France national cricket team
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| France | |
 |
|
| ICC membership granted | 1987 |
| ICC member status | Associate member |
| ICC development region | Europe |
| Captain | Shabbir Hussain |
| World Cricket League division | n/a |
| European Cricket Championship division | Two |
| First recorded match | 19 August 1900 v Great Britain at Paris, 1900 Summer Olympics |
| ICC Trophy | |
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2001) |
| Best result | First round, 2001 |
| As of 10 September 2006 | |
The French cricket team is the team that represents the country of France in international cricket matches. There are more than 1000 registered players in the country. [1]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early years
One of the many therories about the origin of cricket is that France could be a possible birthplace of the game. A mention of a bat and ball game called "criquet" occurs in a French manuscript of 1478, and the word "criquet" is an old French word meaning "post" or "wicket". [2] However, it is equally possible that this could be an early variant of croquet.
Horace Walpole, son of former British Prime Minister Robert Walpole mentioned seeing cricket in Paris in 1766.[3]
The MCC were due to make the first ever international cricket tour of France, in 1789, however this was cancelled due to the French Revolution. This match was finally played in 1989, as part of the bicentennial celebrations of the revolution, with France beating the MCC by 7 wickets. [4]
The first documented match took place in the Bois de Boulogne between Paris Cricket Club and Warwickshire Knickerbockers in 1864. Paris Cricket Club published a book explaining the game the following year. [5]
[edit] Olympic Games
The one and only appearance for cricket at the Olympic Games took place in 1900, with the French team losing the only match played, and thus remaining the reigning silver medal holders to this day. The French team however, consisted solely of British residents in Paris, primarily embassy staff. See Cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
In 1910, France took part in an exhibition tournament in Brussels, also involving the MCC, the Netherlands and Belgium. They played one game, against the Netherlands, winning by 63 runs. [6]
[edit] The modern era
Many cricket clubs folded after the Second World War, but an influx of English and Asian immigrants led to a resurgence of the game in the early 1980s [7]. The current French Cricket Association was formed in 1987, and they gained Affiliate membership of the ICC the same year. [8].
After the win in the 1989 match mentioned above, there were a handful of tours from English county teams, and a match against Germany in 1997 was included in the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack list of 100 best matches of the 20th century, when David Bordes ran the vital leg-bye with a fractured skull after being hit by a bouncer.
France became an Associate member of the ICC in 1998[9], and participated in the European Championship that year, and have done so on every occasion since.
[edit] 2000s
In 2001, France participated in the ICC Trophy for the first, and to date only, time. They didn't qualify for the 2005 tournament. They will also be absent from the 2009 tournament, after finishing in 6th place in the European Championship Division Two tournament in 2006, losing to Guernsey in the 5th place play-off.
[edit] Tournament history
[edit] World Cup
France have never qualified for the World Cup
[edit] ICC Trophy
- 1979 to 1986 inclusive: Not eligible - Not an ICC member
- 1990 to 1997 inclusive: Not eligible - ICC affiliate member
- 2001: First round
- 2005: Did not qualify
[edit] European Championship
- 1996: Did not participate
- 1998: 8th place
- 2000: 3rd place (Division Two)
- 2002: 5th place (Division Two)
- 2004: 2nd place (Division Two)
- 2006: 6th place (Division Two)
