Great Britain still 'Olympic champions' at cricket

Great Britain can claim to be the reigning Olympic cricket champions, having won the gold medal on the one occasion the sport was ever in the games.

It was in the 1900 Paris Olympics that the title was won, Great Britain beating France after the only other teams set to compete - Belgium and the Netherlands - withdrew.

The British team was made up of players of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers, a touring side from Castle Cary Cricket Club and pupils from Blundell School.

The sport is set to make a comeback in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The Devon and Somerset Wanderers were a touring side formed by William Stevens Donne, who was born in Wincanton.

He played for Castle Cary, and formed the touring team in 1894, initially for a playing tour of the Isle of Wight.

Cricket was named among the listed sports in the 1896 Athens Olympics, but there were too few teams for the sport to go ahead.

Laurence Booth, editor of cricket publication Wisden, said the Devon and Somerset players were already heading to Paris for a three-match tour and happened to "fall into" the match against the hosts.

Almost all of the players in the French team were British men living in Paris many of them working at the British Embassy.

Mr Booth said: "It was effectively a team of English expats against a team of Devonians and men from Somerset.

"To say they were playing for an Olympic gold medal was almost a misnomer it was almost an accidental match that became an Olympic play off."

The two-day match commenced on 19 August 1900, and was a one-sided affair but was only completed with five minutes to go before the scheduled close of play.

Great Britain batted first, scoring 117 before bowling the French team out for 78. In their second innings the British players declared on 145 for five, bowling the French out for 26 to win the match by 158 runs.

At the time the visiting players were given a silver medal and the hosts a bronze, with these converted to gold and silver 12 years later.

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