When cricket was a part of Olympic Games

Cricket was once a part of Olympic Games. The game today is recognized worldwide and is one of the most popular games in the modern era. But it is not a part of the Olympic Games anymore.

In the 1900 Paris Olympics, originally Belgium, France, Great Britain and The Netherlands were scheduled to play in the cricket competition but Belgium and Netherlands pulled out of the competition. Eventually on the 19 August 1900 a two-day match began at Velodrome Le Vincennes.

Devon and Somerset Wanderers was a British touring side which represented the Great Britain while French Athletic Club Union represented France. Great Britain batted first and scored 117, and bowled France out for 78. Great Britain then scored 145 for 5 in their second innings, setting the hosts a target of 185. The tourists bowled out France for 26 to win the match by 158 runs, a significant margin, but with only five minutes of the match remaining. The Great Britain team was awarded silver medals and the French team bronze medals, together with miniature statues of the Eiffel Tower. The match was formally recognized as being an Olympic contest in 1912, and the medals were later reassigned as gold and silver.

In the inaugural edition of the competition (1896, Athens) cricket was indeed scheduled as an event. But there were insufficient entries hence the event was cancelled.

The match had been intended to be a standard eleven-a-side contest, but by a mutual agreement from the captains this was increased to twelve-a-side, a move which the scorecard printers had not expected, resulting in the extra name having to be added by hand. Play commenced at 11:00 a.m on Sunday, 19 August, with the touring Wanderers batting first. They were bowled out for 117, with only four members of the team reaching double figures. Frederick Cuming top-scored for the side with 38, followed by their captain, and Exeter Cricket Club opening batsman, C. B. K. Beachcroft with 23. The French were then bowled out for 78, the bowling led by Frederick Christian who claimed seven wickets. Play closed at 5:00 p.m after both sides had completed their first innings, and the Wanderers had a lead of 39 runs. The Wanderers batting improved the following morning, and they added 145 runs for the second innings, declaring their innings closed with five wickets down. Beachcroft was again successful, reaching a half-century, a feat also achieved by Bowerman, who top-scored with 59 runs. The French required 185 runs to win, but lost their first ten wickets for eleven runs. At this point they attempted to play out time, which would have meant the match was drawn. They succeeded for a bit, and the match was just five minutes from the end when their eleventh and final wicket fell, granting the Wanderers a 158-run victory. Toller was the pick of the Wanderers bowlers in the second innings, claiming seven wickets and conceding nine runs.

After the match, the English side were awarded silver medals (those days the winner used to get a silver medal), and the French side were given Bronze medals, and both teams were also given miniature statues of the Eiffel Tower. The match was not covered in any national newspapers in England, although some of the local Devon papers did publish reports.

Excerpts: Journal of Olympic History