History Of Rounders

The game of rounders has been played in England since Tudor times, with the earliest reference being in 1744 in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book where it was called "base-ball" by John Newbery. In 1828, William Clarke in London published the second edition of The Boy's Own Book, which included the rules of rounders and which contained the first printed description in English of a bat and ball base-running game played on a diamond.

The following year, the book was published in Boston, Massachusetts.
The first nationally formalised rules were drawn up by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland in 1884. The game is still regulated by the GAA in Ireland. In Great Britain it is regulated by the National Rounders Association (NRA), which was formed in 1943. While the two associations are distinct, they share similar elements of gameplay and culture. Competitions are held between teams from both traditions, with games alternating between codes and one version being played in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

After the rules of rounders were formalised in Ireland, associations were established in Liverpool and Scotland in 1889. Both the 'New York game' and the now-defunct 'Massachusetts game' versions of baseball, as well as softball, share the same historical roots as rounders and bear a resemblance to the GAA version of the game. Rounders is linked to British baseball, which is still played in Liverpool, Cardiff and Newport. Although rounders is assumed to be older than baseball, literary references to early forms of 'base-ball' in England pre-date use of the term rounders. The game is now played up to international level.