France national cricket team

History

Early years

One of the many theories 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" in a village of the Pas-de-Calais occurs in a French manuscript of 1478, and "criquet" is an old French word meaning "post" or "wicket". However, it is also 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.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (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.

The first documented match took place in the Bois de Boulogne between Paris Cricket Club and Nottingham Amateurs in 1864. The Paris Cricket Club published a book explaining the game the following year.

Olympic Games

The first, and so far only, appearance of cricket at the Olympic Games took place in 1900, with the French team losing the only match played to Great Britain: France therefore remain the reigning silver medalist until 2028, when cricket will return to the Olympic Games (in the Twenty20 format).

The French team, however, consisted of ten British residents in Paris and two Frenchmen, members of the Standard Athletic Club. The match was twelve-a-side, and the following players represented France:

• Philip Tomalin (captain)
• William Anderson
• William Attrill
• John Braid
• W. Browning (wicket-keeper)
• Robert Horne
• Timothée Jordan
• Arthur MacEvoy
• Douglas Robinson
• H. F. Roques
• Alfred Schneidau
• Henry Terry

| score-team1-inns1 = 117 | runs-team1-inns1 = Frederick Cuming 38 | wickets-team1-inns1 = William Anderson 4/27

| score-team2-inns1 = 78 | runs-team2-inns1 = John Braid 25 | wickets-team2-inns1 = Frederick Christian 7/19

| score-team1-inns2 = 145/5d | runs-team1-inns2 = Alfred Bowerman 59 | wickets-team1-inns2 = F. Roques 3/29

| score-team2-inns2 = 26 | runs-team2-inns2 = William Anderson 8 | wickets-team2-inns2 = Montagu Toller 7/9

The Standard Athletic Club restaged the 1900 Olympic cricket match in 1987, and France played the MCC in Meudon in 1989.

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.

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. The current French Cricket Association was formed in 1987, and they gained Affiliate membership of the ICC the same year.

After the win in the 1989 match mentioned above, there were a handful of tours from English county teams, and France toured Austria in 1996, losing both matches against the national team. In 1997, they played in the European Nations Cup in Zuoz, Switzerland, winning after beating Germany by one run in the final. This match was included in the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack list of 100 best matches of the 20th century as David Bordes ran the winning leg bye with a fractured skull.

They played in the European Championship in the Netherlands in 1998, finishing eighth after losing to Germany in a play-off. They became an associate member of the ICC the same year. They finished third in Division Two of the 2000 European Championship.

France played their only ICC Trophy in the 2001 tournament in Canada, though they did not progress beyond the first round. The following year, they finished fifth in Division Two of the European Championships, and finished as runners up in the 2004 tournament. They finished sixth in the 2006 tournament after losing a play-off to Guernsey.

In 2008, France finished fourth in Division 2 of the European Championship. In 2010, France finished third in the same competition, narrowly missing out on qualification for the 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Eight. In 2011, they finished sixth in the ICC Europe Division 1 T20 Championship after losing the fifth place play-off match to Norway. In 2012, they finished second in the ICC European World Cricket League 8 Qualifier, held in La Manga, Spain; again missing out on qualification for Division 8 of the World Cricket League.

In 2018, France competed at the ICC World Twenty20 Europe Region Qualifier in Netherlands.

In 2021, France played their first ever T20 international match against Norway in a tri-nation series in Germany, winning the match by 4 wickets.

International grounds

Tournament history

Summer Olympics

ICC Trophy/CWC Qualifier

ICC Twenty20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifiers

European Cricket Championship

European T20 Championship Division One

Valletta Cup

Mdina Cup

Records and statistics

International match summary — France

Last updated 10 August 2025

Twenty20 International

• Highest score: 191/3 v. Romania on 13 July 2023 at Marsa Sports Club, Marsa.
• Highest individual score: 109, Gustav Mckeon v. Switzerland on 25 July 2022 at Tikkurila Cricket Ground, Vantaa.
• Best bowling figures in an innings: 6/21, Dawood Ahmadzai v. Malta on 9 May 2024 at Dreux Sport Cricket Club, Dreux.

T20I record versus other nations

Records complete to T20I #3402. Last updated 10 August 2025.

Current squad

Updated as of 7 August 2025.

This lists all the players who were part of the French squad for the 2025 Viking Cup.

Notable players

The following French national team players have played first-class or List A cricket:

• Waseem Bhatti – played first-class cricket for Pakistan International Airlines in 1998 and 1999
• Simon Hewitt – played first-class cricket for Oxford University in 1984
• David Holt – played first-class cricket for Loughborough UCCE in 2005 and 2006
• Paul Wakefield – played List A cricket for Cheshire in 1983
• Robert Mozelewski captained the French cricket team in 04/05. Qualified for the team thanks to his parents residency in France.

References

References

1. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Countries/51.html France] at CricketArchive
2. (26 April 2018). "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". [[International Cricket Council]].
3. "France". Cricket Europe.
4. "A brief history of cricket in France".
5. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/51/51900.html Scorecard] of France v MCC, 24 September 1989 at Cricket Archive
6. London Evening Standard 18 May 1864
7. "The ignorant Olympians".
8. [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1910S/1910/OTHERS+ICC/BEXT/NL_FRANCE_BEXT_26JUN1910.html Scorecard] of France v Netherlands, 26 June 1910 at Cricinfo
9. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/AUSTRIA/1996_AUSTRIA_France_in_Austria_1996.html France in Austria, 1996] {{Webarchive. link. (24 July 2008 at Cricket Archive)
10. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/SWITZ/1997_SWITZ_European_Nations_Cup_1997.html 1997 European Nations Cup] {{Webarchive. link. (24 July 2008 at Cricket Archive)
11. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/102/102049.html Scorecard] of France v Germany, 23 August 1997 at Cricket Archive
12. [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/153390.html A hundred matches of the century], 2000 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
13. [http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/1998/TOURNAMENTS/EUROCHAMS/about.shtml 1998 European Championship] {{Webarchive. link. (9 July 2008 at CricketEurope)
14. [http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2000/TOURNAMENTS/EUROCHAMS/about.shtml 2000 European Championship] {{webarchive. link. (5 July 2008 at CricketEurope)
15. [http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2001/TOURNAMENTS/ICCTROPHY/about.shtml 2001 ICC Trophy] {{Webarchive. link. (8 July 2008 at CricketEurope)
16. [http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2002/TOURNAMENTS/EUROCHAMS/RESULTS/about.shtml Tables and results for the 2002 European Championship] {{Webarchive. link. (6 January 2009 at the tournament's official site)
17. [http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2004/TOURNAMENTS/EUROCHAMSB/results.shtml 2004 European Championships Division Two] {{Webarchive. link. (1 July 2009 at the [[European Cricket Council]] website)
18. [http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2006/TOURNAMENTS/EURODIV2/about.shtml 2006 European Championship Division Two] {{Webarchive. link. (17 November 2006 at CricketEurope)
19. "ICC World Twenty20 Europe Region Qualifier A Table - 2018 - ESPN".
20. "Records / France / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". [[ESPNcricinfo]].
21. "Records / France / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". [[ESPNcricinfo]].
22. "Records / France / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". [[ESPNcricinfo]].
23. "Records / France / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". [[ESPNcricinfo]].
24. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/19/19904/19904.html Waseem Bhatti] at Cricket Archive
25. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/30/30188/30188.html Simon Hewitt] at Cricket Archive
26. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/44/44602/44602.html David Holt] at Cricket Archive
27. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/34/34899/34899.html Paul Wakefield] at Cricket Archive