AACC U14 FRANCE 2026 - Day 3
Two Games. Two Wins. Pizza Problems. Pool Bonuses & Crêpe Carnage.
Another brilliant day in France — and this one had pretty much everything. Cricket, sixes, sunshine, pizza confusion, volleyball assistance nobody asked for and a minor culinary incident involving a jug. 
THE PATISSERIE RUN
We were up nice and early for what has now become one of the most important jobs of the tour — the morning patisserie run.
Back came another mountain of:
Croissants
Pain Suisse
Chocolatines
Breakfast was served at 8:15am, and it was great to see the boys becoming a little more adventurous this morning.
There was noticeably less cereal being poured and far more pastries, local jams and fruit being tried.
Exactly what touring is all about — experiencing another culture, trying different foods and expanding their palates.
Although convincing teenage boys that eating French pastries counts as cultural education isn’t exactly the hardest coaching job we’ve ever had. 
GAME ONE – AACC vs NÎMES CC
We arrived at the ground for 9:30am ready for a 10am start.
Nîmes batted first and posted 59 from their 15 overs.
The boys then went about the chase in fairly ruthless fashion.
Just 7 overs later, it was job done, with Guy Lamb having the honour of hitting the winning runs.
WIN NUMBER ONE
Quick drink.
Quick reset.
And straight into Game Two…
GAME TWO – AACC vs AUNIS CC
This time we batted first.
Enter…
Jack Brooks & Findley McGeachy.
What followed became slightly less constructing a cricket innings and slightly more…
“Right then, who can hit the biggest one?”
Jack and Fin absolutely went to town.
Jack Brooks – 50
Findley McGeachy – 42 NOT OUT
The boys eventually finished on a massive:
165/1
Aunis gave the chase a really good go and battled well, eventually finishing on 94.
WIN NUMBER TWO
Two matches.
Two good performances.
Two wins.
And with our work done, we could finally sit back and enjoy watching Nîmes and Aunis battle it out in the final match of the day.
By the time everything wrapped up, it was nearly 6pm.
Which meant only one thing…
INTO SAINT-AULAYE!
We headed down to the river and the pizzeria, where the boys enjoyed pizzas of pretty much every imaginable variety, followed by ice creams, a walk along the river and some well-earned relaxed time together.
Beautiful evening.
Beautiful setting.
Everything very calm.
Until Jack decided to help.
THE JACK BROOKS SCHOOL OF ASSISTANCE
Walking past the volleyball court, a ball came rolling towards Jack.
Now, most people would simply leave it for the bloke already walking over to collect it.
Not Jack.
Jack decides:
“I’ll help.”
Lovely.
He casually attempts to chip the ball back towards him…
…and completely slices it.
LEFT.
Miles left.
The poor bloke, who was originally about five seconds away from collecting his volleyball, now has to turn around and run considerably further to retrieve Jack’s act of kindness.
Jack carried on walking.
Good deed done.
Sort of.
WHERE’S ARTHUR’S PIZZA?!
Meanwhile, everyone else’s pizzas arrive.
They’re eating.
They’re enjoying themselves.
Arthur is waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting.
“Where’s mine?”
More pizzas disappear.
“Seriously… where’s my pizza?”
Everyone has practically finished.
Still no Arthur pizza.
Concern is growing.
An international investigation begins.
Until we discover one tiny detail…
Arthur had ordered a TAKEAWAY.
His pizza hadn’t gone missing.
It had been sitting perfectly happily in a box at the pizzeria for the last 15 minutes waiting for somebody to collect it.
Cue Arthur returning to the table carrying a pizza box and wearing the sheepish expression of a man who knows he’s about to feature prominently in tonight’s diary.
He then proceeded to devour the entire thing in what we’re estimating was approximately 90 seconds.
Problem solved. 
THE ONE-HOUR POOL BONUS
Earlier in the day, the boys had been given a challenge.
Complete their 15 overs in under an hour, and for every minute saved, they earned five extra minutes in the pool tonight.
Across the two matches they finished a combined…
12 MINUTES UNDER!
Some quick mathematics later…
ONE EXTRA HOUR OF POOL TIME!
So tonight’s curfew has been extended until 10pm, and currently there are all sorts of pool shenanigans taking place involving the boys and The Two Davids.
We’re not entirely sure who’s supervising whom at this point.
MEANWHILE… LIL CHEF
While chaos reigns outside, Lil Chef is back in the kitchen preparing homemade crêpes as a little end-of-day treat for everyone.
Lovely.
Relaxing.
Very French.
Apart from the bit where he…
smashed a jug
…and then…
flambéed the pan.
Nothing to see here.
MasterChef France continues.
And so ends another fantastic day.
Plenty of heat
Loads of cricket
Two wins
New friendships
Lots of food
Even more laughs
The nicest part has been watching friendships forming between the players from AACC, Nîmes and Aunis. Three teams from different places, brought together through cricket and enjoying each other’s company both on and off the field.
Tomorrow we’re changing things up a little…
Although, naturally, cricket is still involved.
We’re off to La Rochelle for sightseeing, a little shopping and…
BEACH CRICKET!
What could possibly go wrong?
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