Cricket

Cricket

GB CRICKET MEDAL TALLY CRICKET has only once been held at the Olympics, at Paris
in 1900, and Great Britain, courtesy of the Devon and
Year G S B Total Somerset Wanderers beat France by 158 runs in the only
match played.
1900 1 0 0 1

Total 1 0 0 1

Belgium and the Netherlands originally entered the cricket tournament but withdrew when their
bid to co-host the 1900 Olympics with Paris failed. They took the hump and withdrew their cricket
teams. That must have been some loss!

The 'final' of 1900 was watched by a crowd of just 25, largely due to the fact that the Parisiennes
didn't understand the game!

Several members of the Great Britain team were injured on the way back to their hotel when the
coach they were travelling in was involved in an accident due to their driver being the worse from
drink!

Scorecard Great Britain - 1st Innings 2nd Innings
Beachcroft b Attrill
Birkett b Andersen 23 run out 54
Symes c Andersen b Robinson
Cuming c Browning b McEvoy 1
Toller b McEvoy
Bowerman b Andersen 15 c Attrill b Roques 1
Powlesland c Browning b Robinson
Donne run out 38 c Attrill b McEvoy 18
Christian b Andersen
Buckley b Attrill 2
Burchell not out
Corner lbw Andersen 7 b Roques 59
Extras
Total 10 b Roques 4

6

0

2

0

4 not out 5

94

117 5 wkts dec 145

Bowling Bowling
Andersen 4 wkts, Attrill 2 wkts Roques 3 wkts
McEvoy 2 wkts, Robinson 2 wkts McEvoy 1 wkt

France - 1st Innings 2nd Innings
Jordan c Corner b Christian
Schneideau b Christian 11 b Toller 0
Horne c Buckley b Christian
Terry c Cuming b Powlesland 8 b Powlesland 1
Roques b Powlesland
Andersen b Christian 15 b Powlesland 1
Robinson b Christian
Attrill lbw Christian 2 b Toller 1
Browning b Christian
McEvoy b Bowerman 0 b Toller 0
Tomalin not out
Braid run out 0 b Toller 8
Extras
Total 0 b Powlesland 0

0 b Toller 0

0 b Toller 0

1 c Christian b Corner 0

3 not out 6

25 b Toller 7

11 2

78 26

Bowling Bowling
Christian 7 wkts, Powlesland 2 wkts Toller 7-9, Corner 1-0
Bowerman 1 wkt Powlesland 3-15

British Cricket Gold Medallists

BEACHCROFT, Charles Beachey Kay
Born: 1870 Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England
Died: 1928 Australia
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Beachcroft was born Charles Beachey Kay and was the son of a Manchester-born vicar who died
when Charles was just seven.

In 1896 Kay, who was married with four children, ran away from Devon to London with a 17-year-
old girl, and whilst in London they lived as 'Mr & Mrs Beachcroft'. Kay was charged with abduction
but was found not guilty after he told the court he was to marry the girl after he obtained his divorce.
He kept to his word and later that year he married again but using the name Charles Beachey
Kay Beachcroft.

Beachcroft was the opening bat for Exeter in 1900 and he also played for a local team called
Starcross. As the captain he opened the batting with Arthur Birkett against the French and scored
23 runs in the first innings. In the second innings he scored 54 before being run out and therefore
made a considerable contribution to the British win.

At the time of the Paris tournament, Beachcroft was the landlord of the Royal Hotel, Dawlish, but
the business failed in 1901 when he was declared bankrupt. In 1921 he emigrated tio Australia
where he died in 1928.

BIRKETT, Arthur Ernest Burrington
Born: 25 October 1875, Exeter, Devon, England
Died: 1 April 1941, Hammersmith, London, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Some sources say Birkett was the captain of the Britain's gold medal winning team but newspaper
reports of the day credit Beachcroft with that honour.

Devonian Birkett was an Old Blundellian and also played for Castle Cary. He inherited the family
wool merchants business on the death of his father in 1902.

BOWERMAN, Alfred James
Born: 22 November 1873, Broomfield, Somerset, England
Died : 20 June 1947, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Bowerman played two first class matches for Somerset, against Lancashire in 1900 and the other
against Middlesex in 1905. A Bridgwater timber merchant, He was the top scorer in the second
innings at the Paris Olympics with 59 runs.Bowerman later emigrated to Australia in 1912. He died
in his adopted country in 1947.

BUCKLEY, George John
Born: 20 May 1875 Clapton, London, England
Died: 14 February 1955, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Little is known about George Buckley other than he was a member of the Castle Cary cricket club
and also the gold medal winning Devon Wanderers team in 1900.

BURCHELL, Francis Romulus
Born: 25 September 1873, Clifton, Bristol, England
Died: 6 July 1947, Worthing, West Sussex, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Little is also known about Burchell, other than he was a member of the gold medal winning team
batting only in the first innings at number 11 (out of 12) without failing to score.

CHRISTIAN, Frederick William
Born: Not known
Died: Not known
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Fred Christian dismissed seven members of the French team in the first innings at the 1900
Olympics and thus played a significant part in the British securing the one and only cricket gold
medal. He played for Formby 1904-06.

CORNER, Harry Richard 'Henry'
Born: 9 July 1874, Taunton, Somerset, England
Died: 7 June 1938, Radyr, Glamorgan, Wales
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Educated at Blundell's school, Henry Corner was a member of the Castle Cary cricket team at the
time of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers tour of France in 1900. When they were asked to
represent Great Britain at the Olympics, Corner, a partner in a wool merchants, was originally left
out of the starting XI but when it was agreed to play 12-a-side, Corner was added to the team,
contributing four runs in the first innings and taking one French wicket

CUMING, Frederick William
Born: 27 May 1875, Tiverton, Devon, England
Died: 22 March 1942, London, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Frederick Cuming was top scorer, with 38, in the first innings of the Paris final. He was the only
batsman dismissed by the same bowler in both innings in Paris. Between 1900-1903 Cuming
played for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) although he never appeared in a first class match.
An Old Blundellian, he also played for Exeter and Bradnich.

DONNE, William Stephens
Born: 2 April 1875, Wincanton, Somerset, England
Died: 24 March 1934, Castle Cary, Somerset, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

William Donne was an influential man throughout his life.

It was Donne who founded the Devon and Somerset Wanderers cricket team in 1894 and it was
this team that lifted the gold medal for Great Britain at the 1900 Paris Olympics. The captain of
Castle Cary Cricket Club he organised several tours to France.

Donne was also a JP in Somerset, County Council Alderman and former Governor of his old
school, King's school, Bruton. He also served as a captain in the Somerset Light Infantry,

He served as an administrator with the Somerset Rugby Union, acting as a committee member
for 38 years and was appointed President in 1905. He also served on the Rugby Football Union
(RFU) from 1902 and was the RFU President in 1924-25.

POWLESLAND, Alfred James
Born: 1875 Newton Abbott, Devon, England
Died: 25 February 1941 Chudleigh, Devon, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

One of the more experienced members of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers who represented
Britain at the 1900 Olympics, he played for Exeter and Minor Counties cricket for Devon in 1901,
and on his debut against Surrey Second XI he took 3-22 in their first innings.

SYMES, John
Born: 11 January 1879, Crediton, Devon, England
Died: 23 September 1944 Sandford, Devon, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

A high order batsmen in both innings in the Paris match, John Symes' contribution to the match
was minimal, but in bringing home a hand written scorecard of the match, it meant that he had
possession of the only recorded documentation of the match to which historians are eternally
grateful. He also kept a diary of the tour and quite simply summed it all up by saying: "we won
easily!"

Educated at Marlborough College, he was the son of a Crediton solicitor he joined his father's
practice after qualifying in 1902. He played cricket and rugby for Crediton and was also a member
of the Devon Dumplings cricket club.

Symes served in World War One as a Captain with the 6th Devon Regiment attached to the 9th
Battalion and was awarded the OBE in 1919. Symes, a bachelor, collapsed and died while out
shooting at a Crediton farm at the age of 65.

TOLLER, Montagu Henry
Born: 2 February 1871, Barnstaple, Devon, England
Died: 5 August 1948, Neon Beach, Titchfield, Hampshire, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1900)
Olympic medals: 1900 Gold

Montagu Toller played for Devon between 1889-95 and he played six first class matches for
Somerset in 1897. He was also selected to play for W G Grace's XI against W W Read's XI at
Reigate in 1895.

At the 1900 Paris Olympics he performed perhaps his best bowling feat when he was instrumental
in the French team's collapse to 26 all out in the second innings with a haul of seven wickets for
nine runs - all clean bowled.

A fast right-arm bowler, Toller was educated at Blundells School and played for both the cricket XI
and rugby XV. He was a solicitor by profession.

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For further details of the Devon & Somerset Wanderers go to the
‘Club Sides or Teams who won Gokld Medals representing Great Britain’ section