WHERE THE NAME CAME FROM

A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket,
which could refer to the bat or the wicket. In old French, the word criquet
meant a kind of club which probably gave its name to croquet. Some believe
that cricket and croquet have a common origin. In Flemish, krick(e) means a
stick, and, in Old English, cricc or cryce means a crutch or staff
(though the hard "k" sound suggests the North or Northeast midlands,
rather than the Southeast, where cricket seems to have begun).
Alternatively, the French criquet apparently comes from the Flemish word
krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church. It may
appear similar to the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket,
or the early stool in stoolball. The word stool is old dialect for a tree
stump in a forest, but in stoolball it may well refer to the milking-stools
which are believed to have been used as wickets in early times.
Stoolball is an ancient sport similar to cricket, still played in southern
counties of England, especially Sussex, and is considered a precursor to
cricket, rounders and baseball