Cricket in England
Cricket in England is one of the most popular sports in the country and is known to have been played in England since the 16th century. The Marylebone Cricket Club, based at Lords, developed the modern rules of play and conduct.There are eighteen professional county clubs, seventeen of them in England and one in Wales. All eighteen counties are named after, and were originally representative of, historic counties. These clubs are heavily dependent on subsidies from the England and Wales Cricket Board, which makes its money from television and endorsement contracts and attendances at international matches. The English cricket season traditionally starts at the beginning of April and runs though to the second half of September although in recent years counties have played pre season friendly matches at the very end of March.
2007 English cricket season
The 2007 English cricket season was the 108th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. It began on Saturday 14 April 2007 with the match between MCC and the 2006 county champions Sussex at Lord's. Sussex went on to win the County Championship.