Cricket in France?

This article was published in the Mail while we were in England recently and caught Mark's attention - read on for further developments bearing in mind that the two things that would make his life more than perfect are cricket and bitter! 

Owzat? Quintessentially English cricket bounces back at school... but only in France
By PETER ALLEN
PUBLISHED in the Mail: 23:36 GMT, 10 March 2012 
  
It is the quintessential English game, yet cricket has suffered a slow decline – today less than one-in-ten schoolchildren play the sport.  But now it is to enjoy an unexpected revival – in France.
Cricket is being introduced into the national curriculum for French primary schools, and enthusiasts hope the move will lead to cricket becoming a part of French culture. ‘We have far more open spaces here, so beautiful pitches will not be a problem and the French are certainly clever enough to understand the  complicated rules,’ says Gilles Lefevre, an English teacher from Bordeaux, who learnt to love the game on holidays to the UK.


Cricket is being introduced into the national curriculum in France and enthusiasts hope the move will lead to cricket becoming a part of French culture  ‘Culturally, cricket is all about the English but there is no reason at all why this game should not become a favourite here.’
Even French cricket terms are being introduced – including ‘fin de serie’ for over, ‘batteur’ for batsman and ‘lanceur’ for bowler  Leg before wicket is ‘jambe devant guichet’. However, French enthusiasts are struggling to pronounce ‘Owzat!’ – for which they have yet to find a Gallic alternative.
They can even argue they have a historic claim to the sport as French archives refer to the game of ‘criquet’ being played as early as 1478.


At present, the France national side must travel to Holland to use a grass wicket while schools play in gyms and on playgrounds with soft balls. But France Cricket, which monitors the game’s development across the country, is confident all that can change. The new schools scheme will mean that children between six and 11 will be taught the basics of the game, learning everything about batting, bowling and fielding. Only a handful of schools have so far enjoyed the sport as part of a pilot project around France, but the numbers will multiply over the coming months and years. A France Cricket spokesman said: ‘This is an enormous breakthrough for French cricket.

Getting ready for a century!

So, a couple of weeks ago the group of ladies who come for pottery classes every week were chatting away and one of them mentioned that her husband had heard that there was a local cricket team being set up. We had known for a while that there was a team at Saumur, but that's a fair trek for practices etc.  Telephone number supplied Mark rang the contact and found that a team is being set up with the use of a practise ground in Poitiers for this season and then a new ground is going to be developed at the hippodrome at La Roche Posay which is only about 10km from us - and not only a ground but a National ground!   A meeting on the bridge at Montmorrillon with the local organiser ( i'm the small man with curly hair/i'm the big man with less hair than I had conversation - the bridge is only about 100m wide, how many others would be standing there doing nothing at mid-day! ) confirmed the facts and now Sunday is the first practise day and cricket teas may not be a thing of the past any more!
Better go and find the kit!!