ICC Europe and MCC publish The Laws of Cricket in Seven European Languages
ICC Europe in partnership with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has published seven new European translations of The Laws of Cricket (2000 Code 4th Edition - 2010). All translations are available to download online free for an unlimited period of time.
The game of Cricket has been governed by a code for over 250 years, and since its formation in 1787 the MCC has acted as custodian to the Laws of Cricket and is responsible for all subsequent amendments. On October 1, 2010 the new edition of the Laws of Cricket was released, replacing the last edition which was published in October 2000.
With 105 Member Countries now forming the ICC, the demand for The Laws of Cricket has never been greater with requests from clubs, officials, and players growing each year. This trend was particularly evident in the Europe region leading to the translation of the 2010 edition of the Laws into seven of the most widely spoken European languages: French, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, European Portugese, Italian, and German. Respective European Member Country Board representatives were then invited to edit, approve, and endorse the translated works prior to publication.
"This project has been a vision of the Pepsi ICC European Development Programme for some time and we are delighted that the completed translations are now available to the public for download," said Richard Holdsworth, ICC Regional Development Manager - Europe.
"We initially underestimated the complexity involved with translating the Laws into so many different languages as many of the cricket terms just did not exist. For this reason, we would like to thank our Member Countries for assisting us in the translations and ensuring that each version was acceptable and usable by their local cricketing communities. This significant achievement will help to globalise the understanding of the game." he added.
Fraser Stewart, Laws and Universities Manager at MCC, believes that it is of vital importance that players, coaches, officials and cricket enthusiasts across the world understand the Laws of Cricket: "MCC is hugely appreciative of the hard work that ICC Europe has undertaken by translating the Laws of Cricket into seven European languages. Many of these languages extend well beyond European boundaries to Associate and Affiliate countries worldwide and will undoubtedly be extremely helpful for cricket-lovers across the globe," he said.
In addition to the seven languages, there are two further translations in progress - Finnish and Romanian - the latter of which has been initiated by Cricket Romania, currently a Prospective Member of the ICC.
The European versions of the Laws of Cricket can be downloaded free in PDF format at the ICC Europe website and/or the MCC website.