It is English and cricket has invariably been associated with gentlemen. To play according to rules was to play like a gentleman. It was playing cricket. Unfortunately cricket is most susceptible to cheating precisely because cricket, as has been said by so many, is a game of chance. No matter how great a cricketer one is, there is that off-chance of a catch caught, an unsuspected ball playing havoc.
Cricket is peculiarly an English game.
Not even Scottish or Irish or Welsh. It is English and cricket has invariably been associated with gentlemen. To play according to rules was to play like a gentleman. It was playing cricket. So if a great player does not fare too well, it can easily be attributed to chance.