Did you know: Cricket was played at the Olympics in 1900; Here's who won the Gold medal

As the International Cricket Council (ICC) has cleared its intention to push for Cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Following this announcement, cricket lovers are excited and praying that the ICC gets success in getting the much-loved sport into the mega-sporting event. However, cricket lovers must be amused to know that it will not be the first time that cricket will be played at the Olympics if the ICC succeeds in including the sport at the mega-event. 

As per ICC's official release, cricket has only once been played at the Olympics, back in 1900 in Paris, with Great Britain and hosts France the only participants.

Cricket at Olympics: Preview

Cricket’s road to its Olympic debut was eventful. Originally slated to be included in the inaugural modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, it was scrapped due to a lack of participants. However, four years later cricket made its debut in the Paris Games but that too was eventful. As per the ICC, it was planned that Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium would all enter cricket teams into the tournament. However, both the Netherlands and Belgium withdrew from cricket after their bid to co-host the Olympics was turned down.

Cricket at Olympics: Great Britain vs France

The match between Great Britain and France was cricket’s first and last match to be ever played at the Olympics till date  The participants may not have even realised it was a part of the Olympics, with the match played under the banner of the Exposition Universelle of 1900 – a world fair in Paris – at the time. It was not until 1912 that the clash was given official Olympic event status.

Neither team fielded a national squad, with Great Britain calling upon the services of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers club, who were touring France at the time. France were represented by an  ‘All Paris’ team, whose 12-man group was largely made up of British ex-pats.

The two sides clashed at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in a two-day match comprising two batting innings each. Upon agreement by the two captains, each team had 12 players rather than 11, which took organisers by surprise. 

The first-ever cricket match at the Olympics turned out to be a low-scoring game with Great Britain winning the match by 158 runs. Batting first, England managed a total of 117, with Frederick Cumming top-scoring with 38. In reply, France were held to 78, with Frederick Christian collecting seven wickets.

The fifties from Charles Beachcroft and Alfred Bowerman powered Great Britain to 145/5 in their second dig and an incredible haul of 7/9 from Montagu Toller wrapped up victory from there as France were all-out for 26.

Who won the Gold medal in the first-ever cricket match at Olympics?

As per the ICC, Great Britain were awarded a silver medal for winning the contest, with France given bronze, while both teams were gifted miniatures of the Eiffel Tower. It was only in 1912 when the match was given Olympic event status, that the medals were converted to gold and silver.

 (Image Credits: @ICC/Unsplash/Twitter)