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Cricket History

Symbolic of good fortune in China, crickets have been admired for at least two thousand years for both their song and their fighting prowess. A dried and hollowed-out gourd with a perforated lid for ventilation is a common way to carry a pet cricket. Crickets are also held in pots, tubes, cages with bars and tiny sliding doors, and cases. These are made from clay, porcelain, bone, metal, wood, bamboo, and plastic, among other materials. Cricket cages of all types are frequently embellished with engraving, carving, inlay, and painting. Large cities frequently have one or more zcricket markets where the insects can be found, along with paraphernalia for keeping them.

Crickets kept for their fighting prowess are part of a large recreational network of people, primarily in the cities, who spend significant amounts of money buying fighting crickets and betting on them in cricket matches. The sport has migrated to other parts of the world, including the United States.

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