Bank Holidays link to cricket unmasked

[photo from ECB]

Hands up who knew that Bank Holiday’s had a connection to cricket? I have no doubt my friend JP Rangaswami knew this but I certainly didn’t. I’ve been meaning to looking in to the etymology of Bank Holidays for a while and finally got around to it. It turns out (in the UK at least) the naming comes from the Bank of England observing 33 or so of these days until 1834 when they were reduced to 4…presumably to coincide with the installation of the first ATM ;)

At that point have Sir John Lubbock to thank. He passed the Bank Holidays Act 1871 and was a big cricket fan. To quote Wikipedia,

Sir John was an enthusiastic supporter of cricket and was firmly of the belief that bank employees should have the opportunity to participate in and attend matches when they were scheduled. Included in the dates of bank holidays are therefore dates when cricket games were traditionally played between the villages in the region where Sir John was raised

So there you have it. The history of Bank Holidays and now when you take them off you can say you’re off to watch the cricket.