French cricket team
 |
|
| Association | France Cricket |
|---|---|
| Personnel | |
| Captain | Arun Ayyavooraju |
| Coach |
 Tim de Leede
|
| International Cricket Council | |
| ICC status | Affiliate member (1987) Associate member (1998) |
| ICC region | ICC Europe |
| WCL | n/a (regional tournaments) |
| Tests | |
| First international |
 France v. Great Britain  (Paris; 19 August 1900) |
| One Day Internationals | |
| World Cup Qualifier Appearances | 1 (first in 2001) |
| Best result | First round, 2001 |
| Women's One Day Internationals | |
| As of 14 October 2007 | |
The France national cricket team is the team that represents the country of France in international cricket matches. They became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1998, having previously been an affiliate member since 1987. The country is best known for winning the silver medal in the cricket event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, the only time cricket has been held at the Olympics. France now plays most of its matches in European Cricket Council (ECC) tournaments, although the team also appeared at the 2001 ICC Trophy.
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 the word "criquet" is an old French word meaning "post" or "wicket". However, it is equally possible that this could be an early variant of croquet. It must be remembered that most of France during the 14th and 15th centuries was under English occupation in the Hundred Years War and so any cricket references in France at this time are probably due to the game having been introduced to France by the English occupiers.
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 Warwickshire Knickerbockers in 1864. Paris Cricket Club published a book explaining the game the following year.
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