Cricket has been played in Geneva since the beginning of the 19th century. The earliest record we have is a coloured engraving by Giovanni Salucci, a Florentine architect and artist who, after being condemned to death for political intrigue in his native city, escaped and joined Napoleon's forces. He served as a lieutenant colonel but came to Geneva following the defeat of Waterloo. His engraving, reproductions of which appear today on the labels of Geneva Cricket Club's own wine bottles, depicts a match, doubtless between expatriates, on Plainpalais, Geneva, and is dated 1817. It may be safely assumed that under the French occupation of 1798-1813, there were no British residents in Geneva. It seems, therefore, not to have taken long for the British to re-establish residence in Geneva, following the evacuation of the city on December 30, 1813 by the French garrison.

Various English language newspapers published in Geneva in the last three decades of the 19th century, and which were distributed in the major continental cities where British and American residents chose to live, reveal that the English expatriate community continued to play occasional games in Geneva in the 1870s and 1880s on Plainpalais, usually against sides from Lausanne, for there was, in the 19th century, a much larger English community at the Lausanne end of the lake than in Geneva.

Despite this, Geneva Cricket Club was the first cricket club formed in Switzerland. “The Swiss Times”, then published every Friday, reported that the Club was founded on Tuesday, April 16, 1872 at a meeting held in the Brasserie Landolt, rue de Candolle, near Plainpalais. The Brasserie used to be frequented by Lenin in the years before he left the city to return to Russia in 1917.  It was rebuilt in the 1980s and to the dismay of many Genevois, now trades under the name of Pizza Milano, having changed hands in 1999.

.Three decisions were recorded at that first meeting of the Club:

• The annual subscription was set at SFr 10

• The first officers were: Mr JB Heath as Captain, Mr P Hutchinson as Treasurer and Mr J Beresford-Pierse as Secretary

• Practices were set for Wednesday and Saturday afternoons on Plainpalais

In passing it may be noted that the now defunct Lausanne Cricket Club was founded on September 12, 1888 at the Brasserie Bavaria, rue de Bourg, Lausanne. The Syndic (Mayor) of Lausanne at that time, Monsieur Samuel Cuenoud, accepted the position of Honorary President. The ground then used was Beaulieu.

It appears that Geneva Cricket Club continued to use Plainpalais for home matches until 1890 when a fine ground was placed at the club's disposition at a substantial property called La Garance, in the commune of Chêne-Bougeries, just outside the city limits. This was made possible through the generosity of Mr DFP Barton, HM Consul in Geneva during the years 1886-1897. Barton was a wealthy man who had married the granddaughter of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel (he who had given his name to the British policeman or Bobby). The domain included a cricket ground, three grass tennis courts and had facilities for archery and quoits. It was something of a meeting place in the summer for members of local resident British and American society towards the end of the century. At weekends, afternoon teas were served for the ladies in the pavilion. Children's athletics matches and other fêtes were organised from time to time, in addition to regular games of cricket and, in winter, soccer. In the 1890s Geneva Cricket Club had a series of resident full-time English cricket professionals, paid for, one can only surmise, by Mr Barton. Today the domain of La Garance, though considerably encroached upon by the construction of villas, can still be recognised together with certain of its now magnificent mature fir-trees, on the north side of the route de Malagnou, about two hundred metres after chemin de la Chevillarde, when heading in the direction of Mont-Blanc. The entrances to Nos. 125 and 145A, route de Malagnou, provide the best views. It is not difficult, even in looking at the grounds of the property today, to imagine cricket being played there, amid the grandeur of another age.

Mr Barton built, at his own expense, Geneva's Victoria Hall, which was completed in 1894, as an auditorium for concerts and donated it to the city some years later. He sometimes entertained his fellow Cricket club members and visiting teams in some style. On Wednesday, July 14, 1886, a XIII a side match was played between a joint Geneva and Lausanne team and a combined Lyons and Grenoble side and a report on the match appeared in “The Swiss Herald”. The Maire (Mayor) of Plainpalais, Monsieur Page "had given every facility with hearty good will" and the Département Militaire furnished a marquee. The match was spoiled by rain and resulted in a draw, but not before Mr C Capel from Grenoble had scored 138 (run out) for the visitors; an innings in which he is described as giving "one chance only and that after completing his century." This is the first recorded century in the history of cricket in Switzerland. In the evening, Mr Barton presided at a dinner that he gave for both teams at the Hôtel National (now the Palais Wilson). “The Swiss Herald” reported on the occasion as follows:

The dinner itself had been ordered with Epicurean taste and in princely style as will be seen from the appended menu. Little surprises were in store as the courses were served; as, for example, the Glaces Vénitiennes, which were served on sugar transparencies with a light inside, the entry of the waiters being rendered more effective by the gas being turned down. During the dinner a handsome basket of flowers and bouquets was handed to Mr Barton, and the flower girls who brought them, appropriately attired in the Harmonie Nautique costume (NB: the Geneva Yacht Club band which Mr Barton financed and of which he was President), proceeded to decorate the button hole of every gentleman's coat with a gardénia. During the evening the splendid band, the Harmonie Nautique, played in another part of the dining hall. 

MENU

Potage à la Tortue - Bouchées aux Huîtres

Saumon du Rhin, braisé à la Brillat-Savarin

Selle de Pré-Salé de Bretagne, à la Providence

Ris de Veau à la Maréchale

Aspic de Homard en Belle-Vue, Sauce Indienne

Sorbets au Champagne

Croûtes de Champignons à la Windsor

Petits Pois au sucre - Poulardes du Mans

rôties, flanquées de Cailles à la Vigneron

Pouding Prince-Albert, Sauce Rhum St James

Glaces à la Vénitienne - Gâteau Mille-feuilles - Fruits assortis - Dessert riche

VINS: Xérès - Mont d'Or - Médoc Supérieur - Corton - Chambertin - Mumm extra dry

Mr Barton, (NB: who had just been appointed as HBM's Consul) in a well-worded speech, paid a tribute to the memory of the late Mr Auldjo whom he has succeeded, and proposed the health of "Our most Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria" which was hailed with loud cheers, the band striking up the National Anthem."

At that time the music of the British and Swiss National Anthems was the same, which may have been convenient on such occasions. Those were, indeed, the days, but to avoid unwarranted anticipation, it should be added that Geneva CC members and their guests do not do quite so well today!

It is presumed that the club ceased its activities during the First World War. There is anecdotal evidence of cricket being played between the wars by the expatriate community, many of whom in those days were associated with the League of Nations, though it is unclear whether any club at that time formally existed and whether, if so, it bore the name Geneva Cricket Club.

In more modern times the Club was reactivated in 1952. After playing for many years at the Stade de Richemont, the Club has had its own ground since 1991 at the Stade de Champel, Bout-du-Monde, Geneva. The ground, kindly placed at the Club's disposal by the Ville de Genève authorities, was entirely re-laid with new grass and with a synthetic pitch in the middle. The Club is most grateful to the Geneva authorities for thus recognising the long lineage of Geneva CC. Currently our ground is the only one in Switzerland (apart from the far-distant Lyceum Alpinum, Grisons) with such a first-class playing surface.

The Club has toured extensively over the last 30 years, visiting Barbados (twice), Kenya, the Netherlands (twice), as well as Germany, Luxembourg and, of course, the UK. We also play often against French and Italian clubs. There has also usually been, for about the last 20 years, an annual weekend home fixture against The Law Society CC.

Switzerland has some 9-cricket clubs affiliated to the Swiss Cricket Association (SCA) and we participate annually in the SCA Championship. In 1999 we reached the final against Bern CC and in a nail-biting finish, the decision went to the last ball of the match. Bern were batting and needed 2 runs to avoid defeat. The last ball was then despatched for six!

Under the auspices of the Service des Loisirs of the Canton's Department of Public Education, Geneva CC has organised weekly practical introductory courses on cricket every summer since the late 1980s for young Swiss aged 7 to 15 years. Around 950 Geneva children from the state (cantonal) schools have received an introduction to the basics of the game in the last 12 years. Our problem has traditionally been how to retain the interest of the more talented by offering them the facilities to continue playing after attending the introductory courses. In November 1997 we were visited by the then newly appointed Nigel Lawson of the ICC/MCC who is responsible for the development of cricket in Continental Europe. Upon his advice we now introduce the game to youngsters using “Kwik” cricket (a simplified, much quicker version of the game using plastic bats and balls and without the need to don pads) to retain their interest. We then gradually introduce a hard ball and real bats to the most promising children. In July 1999 we took 3 Swiss youngsters (Damien Monnet, Gabriel Rod and Loïc Bohnenblust) to the MCC Indoor School at Lord’s where they underwent intensive training with about 70 other boys from throughout the UK and Europe. We hope that this experience will have sealed their interest in the game. Similarly, a fourth young Swiss (Simon Jones) attended a 4 day Indoor nets course at Charterhouse School, England in December 1999 with a number of other Swiss children from the Basle region and the Lyceum Alpinum, Grisons. As the 4 children are aged between 11 and 13 they may be said to constitute the seed-corn for a future generation of Swiss/Genevois cricketers. All the courses were partly or wholly subsidised by the ICC who also provided our requested packages of “Kwik” cricket equipment free of charge. We record here our sincere thanks for this support.

Geneva CC has games most weekends between the beginning of May and the end of September. Equipment (bats, pads etc) is provided and the annual subscription is SFr 150. The Club, like most things in Geneva, is extremely cosmopolitan and currently has members originating from Australia, Barbados, India, Jamaica, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, the UK and Zimbabwe.