College Cricket Teams visited Barbados during the summer holidays
After a late night for some of the travellers in Peel Boarding House we made our way to London Gatwick just before 3am. The boys spent some time around Gatwick before we headed off at 10am. The flight was pleasant and we arrived at Grantley Adams airport at about 2pm in the afternoon.After some time finding our bearings we had a quiet afternoon.
Day two was spent at a local beach where the boys relaxed, played sport or got their hair braided! The next day was the boy’s first match day. Unfortunately the match was rained off, so we decided to take the boys to The University of West Indies indoor nets. This gave the boy’s an opportunity to face some bowling from some of the senior Barbados international players. Some of these were bowling at speeds of up to 85mph!
The following day after a short journey we arrived at Lester Vaughn School to play against St. Leonards Cricket Club. St. Leonards were particularly good and had a very good left hand fast bowler who played for Barbados at under 15 National team level. The team were put in to bat first and only managed to make 119 from their 20 overs. Tom Mee (27) and Harry Barratt (33) batted superbly well. St Leonards chased their total with 8 overs to spare. The Under 18’s managed to get a win against the Under 18 side from St. Leonards Cricket Club. The Under 18’s opted to put St.Leonards in to bat first. They managed to restrict St. Leonards to just 118 with a superb 3 wicket haul from James Hale (3-12 from 4 overs). The run chase was exciting cricket and the young but experienced Nick Moore (32) and Toby Fletcher (47) managed to achieve their total.
The next day the boy’s travelled into the capital of Barbados, Bridgetown. This gave them the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere and meet some locals.
On the sixth day the boys went to watch the Sagicor National 20’s tournament where the best senior teams in Barbados battle against each other.
On Monday the under 16 side travelled to Speightstown to play a longer format game against Lester Vaughn School. The Under 16 team were asked to field first and Lester Vaughn put on an impressive 201 runs from 30 overs. Even with solid batting performances from Josh Stuart (34), Billy Falcon (10) and Ed Gilford (9) the Under 16 team collapsed to 119 all out.
The next day saw both teams play a school called Coleridge and Parry. Coleridge and Parry had some exceptionally big hitters and made both the Under 18 and Under 16 team work hard. The under 16 team were given a virtually impossible target to achieve of 222 from 20 overs. Unfortunately they were all out for 61 with the main highlight coming from Glenn Meredith hitting the first six of his career. The Under 18’s match was affected by rain during the 14th over of the Coleridge and Parrys innings. At this point they hade made 107. The team unfortunately fell 7 runs short and lost the game. This was despite a superb 57 from James Hale.
The next day the teams travelled to Alma Parris School, which was situated on a main road in Speightstown. The Under 16’s played after a slight rain delay and couldn’t manage to prevent the big hitters from Alma Parris dominating. The under 16’s could not field against the 106 they had posted from their innings. George King (19) looked the best with the bat. The under 18’s managed yet another win. After being put in to bat they managed to make 137 with the bat. Notable performances came from Andy Hanby (29) and Josh Stuart (45). Chad Balluza (3-14 from 4 overs), George Rossi (2-24 from 3.4 overs) and James Hale (2-6 from 3 overs) did a great job to get Alma Parris all out for 87 runs.
The penultimate day saw the boys travel to a beach, where they got to snorkel with turtles, play on a water trampoline and also see ex-Arsenal legend, Alan Smith!
On the final day before the flight home the Under 18’s played their final game against English Opposition, Wilson’s School (Surrey). They managed a great win yet again. Although the final day blues had set in already, after a lacklustre fielding display where they allowed Wilson’s to post 166 from their 25 overs, Toby Fletcher showed great pace and determination claiming 3 wickets for 28 runs from 5 overs. Andy Hanby (59) and James Hale (74) carried the team home as they chased their total with 2 overs to spare.
I would like to thank all of the boys who were a pleasure to take away and represent the College and also Mr. C. Jones, Mr. R. Morgan and Mr. S. Kellie with whom the tour would not have been possible.
Mr. R. Jones (I/C Cricket at Wymondham College)
To read the tour figures please click the link on the right.
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Trips & Expeditions