For more than a century, cricketers in England have been divided between ''gentlemen,'' who were amateurs, and "Players," who were professionals. The class lines stem from the rural origins of cricket : local squires led their villagers out to do battle honorably on the green each weekend. As cricket became bigtime, tradition required that the team captains should be Gentlemen, in order to set the tone for the professional Players, who did most of the big hitting.
To keep the distinctions clear, Gentlemen and Players invariably used separate dressing rooms, often came onto the...
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