Well done Alizée Women's cricket in Thoiry : report FC 21 July 2010 The Chateau de Thoiry Cricket Club on the 3rd and 4th July saw female cricketers from different parts of France converge to share their love of cricket. Ladies and girls from Lille, Saint-Aulaye, Nantes and the Ile de France came to work on their skills and to enjoy playing together. Richard and Stephen Woodall put players through fielding, batting and bowling drills. Many were introduced to the slips cradle for the first time and were surprised by the quick changes of angle that the ball made after hitting or skidding off the curved surface of the cradle. This was followed by a throwing exercise which was aimed at improving technique and accuracy. The first batting drill had the players hitting the ball between cones on the off side. This then led to an exercise that encourages front foot play, the drive not being a natural shot for girls. A short bowling drill followed with everyone vying to be the one to hit the stumps most often. These exercises managed to whet the cricket appetite of the girls and they couldn't wait to play a game. They were divided up into pairs and a double wicket competition ensued. There were good displays of straight bat to the straight ball and some elegant stroke play was evident. In the field there were some good catches and excellent returns to the stumps. There was great team spirit as the more experienced players were always eager to help the newcomers. There was a visit on Sunday morning by a journalist from the Daily Telegraph UK and his photographer. Some of the promising young players were interviewed and photos taken. The following prizes were awarded at the end of the weekend. Best Fielding   batting gloves to Alizée Bodet (Saint-Aulaye)   Best Batting   batting gloves to Chantal Woods (Thoiry)   Best Bowler   a trophy to Sharon Whiting (Thoiry)   Best Newcomer   a bat to Caroline Ella-Meye (Lille)   Promising Batsman   batting gloves to Emma Chancé (Thoiry)   Player of weekend   a cricket bag to Alizée Bodet (Saint-Aulaye)   Thank you to Chantal Woods and Chateau de Thoiry Cricket Club for providing additional prizes. Thank you to Dany Woodall for providing a sumptuous lunch on Sunday. The event was thought to be a success by all. Everybody had a great time playing the game that they love.   © France Cricket

 

News – St Aulaye Cricket

 

Cricket is an Olympic Sport - again.

    During the Winter Olympic games in Vancouver in February 2010, the Olympic Council recognised cricket as an Olympic sport. Attached you can actually see what the certificate looks like - a simple form that has taken years of work by the ICC and national cricket bodies to achieve.

    Why is this important? Mainly because in many countries, including France, being an Olympic sport gives slightly easier access to government and other grants for the development of the game. Even better would be if cricket were actually included as in the games - there is a strong movement to try to get into the games of 2020 obviously with the Twenty/20 version of cricket.

    Why again? There was a game played in the Paris games of 1900 between a team from England and one from France - the French came second - and after a bit of a kerfuffle medals were actually awarded. Cricket has not featured since then so, in effect,  France is the current Olympic Silver medallist for cricket!!!!!

Mole Massacre at Chenaud.

Over about 2 weeks at the cricket ground the John the moleman eliminated 20 of the pesky creatures which had proliferated in the worm-rich soil. The molehills and the burrows have made the ground very uneven and so the next activity will be a heavy roller to level and compact the surface - Tim Williams has volunteered to do this once the conditions are right.

Anyone wanting to make use of the mole elimination service should contact John Hall, le Loubat, 24150 Mauzac et Grand Castang Tel 05 53 22 07 32  Mob: 06 06 45 96 71

or johnthemoleman@aol.com

Happy hunting 

 

2009

            2009 has had an interesting beginning for the club with a number of successful events. On the social front the traditional English quiz night held at Bonnes on 13^th March attracted over 120 people and raised around € 1000 for the club funds. Tim Williams organised the evening and special thanks are due to Valerie Wareham as quiz-mistress and to many club members who prepared and served food and drinks, sold tickets and tidied up afterwards. The AGM and Dinner at Chez Raoul in Bertric Burée organised by Keith Randell was a convivial evening for around 25 people. The committee was re-elected unopposed despite voting to raise the senior licence charge from 2010.

 

            Practice for juniors and seniors has been on-going in the Sports Hall at St Aulaye since January and this has paid off as our team won the ACCSO – North Indoor tournament held at St Astier. There were even enough young St Aulaye players available to lend some to other teams! Outdoor training has now started at the ground (weather permitting) for juniors on Wednesday evenings and for seniors on Thursday evenings. Our key challenge remains finding enough senior players to ensure a full team for each game so new members are most welcome and actively sought.

 

            Thanks to support from the ICC Europe office via France Cricket the club at last has a full size Notts Sports matting wicket. We are hoping for further grants from the French Sports Ministry and from the Perigord Sports Department to offset some of the costs of extending the concrete base and putting the mat and underlay in place. This work has been carried out by club captain Adrian Raynor helped by friend Nick and Mike Gant and will provide us with a European standard pitch appropriate for our national league games and for other national level matches.

 

            Up coming events include a junior session at Damazan on 8 – 10 May where the game against the South-East will be part of the preparation and selection for the national U15 squad. We are hopeful for several of our juniors including John Harding who has already played in French national teams.

 

            Finally, the club has been featured on the sports section of Radio Bleu Perigord by Francis Lacour, every day for the week beginning 27^th April. You can hear the interviews elsewhere on the website.

 

Stephen Harrison,

President.

30 April 2009

 

 

 

 

 

HONOURS FOR ST AULAYE CRICKET MEMBER

 

    We are very pleased to report that Patrick Barry, long time non-playing member of St Aulaye Cricket and keen supporter, has been awarded the French honour of "Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur" for his part in the raid on St Nazaire on the 28th March 1942. The medal is to be presented at a ceremony at the French Embassy in London on the 64th anniversary of the raid.

    British naval and commando forces destroyed major dock installations at St Nazaire in a daring night-time attack designed to prevent its use by the German battleship Tirpitz. In wooden speedboats they sailed up the Loire and rammed an old American destroyer through the dock gates, where it subsequently blew up putting the dry dock and its installations out of use for the whole of the war. There were significant casualties and the raid resulted in the award of 5 Victoria Crosses and many other medals for military gallantry.

    The raid has been long recognised as a key event in the war and this is confirmed by the French Government making this award to a non-French person - a fairly rare event.

    Our congratulations to Patrick and Dot.

 

    Stephen Harrison

    President, St Aulaye Cricket

    9th March 2006