wiganworld (Feedback, help, your ideas for new content.)
Why it was called French cricket remains a mystery to me and no doubt others. One person stood inside a chalked circle about the size of a manhole cover (a convenient one was used on occasions) The "in" person was equiped with a tennis racquet and had to defend legs below the knees from other players throwing a ball from any direction without stepping outside the circle. Any number of people could play. The next one "in" was the thrower to hit the defender below the knees or forced the defender to put even a toe outside the circle. As can be imagined there were numerous disputes, some quite serious.
Statues was played from one side of the street to the other. One person called the blind man turning his/her back to the others on one side of the street whilst the others attempted to reach the kerb of the blind man Without warning the blind man would suddenly turn at which every one froze in position thus becoming a statue. Anyone caught moving would be "out" the winner of course would be the one to reach the blind mans kerb and become the blind man. There are most likely other local names for these games.
Replied: 5th Jul 2019 at 21:52