nationally, legislative authority is vested in an elected, unicameral Parliament, while executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by the prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
Queen Elizabeth II is the country's monarch and is represented by a governor-general Dame Patsy Reddy. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes; the Realm of New Zealand includes Tokelau. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ASEAN Plus Six, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Islands Forum. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and named it Staten Land "in honour of the States General", he wrote, "it is possible that this land joins to the Staten Land but it is uncertain", referring to a landmass of the same name at the southern tip of South America, discovered by Jacob Le Maire in 1616. In 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand. Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand.
It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the whole country before the arrival of Europeans, with Aotearoa referring to just the North Island. Māori had several traditional names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North and South. In 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907 this was the accepted norm; the New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised, names and alternative names were formalised in 2013. This set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, South Island or Te Waipounamu. For each island, either its English or Māori name can be used. New Zealand was one of the last major landmasses settled by humans. Radiocarbon dating, evidence of deforestation and mitochondrial DNA variability within Māori populations suggest New Zealand was first settled by Eastern Polynesians between 1250 and 1300, concluding a long series of voyages through the southern Pacific islands.
Over the centuries that followed, these settlers developed a distinct culture now known as Māori. The population was divided into iwi and hapū who would sometimes cooperate, sometimes compete and sometimes fight against each other. At some point a group of Māori migrated to Rēkohu, now known as the Chatham Islands, where they developed their distinct Moriori culture; the Moriori population was all but wiped out between 1835 and 1862 because of Taranaki Māori invasion and enslavement in the 1830s, although European diseases contributed. In 1862 only 101 survived, the last known full-blooded Moriori died in 1933; the first Europeans known to have reached New Zeala
Dennis Amiss
Dennis Leslie Amiss MBE is a former English cricketer and cricket administrator. He played for both England. A right-handed batsman, Amiss was a stroke maker through extra cover and midwicket – his two favourite areas to score runs, he was an accomplished batsman in all forms of the game. He averaged 42.86 in first-class, 35.06 in List-A, 46.30 in Tests and 47.72 in One Day Internationals. In first-class cricket he scored 102 centuries, his England record amassed over 50 Tests ranks him with the best England has produced. After retiring as a player in 1987, he served Warwickshire as Chairman of the Cricket Committee, he followed David Heath as chief executive from 1994 until 2006. In 1992 he was selected as an England selector. In November 2007 he became the deputy chairman of the Wales Cricket Board. Amiss suffered a serious back injury whilst playing football in his teenage years, which entailed him starting each day of his sporting life undergoing stretching routines to loosen up. Amiss made his Test debut for England in the fifth Test of the 1966 series with West Indies, he proved an accomplished Test match batsman.
He was one of the first batsmen to use a protective helmet. In scoring 3,612 Test runs, Amiss made eleven half-centuries and eleven centuries, including two double centuries against the West Indies, his highest Test match score his highest first-class score, was 262 not out against the West Indies in the 1973–74 Kingston Test, an innings that saved the Test match for England after they conceded a first innings lead of 230. The next highest score in England's innings was 38. After being dropped by England in 1975, he made a successful return against the West Indies at the Oval in the final Test of 1976, although his 203 in the first innings did not prevent England losing the match. Amiss's last Test came in 1977 when he was left out to make way for Geoff Boycott's return from self-imposed exile, his former Warwickshire teammate, Jack Bannister, stated "Dennis was always tinkering with his game, he was a bigger perfectionist than Colin Cowdrey". Amiss was a handy One Day International batsman scoring 859 runs, including four centuries and one half-century, with a top score of 137 against India, still England's second highest individual score in the Cricket World Cup, behind the 158 scored by Andrew Strauss in 2011.
He has the distinction of scoring the first One Day International century, the first instance of a debutant scoring a century in ODI. Amiss along with Keith Fletcher is credited to have shared the first partnership of hundred runs in the same match, he ended with an ODI batting average of 47.72, which excepting those players to have played fewer than five times, remains the highest of any England batsman who has completed his career. The still-active Kevin Pietersen averaged over 50 throughout the first 60 matches of his ODI career up until September 2007, but that figure had fallen to under 41 by June 2011. Amiss played World Series Cricket in the late 1970s in Australia. Amiss was banned from Test cricket for three years for taking part in the first'rebel' tour of South Africa in 1982. Amiss was selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1975. Amiss was awarded an MBE in 1988. Dennis Amiss is the first player in ODI cricket to have scored a century on both his debut and in his last match, the only other being Desmond Haynes.
On 7 June 1975 at Lord's in the first match of the Prudential World Cup Amiss smashed 137 runs in just 147 balls against India powered by 18 boundaries. His innings provided enough leverage for England to post a imposing and improbable target of 335 for India to be chased down within a span of 60 overs, it was the first time that a team would score 300 or more runs in an ODI match. The match featured the infamous and notorious ODI innings of Sunil Gavaskar who in reply to the nearly unreachable target set by England scored an unbeaten 36 in 174 balls with just one boundary to adorn his innings. Dennis Amiss MBE at LinkedIn Dennis Amiss at Cricinfo Dennis Amiss at CricketArchive
England
West Indies (1st title)
Australia
Glenn Turner (333)
India
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
East Africa
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