French Cricket

French cricket is an informal form of cricket where a ball (usually a tennis ball) is bowled underarm at the legs of another player holding either a cricket bat or a tennis racquet. The player holding the bat, the batsman, is required to block and defend his wicket, with the batsman's legs taking the place of stumps. The batsman is not allowed to move his legs and in some variants, the batsman can only hit the ball in a direct upward or scooping-like motion.

Any number of fielders can stand around the batsman, and any fielder can bowl at the batsman from any angle. Once the fielder has fielded the ball they cannot take any steps until they have bowled the ball but can generally throw or bowl the ball how they like. The batsman is bowled out when his legs are hit below the knee and he can also be caught out. The bowler or fielder who bowls or catches the batsman out normally replaces him.

Often, the batsman is only allowed to turn to face the next delivery if he hits the ball. If he misses and is not bowled, he must attempt to play the next ball (which is bowled from where the ball ended up after the previous delivery) without being allowed to turn to face it. In some variations, the batsman is not allowed to turn at all, and is declared out if his feet move.

Interestingly, it is not played by the French, and the origin of the name remains to be explained. Suggested possibilities include juxtaposition with the English origin of regular cricket. It seems likely that as the game is a lesser version on regular cricket that the name is intended to mock both the game and the French — just as a "French cut" in real cricket is a poorly executed cut shot which almost gets a batsman out.