Cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics
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At the 1900 Summer Olympics, a cricket tournament was contested. Although four teams were originally expected to compete, Belgium and Holland (the Netherlands) pulled out of the competition, leaving a Great Britain side to play a France side. Neither team was nationally selected. The British side was a touring club team, Devon & Somerset Wanderers. The French team consisted of Britons living in Paris, reportedly mostly members of the British Embassy. By Captain's agreement the game was played as a 12-a-side game, unlike the usual 11 in most cricket matches.
The two-day game was played commencing on August 19, 1900. Great Britain batted first and scored 117. France were then bowled out for 78. Great Britain then scored 145 for 5 in their second innings, setting the hosts a target of 185, who were promptly bowled out for 26. This meant that Great Britain was convincingly the winner of the contest.
The Great Britain team was awarded silver medals and the French team bronze medals, together with miniature statues of the Eiffel Tower.
With the match billed as part of the 1900 Universal Exposition, neither side appears to have realised they were competing in the Olympics. The match was only retrospectively formally recognised as being an Olympic contest in 1912, when the International Olympic Committee met to compile the definitive list of all events in the five modern Olympiads up to that point.
Since then cricket has not appeared in an Olympic Games.
Contents |
[edit] Medal table
These medals are retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal.
| Position | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Great Britain |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 |  France |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
[edit] Medal summary
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-day 12-man | Devon and Somerset Wanderers Great Britain |
French Athletic Club Union France |
None |
[edit] Events
[edit] Two-day 12-man
| Match | Winner | Score | Loser | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devon and Somerset Wanderers | Great Britain |
262-104 | French Athletic Club Union | France |
[edit] Rosters
[edit] Devon and Somerset Wanderers
- C.B.K. Beachcroft (captain)
- Arthur Birkett
- Alfred Bowerman
- George Buckley
- Francis Burchell
- Frederick Christian
- Harry Corner
- Frederick Cuming
- William Donne
- Alfred Powlesland
- John Symes
- Montagu Toller
[edit] French Athletic Club Union
- W. Andersen
- W.T. Attrill
- J. Braid
- W. Browning
- R. Horne
- T.H. Jordan
- Arthur McEvoy
- D. Robinson
- F. Rogues
- A.J. Schneidau
- Henry Terry
- Philip Tomalin (captain)
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- International Olympic Committee medal winners database
- De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Cricket 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1].
- Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-0378-0.
| Events at the 1900 Summer Olympics (Paris) |
|---|
| Archery • Athletics • Basque pelota • Cricket • Croquet • Cycling • Equestrian • Fencing • Football • Golf • Gymnastics • Polo • Rowing • Rugby union • Sailing • Shooting • Swimming • Tennis • Tug of war • Water polo |
