C.E.R.N. Cricket Club
President – Mr. Chris Onions
Fixtures – Mr. Alexander Brown
Captain – Matthew Martin
Club website: click here
Social media: CERN CC Facebook page
The CERN Cricket Club (CCC) was founded in 1965, and is the second oldest Club in Switzerland. Over the years the Club has had varying fortunes, but still continues to play some 25 matches each season which starts at the end of April, and lasts until the end of September.
The Club’s ground is to be found on the CERN Prevessin site, which is just over the border in France.
In the early years, CERN did not have a ground and played on various grounds used by Geneva CC, mainly the Stade de Richemont, but also on football fields in Vessy and Frontenex. Net practice at that time was held on the Meyrin site, initially near the kindergarten and then next to the road where Building 40 is now located. It was only in the mid-70s, when the CERN SPS was constructed and the Prevessin site was created, that CERN found what is now their home ground. The pitch was initially at 90 degrees to the current pitch and behind the hut until one season CERN decided to construct a storage area on the ground and a new strip had to be laid in an emergency mid-season. This grass strip was used until the 2001 season when an artificial strip was laid. In 2003, the current hut replaced the old barrack, having been offered to the Club by a contractor at CERN who no longer needed it. Since then, members of the club have worked hard to create the covered terraces.
Matches are played at the weekends against many of the other clubs in Switzerland, as well as “Internationals” from Milan, Grenoble, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Antibes, Lodi and in the past with British Airways, Manchester. Cricket nets take place on Thursday evenings starting at 18:00. There is an annual fixture against Geneva C.C. for the John Harvey Trophy (John Harvey was a founder member), and a recent internal innovation is a Single Wicket Competition for the Eifion Jones Trophy (another founder member). The Club participated in the Durham Cricket Festival, UK, in 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2004. Three members of the Club joined with others from Switzerland to form the Swiss Alpenhorn XI which played in the 1994 Golden Oldies Festival in Birmingham, UK.
The CERN C.C. is a founder member of the national Association and takes part in its various cup and league programmes.
Prevessin, France
Home Ground: Prevessin, 321 Route du Maroc, 01280 Prévessin-Moëns, France
NB: the ground is in France