On the 19 August 1900, the one and only cricket tournament began play as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics, the Vélodrome de Vincennes.

The only match of the tournament was played between teams of 12 representing Great Britain and France.

Originally, teams representing Belgium, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands were scheduled to compete in the tournament, but Belgium and the Netherlands withdrew , leaving Great Britain to play France.

The British side was a touring club, the Devon and Somerset Wanderers [Devon County Wanderers], while the French team, was the French Athletic Club Union, comprised mainly British expatriates living in Paris.

Great Britain batted first and scored 117, and then bowled France out for 78. Great Britain then scored 145 for 5 in their second innings, setting the hosts a target of 185. France were bowled out for 26 and the two day match was won by Great Britain by 158 runs, with only five minutes of play 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 recognised as an Olympic contest in 1912, and the medals were later reassigned as gold and silver.

Neither of the teams realised they had competed in the Olympic Games, as the match had been advertised as part of the World’s Fair.

As the match was 12-a-side and scheduled for only two days, it does not qualify as a having first-class status.

Cricket had been scheduled as an event at the first modern Olympics, the 1896 Summer Olympics, and was listed in the original programme for the Athens Games. But due to an insufficient number of entries, the event was cancelled.

The scheduled cricket competition for the 1904 Summer Olympics, held in St. Louis, USA, was cancelled at short notice due to a lack of entries and facilities, and the sport has not been included in the Olympic Games since.

19 August, 2019