1st cricket match played in the St. Moritz Olympic Stadium

15th July, 2012

To celebrate the forthcoming London Olympic Games, a match will be held at the Olympic Stadium in St. Moritz (home of the 1928 &1948 Winter Olympics) between teams representing Great Britain (aka The Cresta Cricket Club) and Switzerland (aka St. Moritz Cricket Club).  A perfect opportunity to play Cricket as well! The organizers asked the St. Moritz Cricket Club to play against the Cresta Club at the „St. Moritz Olympia Stadium“.

 

Cricket was included in the official programme of the 1st Modern Olympic Games of 1896. 
Earlier that year on Thursday February 20th 1896, a cricket match was held in St. Moritz between two teams of British visitors.The XI from Davos were bowled out for 16 and in reply St. Moritz were 58 f or 2 at the close of play.

During the 2nd Paris Olympiad of 1900, a cricket match was played at the Velodrome of Vincennes between a side representing Great Britain (aka The Devon and Somerset Wanderers) against a side representing France (aka The French Athletic Club Union), with the former winning a two innings match by 158 runs. As Belgium and the Netherlands failed to produce teams, the winners and losers were only awarded silver or bronze medals for their efforts, along with replicas of the Eiffel Tower. Gold and silver medals were eventually assigned for this contest when the match was officially recognised by the I.O.C. in 1912.
 

To celebrate the forthcoming London Olympic Games, a match was held at the Olympic Stadium in St. Moritz (home of the 1928 &1948 Winter Olympics) between teams representing Great Britain (aka The Cresta Cricket Club) and Switzerland (aka St. Moritz Cricket Club).

 

The distinguished cricketer commentator Henry “Blowers” Blofeld attended to ensure fair play among the contestants, and to attempt to explain the intricacies of the game such as the rules, fielding positions, and different batting and bowling methods to an audience who will mostly be unfamiliar with the sport.

The St. Moritz Cricket Club took the throphy (a whisky carafe) achieving 115 runs for 5 wickets.