Charge!

I have been reading Rowland Bowen's Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development Throughout the World and I recently came across a rather curious rule. Firstly, you must know that in cricket, one of the ways to be given out is to be caught (IE/ You hit the ball, a fielder catches it). So, the rule: If a player was in danger of being out caught he could charge down his opponent trying to catch the ball. A 1744 version of the laws upheld this right, though the bat and arms were not allowed to be used. (In 1624 a player, Jasper Vinall, was accidentally killed by another player, Edward Tye, with his bat, while Vinall was attempting to take a catch) This right was taken away in 1787, however as the game had spread around the world, local variants of the game still allowed it later than that. And so it was that an 1846 series between Canada and the USA was suspended because a Canadian batsman charged down an opponent...he believed it was within his rights to do so. As an aside, Canada first played the USA in an 1844 match which is widely believed to be the first international sporting contest. A further aside...in 1867 Cricket was declared Canada's national sport by John A. MacDonald. I'm not suggesting that the charging down rule be reintroduced, as entertaining as it could potentially be, I just found it interesting. That's all. You can go now.