Day 14

One full last day on the island and there was no better way to celebrate it than a catamaran trip up the west coast. The 9.00 am pick up was a challenge to some of our lads, who have now fully acclimatised to the Caribbean time zone and laid-back way of life! However the clear blue skies and turquoise seas soon picked up the spirits.

Following a short trip into Bridgetown we were taken to the local docks to meet our catamaran and its crew. It must be everyone’s worst nightmare when you book up a quiet day trip cruising around a palm tree drenched, paradise island, only to find you’re sharing your boat with 16 teenage lads intent on having a good time. Such was the look on the faces of our 15 or so fellow guests as we stepped on board. As usual the boys soon won the crowd over, or at least gained some sympathy retelling stories of giant Bajan monster bowlers and our cricketing whitewash. They failed to mention of course, that the average age of our opponents was probably 15 and we were undone on most occasions by leg spinning 12 year olds!

Enjoying the bottomless supplies of soft drinks and cruising reggae music we made our way slowly up the west coast of Barbados for a first stop to swim with some turtles. We dropped anchor just off shore from One Sandy Lane, the new palatial beachside apartment block, where Rihanna recently bought a US$24 million home. Donning snorkels and face masks we entered the water unsure what we would find. Almost immediately we were surrounded by a huge variety of fish of all shapes and sizes. In amongst them were 3 or 4 giant green turtles keen to explore the weird animals splashing around at the surface of the water. They weren’t even put off by the flailing foot of Dan Marsh who inadvertently kicked one in the head! Fortunately the turtles head didn’t suffer the same fortune as our football – the last thing Dan kicked (over a fence and into a garden!). Even the lads who didn’t choose to snorkel enjoyed the experience as the turtles regularly surfaced for air.

Back on board we made another short journey further up the coast for a lunch stop, this time in a small sandy bay outside some more million dollar houses – this time it was the owner of Chefette (Barbados’ own brand of McDonald style restaurants that are all over the Island) and the inventor of tetra carton packaging. Lunch was the standard flying fish, chicken, rice & beans and macaroni pie and salad, but there were no complaints as the food, as always, was very tasty and more importantly helpings were plentiful! Alongside the boat was a small reef with plenty of colourful fish and coral that occupied the snorkelers amongst us. Towards the end of lunch the real competition began as the crowd were entertained by our team diving competition off the side of the boat. Whilst several of the lads were reluctant to take the leap from the 8 foot height, Willem ‘Tom Daley’ Bygrave showed the way with a fearsome repertoire of dives including a thigh slapping backwards special! Harry Wren foolishly called, then executed an immaculate full belly flop, whilst Jack Fakley showed real class in the ‘bomb’ category. In the ‘length leap’ no one was in Simon Hulse’s class and special mention must go to Ben ‘I’ll only jump in if it’s over there closer to the water and next to the steps’ Norris who certainly didn’t bow to peer pressure and took the ladies option – if only we’d brought the pink armbands! Even the staff got pushed into taking the leap of faith. Mr Rowe wowed the crowd with a quality starfish into hedgehog entry whilst Mr Castle, having informed the group he was a former cub scout diving champion, pulled off an immaculate swallow dive without breaking his neck or causing a tsunami.

Before we left we had one final challenge, the ‘swim to shore touch the wall of the big house then get back first’ race. One competitor from each team lined up at the edge of the catamaran in front of a big crowd of cheering tourists. It all started so well as our finely tuned athletes leapt in and headed for shore – for the first 10 meters they even looked like swimmers. Unfortunately technique and energy soon deserted the boys as they floundered to shore (it was only 30 meters and they could touch the floor most of the way!). A foot race ensued to the wall of the big house. The pace increased as our would-be ‘Baywatch extras’ realised that the sand was very hot! At this point Mr Castle sensed potential issues on the journey back and swam half way taking on the role of the ‘Hoff’ as a real life guard. Simon Hulse used his extras levers to get back first narrowly beating Rookie Wren into second place. At the back a separate race emerged between the two Dans - ‘turtle’ Tomlinson and ‘manta ray’ Marsh.  Following a little support from Mr Castle both got back safely but very exhausted with Danny Tomlinson coming a very creditable 3^rd.

A long slow cruise back along the coast allowed us all to rest and enjoy the scenery. We managed to spot several flying fish literally coming out of the sea flying for up to 20 metres before diving in again. We were also entertained as one of our fellow sailors (who clearly had enjoyed one too many rum punches!) tried to walk to the front of the boat to enjoy the view. How he managed to get to the front without going overboard or even spill a drop of his drink defies all probability. Fortunately for him, his daughter managed to escape the wowing advances of some of our boys and came to his rescue just in time.

It was a fantastic way to end a very enjoyable trip. The evening was spent eating any remaining food (in the case of the staff it was a final helping of big game fish and a huge pot of ice cream!) and packing bags ahead of tomorrow’s departure.  Although we were unsuccessful with the cricket in every other aspect the lads have been outstanding. A credit to the school and their parents, we hope they come home with many happy memories.

Mr Castle & Mr Rowe

Day 13

A big day for our travelling sportsmen – one final game to avoid being the second touring English team this year to limp home following a cricketing whitewash! Coach Rowe posted the team sheet early - a strong 11, in whose hands (and bats) we were placing our faith. The boys arrived at breakfast full of enthusiasm eager to face the battle. All the boys that is, except for Paddy who was still in the shower.  This wouldn’t usually present a problem. However, on this occasion, in a dining area limited for space, the only available seat was on a table with another guest – a single American lady holidaying on her own. We know this because she is both very loud and very talkative, in fact we’ve overheard her life story on several occasions as she is very keen to tell anyone within earshot (and that’s usually people in a 2 mile radius) everything about her. This morning it was Paddy’s turn. Being a true English gent and a great ambassador, he ‘took one for the team’ and shared his breakfast table with our resident Kansas City foghorn. Fortunately for Paddy (and most of the West coast of Barbados) she was leaving this morning and excused herself fairly quickly. Maybe she was worried about getting the Wally of the day t-shirt and hat!

We assembled early with driver Darcy sharing some words of wisdom and Brian ‘barmy army’ Goodchild offering full support for the travelling crew.  A short drive took us to Banks Sports Club, a nice ground with a large two storey pavilion, created initially for employees of the brewery. Surely if all else fails we would at least be able to console ourselves in some of their homebrew! Today's match sponsosr were the Taggart Family and Mr John Smith, who we thank for their support.

Captain Woodward won the toss and elected to bat, convinced our strong batting line up could set an imposing target.  Once again our hosts had been generous, sending out a side of varying ages and sizes. Certainly the opening bowlers held no real menace or pace as we set off at a canter with openers Ronan and Simon enjoying the friendly bowling and looking under no real pressure. However, word must have got around the Island about our struggles against spinners as once again our hosts made regular bowling changes introducing 6 different bowlers, all of whom tossed the ball up from the smallest of run ups, none of whom turned it a great deal. From being in an excellent commanding position of 112-3 in just 17 overs we collapsed to 145 all out in 29 overs, once again failing to bat for our full allocation of 35 overs. Skipper Woodward held the innings together for a short period scoring a good 43, but he, like every other batsman was guilty of bringing about their own downfall, through poor shot selection,  crazy calling and running or simply not hitting the ball hard enough and getting caught out. Disappointingly, against the weakest bowling attack we’ve seen all tour (and probably the weakest we’ll face all year) and with the strongest batting team we could put out, we failed to set a really imposing target. We even had to wait for lunch as our hosts had expected us to bat a little longer and not foreseeing such a collapse against their fragile bowling.

It’s very hard to stay ‘down’ for too long in Barbados and, following a hearty lunch and a rousing Churchillian ‘we’ll fight them on the beaches’ team talk from Messer’s Rowe and Castle, the boys got back onto the field keen to battle until the end. Things started promisingly with some tight bowling from Henry, Dan Marsh and Cameron removing their first 4 batsman relatively cheaply. Henry produced some of his own ‘chin music’ to bounce out one of the openers (even though he was probably only 12 or 13!). The fielding too was impressive, as the team gave their all trying to stay in the game. Unfortunately with plenty of time and under no real pressure of a high score to chase down our hosts eased to a 6 wicket victory in the 28^th over. To add insult to injury 5 minutes after the game ended the heavens opened and a large downpour, the heaviest rain we’ve seen all tour , engulfed the field…..if we’d simply batted a little longer we may have been able to cling onto a rain induced draw!

Disappointingly the whitewash was complete, all we need to do now is blame a destabilising element in the changing room and sack the coach. Look out Danny Tomlinson and Mr Rowe!!! (the chairman of selectors will of course remain on board for future tours!!....but only if his wife lets him!!)

Showered and donning our ‘glad rags’ the party left the ground and headed for ‘Crystals Outback Restaurant’ for an end of tour presentation evening.  Situated in a very rural setting in the hills the restaurant served up some great traditional food of chicken and rice with flying fish, whilst Coach Rowe supplied a consoling beer for the weary players.

Prizes were awarded for the following:

Best Shot on tour – Ronan Taggart (Hook shot at Lester Vaughan School)

Best Catch – Dan Marsh (running over the shoulder catch v Isolations Cavaliers)

Tour Champagne Moment – Harry Wren (six hit over the pavilion at Carlton CC)

Ambassador of the Tour – Paddy Cox

Best Batting Performance – Harry Wren (54 v Carlton CC)

Best Bowling Performance – Dan Marsh v Combermere School (5-45)

Best All Rounder on Tour – Josh Woodward

Team Player award – Dan Seal

Most Comical Moment – Simon Hulse (falling down the bank v Lester Vaughan)

Wally of the Week – Danny Tomlinson
Come Dine with Me winner – Ben Norris
Barmy Army supporters award – Brian Goodchild

Day 12

An early morning trip into Bridgetown (the capital of Barbados) was planned for this morning. Unfortunately our best laid plans didn't take into account one of our tour party getting up to bake a cake! Keen to impress in tonight’s “Come Dine with Me”, Henry “Mr Kipling” Axon had already borrowed a whisk and various cooking utensils from some fellow guests and was busy sponge making. He may have mastered the mixing bowl but he certainly hadn't worked out how to cook the cake. The would-be master chef called upon the master cake eater, Mr Castle, for some timely advice. Once again on this tour the academic elite had been undone by a simple Fahrenheit v Celsius temperature problem. Henry would have baked the cake quicker leaving it in the tin on the balcony rather than at 200° Fahrenheit in the oven! Some wisely advice (at the cost of a large slice of cake) from Mr Castle saved the day and we could eventually get on our way.

For $2 (70p) you can hop on a bus and travel anywhere on the Island. If you choose one of the yellow, privately owned ‘reggae’ buses you are promised a cultural experience of loud music and a pumping bass. You also take your life in your own hands on a white knuckle, horn blasting, traffic weaving experience through the streets of Barbados! Ignoring the state owned, tranquil blue buses, Danny ‘bus conductor’ Tomlinson immediately waved down an already crammed yellow tin box on wheels. Ignoring all other traffic it stopped immediately at the side of the road and beckoned our party on board. Miraculously we managed to squeeze (and I mean squeeze!) six of us on. Friends are made very quickly in such crammed conditions, fortunately we were unable to see where we going and at what speed. As is typical on this Island, the tattoo faced, grim looking, gangster impersonating conductor turned out to be a totally friendly chap who couldn’t have been any nicer, halting the bus at the right stop and then taking the time to point us in the right direction for the Kensington Oval.

The group were soon back together (a little shaken up but culturally wiser) for a tour of Kensington Oval, the national cricket stadium in Barbados. Our tour guide Linus, was happy to take us out onto the wicket much to the surprise of the group who wished they’d brought a bat and some stumps! In the changing rooms several of the lads were keen to try the ice bath (minus the ice of course), whilst Josh Woodward was caught stealing toilet paper from the away changing room – apparently it was simply to blow his nose!  This of course led to other ideas and we were inevitably delayed a short while trying to track down lads who had returned to the toilet, keen to use the same ‘throne’ as Kevin Pieterson!

From the ground it is only a short walk into the city centre where the group stumbled upon a huge bustling metropolis of market stalls, run-down buildings, exclusive boutiques and of course plenty of food & rum shacks. The boys were keen to search out presents and fake sunglasses whilst Messer's Rowe and Castle were happy to sample some of the local delicacies – notably barbecued pigs tails!

After another roller coaster bus journey back to the apartments, it was soon ‘all go’ once again as our four chefs for the night busied themselves in their respective kitchens, for the final “Come Dine with Me”. Henry’s cake had turned out fine (miraculously!) and balconies were quickly turned from a sea of drying clothes, empty cartons and other debris into fine dining eating establishments with table cloths, flowers and delicate candles (if only they’d put as much effort into their batting and bowling). Burger and chips was the crowd favourite with 3 of the chefs producing their own versions with a collection of toppings from cheese, to bacon and salsa. Cameron even made his own burgers much to the delight of his roommates. The winner though was ‘Mr Kipling’ Axon who, in addition to a delicately iced cake, also created a fine Cajun chicken main course, following a steak starter. Maybe we should forget cricket tours and focus on cooking trips instead! An early night was encouraged ahead of tomorrow’s final game…we need all the help we can get.

WALLY OF THE DAY: Henry Axon for delaying our leaving time by 30 minutes so that his cake could finish baking!

Day 11

Breakfast this morning was a sea of enthusiasm as the boys arrived keen stop the rot ahead of our fourth tour match, surely we couldn't be another English cricket team facing a winter tour whitewash. Coach Rowe posted the team sheet with a slight surprise in the promotion of Jack Fakley to opening batsman. He would join our previous match hero, Henry, at the top of the order. Captain for the day would be Dan Marsh (suitably donning the wally of the day outfit) as Josh Woodward took his turn for a rest.

The last time a Harvey touring group went to Carlton Cricket Club it was to watch a full first class game, as Barbados occasionally use it as one of their home grounds. The lads were impressed again this time as they drove through the gates of the Desmond Haynes Oval – a large covered stand with seating, a lush green outfield  (helped by the overnight rain) and a good looking wicket being rolled by a large sit on electric roller. More impressive still was the sight of our opponents! No six foot bearded giants or three foot wide muscling power houses, just a collection of what looked like a ‘rag tag’ group of under 15's (that included 2 players that appeared under 10!). Sporting the British ‘stiff upper lip’ we continued as normal accepting our opponents willingly (even graciously!!). Surely today could be our day for a tour win…..unfortunately looks can be very deceiving and of course we failed to take into account 'Bajan time'.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Henry and Jack took to the wicket quietly confident they wouldn't be facing the usual 70 mph ‘chin music’ that regularly welcomes the openers over here. Pace and bounce was replaced by good accuracy as our top order pair played like classic English openers, excellent leaves, text book forward defensive shots and the occasional prod into the off side. Boycott and Tavare would have been proud as Henry and Jack worked to set up a good platform at the top of the order (keen to heed Mr Rowe's orders of batting for the full 35 overs).  What wasn't noticed was the subtle arrival of a couple more Carlton players. Whether reinforcements had been called for or whether the ‘big guns’ were simply allowed to arrive on ‘Bajan time’ is unsure, but they swiftly replaced the two under 10’s and began throwing ‘rockets’ in from the outfield  suggesting some strength yet to be unleashed! After 15 overs we were 62-1 a steady but far from explosive start. The drinks break and the introduction of a couple of ‘mediocre’ under 14 spinners turned our innings on its head. Against what has been the friendliest bowling so far on tour, a collection of rash shots and a real lack of confidence meant that instead of posting a score in excess of 200 we limped to 152 all out in 32 overs. The exceptions were Harry Wren who hit an exciting 54 including one huge six over the pavilion and Jack Fakley playing his first game as an opener and posting his best ever score for the school, 29.

For the first time on tour we were genuinely disappointed with our batting. The bowling was only ‘average’ and we hadn't taken advantage of it. Still, we had a score on the board and without the normal collection of strapping left handers surely we were still in the game. How wrong we could be! Whilst we opened in a traditional English style our opponents chose the classic Caribbean Calypso 20:20 style, smashing the ball to all parts from the first over! We took 6 overs to score 12 runs – they took 6 balls. The idea of opening the bowling with spinner Danny Tomlinson initially looked foolish, until we realised they had every intention of treating every bowler with the same disdain...and they did, reaching our 152 total in the 13^th over!

Sometimes you can only stand and admire outstanding batting and this was such an occasion. The two lads, one 15 and one 16 are both Barbados players and once again highlight the natural talent that exists all over this Island. What we learned from today – ‘never judge a book by it's cover’ and remember for every under 10 there’s always a big brother round the corner who's likely to rock up and make you pay!

One game to play to avoid a ‘white wash’. The boys will need to bat with more confidence and play the way we've seen them do regularly in the nets if they are to overcome their next opponents.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and on this occasion it meant an earlier than planned return home that would allow some of us a quick trip to the beach whilst our budding chefs had a little extra time to prepare for tonight’s ‘Come Dine with me’ day 3. Keen to impress the judges our boys ‘raised the bar’ yet again in their gastronomic offerings. Tonight's winner was Simon ‘stir fry’ Hulse who produced one of his trademark stir fry's, this time it was an oriental beef number served up at 7.00 pm precisely, on a well laid table with some delicate background oriental music! He had even made a chocolate and orange mousse for dessert. Danny Tomlinson scored highly on originality with his starter of salt ‘n’ pepper squid rings followed by fresh king fish! Unfortunately he lost vital marks on timing when his pommes frites (chips!) weren't cooked until long after every other group had finished their desserts. Elsewhere Willem used his all his pub kitchen experience to produce an excellent chicken and pasta dish whilst Jesse served up Mexican beef tacos to his hombres.

Todays match sponsor was Kent Site Investigations Ltd. We thank you for your kind support.

WALLY OF THE DAY: Danny Tomlinson for preparing squid and king fish to perfection then failing to cook his chips on time because he spent too long in the pool! Plus, losing his wicket to what can only be described as a cross between a golf swing and a hockey shot - both gone terribly wrong!!

Day 10

Cricketing exertions and the heat are slowly taking their toll on our finely tuned athletes. Either that or they’re quickly reverting to common teenage ‘sloth-ness’ as the majority of the boys didn't appear until gone 10.00 am this morning. Some of us enjoyed the peace and quiet, which of course didn't last too long as normal poolside games (usually involving balls, bats and leaping into the water) soon resumed.

The afternoon saw the boys jog down to the local field for some training. In hot, humid conditions some fierce fielding competitions were set up for our four teams. It nearly ended in calamity for Simon Hulse as an early collision with Willem saw him drop out holding his wrist. A quick administering of ice seemed to do the trick as he soon returned to perform some outstanding boundary fielding and throwing. Among the winners today were Woodies Warriors for whom Willem Bygrave didn't drop a single ball in the high catching contest.  Jesse's Giants won the run out challenge, while Dan Seal showed great promise in the "throwing in" contest – not bad for a wicket keeper.

The afternoon finished with an eagerly contested 8 v 8 football match. The kick off was slightly delayed as the ‘skins’ team administered sun lotion, which of course gave the shirts side some valuable time to sort out a suitable tactical approach. This tactical master plan failed to include picking someone to play in goal….a weakness noted very quickly by Ronan on the skins team who scored almost immediately into an empty net.  Paddy Cox shone in his role as lone defender for the skins team, reminding Mr Rowe of a young Alan Hansen. Meanwhile Danny “I’ll be Kevin Nolan” Tomlinson used all his West Ham knowledge to clear his lines high and wide when required, whilst solo front runner Jesse Mills was holding the ball up expertly (shame he can’t hold his wickets up so well!). At the interval the skins were leading 3-0 and looking comfortable. Tactical changes were swiftly made by the shirts, for whom skipper Woodward was beginning to pull the strings. It was all very much in vain when shortly after half time Dan Marsh produced a shot from nowhere (probably his only attacking shot on the tour so far!) and immediately ended the game as the ball sailed over a 10 foot high barbed wire fence into a neighbouring garden. That’s what you get when you mix hockey players and football. Whilst the shirts were demanding the game to be void, the skins were claiming it to be a stroke of genius by Dan. Mr Castle and Mr Rowe were simply dumbfounded by the ability to hit a shot over a fence that was so far from the goal! 

All that was left to do was to make a swift retreat across the road to the beach. As the boys left the field so the herd of goats (or as we now know them to be “Caribbean sheep”) appeared. The staff took the opportunity to record the elusive “goat selfie” and as such claim bragging rights over poor Ronan.

At the beach a fun hour was spent taking it in turns riding “Great big Mable” – what can only be described as a large inflatable sofa being pulled around by a boat. Our Bajan driver thoroughly enjoyed his role bouncing the lads around the Caribbean Sea while pointing out to the staff in the boat the coastline homes of the rich and famous. He was also quick to tell us his 11 year old son scored a century last week… let’s hope he’s not playing tomorrow, our record on this tour against under 12’s is far from impressive!

Avoiding the calamity of our last training session, this time the staff arranged for a proper local cook to come down and provide a real “Caribbean beach meal” under the palm trees. The lads thoroughly enjoyed their barbecue chicken with rice and macaroni pie and faith was once again restored in “hunter gatherers” Castle and Rowe.

It just left time for some of the boys to enjoy an ice cream and a proper West Coast sunset.

WALLY OF THE DAY: Dan Marsh for the second day in succession. If he could hit the cricket ball like he did our best football, we wouldn't have a 0-3 playing record!

Day 9

Today saw the squad take on Isolations Cavaliers in our 3^rd fixture of the tour – with the match generously sponsored by Fuelled by Design (see link on the left). The word from Keemar, our tour rep, was that these would be one of the stronger opponents of the tour, so following losses of 167 runs and 6 wickets in our respective opening games, that wasn’t what we wanted to hear.

Another good breakfast was served up at the apartment restaurant before our 10:30am pick up and journey to the ground, located in the parish of St Andrew, to the north-east of the island. Prior to leaving the lads all completed a sweepstake for the US Masters Golf tournament by randomly selecting two players from the top 32 in the field. Dan Marsh defied the laws of probability to overcome a 1 in 66 chance of selecting both Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott halfway through the draw!!

On arrival the opposition were having a few throw-downs and it was evident we were going to be coming up against some serious cricketers. The distinctive blue and yellow training kit of the Barbados cricket team was a bit of a giveaway that a number of their players were part of the underage set-up of the national team.

The wicket looked another good one, resembling the previous two tracks we’d seen, and when our skipper Josh Woodward won the toss he had no hesitation in opting to bat first and set a total that our bowlers could try to defend. 

With the first overs of our previous two innings being disastrous affairs the boys were quick to applaud our openers Simon Hulse and Henry Axon for safely negotiating the first 6 deliveries. A bit of application was the order from coach Castle and our team goal was to bat our full allocation of 35 overs, so the openers patiently began to build their innings whilst looking to put away any loose deliveries. These were largely few and far between so with the score 0/57 off 16 it was time to push on and see if the scoring rate could be lifted. Henry Axon had a few pieces of fortune – possibly an omen from his grandfather Brian, who joined the touring squad for the day whilst on holiday on the island – being dropped on at least 3 occasions. Simon Hulse eventually lost his wicket with the introduction of spin for a well compiled 35, which started something of collapse with the next 3 wickets falling for 19 runs in the space of 4.2 overs. With our big hitters Woodward, Marsh and Taggart back in the pavilion, it was left to Henry and Cameron Emanuel-Burns to stop the flow of wickets but also push the score beyond 100 in the hope of setting a score in the region of 160-175, even though 200+ was probably a realistic par score on a good wicket with a fast enough outfield. Henry finally succumbed after 4 dropped catches and an lbw decision that was reversed by the opposition captain, even though with Henry attempting an audacious reverse-sweep, some may say the shot warranted the decision!! His 51 was the highest score of the tour so far and a great moment for Henry and his grandfather to witness.

The tail-end of our innings featured some cameos from Mills, Norris and Seal who pushed the score beyond 150 with Dan Seal and Willem Bygrave both finishing with their wickets intact. We finished on 9/155 off our 35 overs, a good effort to bat our full allocation, but probably 50 short of what we should have scored.

Another delicious lunch was served with the top 20 goals of the month capturing the attentions of both teams on the TV in the background!!

Another HGS supporter showed up after the interval with Mr Allon and his wife popping in to cheer the lads on whilst enjoying their Easter vacation on the island. The visit seemed to inspire the guys with some very good bowling and excellent support in the field deserving more reward. A dubious not-out decision was a bit of disappointment following a significant noise off the bowling of Emanuel-Burns, which could have just opened up an end, seemed to be the catalyst for some big blows to follow. Unfortunately, despite some tidy bowling and good support in the field, the score had raced away to 0/100 off 14 and the game was quickly slipping away from us. The introduction of Jesse Mills bowling some seam-up bagged us 3 wickets in his 3 over spell, with a sharp juggled return catch and a very good catch by Dan Marsh over his shoulder from a lofted off drive. At 3/129 off 17 overs the boys were clinging on to the hope that the remaining batters might just be bunnies to knock over, however this was certainly not the case with their number 5 continuing to play some delightful strokes off all of our bowlers – who to be fair to them didn’t do a lot wrong throughout their innings. The end result was another loss, this time to the tune of 7 wickets, but it was clear we had come up against a very good side, with the words from Keemar a few hours earlier certainly ringing true.

After the game most of the group were content to cool off by the pool, however Jesse Mills and Elliot Tyler took the opportunity to walk down to the local ground and join in with the club practice session that was in full swing. The lads were over the moon with the chance to bowl to some players who had played some league cricket in England and were even asked to come back tomorrow, indicating how well they must have done!!

WALLY OF THE DAY: The saying “from chocolates to build sweets” is indicative of the tour that Dan Marsh is currently having, with our Folkestone cricketer currently sporting the less than flattering statistic of having taken more wickets than balls he’s faced so far this trip!!!

Day 8

A quick head count this morning relieved a few staff concerns; it appeared that everyone had survived the ‘Come Dine with Me’ experiences from last night. This is more than can be said about the state of several of the kitchens, which are slowly beginning to resemble a small war zone! Obviously washing up may need to be added to the strict assessment criteria.

A morning of culture was the order of the day as the group headed out to Harrison’s Cave, a big visitor attraction on the Island. Located in the parish of St Thomas the cave is a huge underground collection of stalactites, stalagmites and underground waterfalls set in the limestone bedrock that makes up most of the Island. Having mastered the long glass elevator down to the cave entrance the boys watched a short film about the geographical features and make up of Barbados (Miss Chapman and Mr Russell would be most impressed). They then jumped aboard the trams destined to take us deep underground. The 45 minute ride was broken up with several stops to allow for photo opportunities. It was also just enough time to get some more cricketing words of wisdom from another local expert – in this case the tram driver.  At 150 feet below ground level he proceeded to give us a full wicket report on the track at Isolations Cavaliers, our next opponents.

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool or in some cases preparing gourmet meals for day 2 of ‘Come Dine with Me’.  Mr Castle escorted the 4 chefs to the supermarket to collect provisions – a simple task for most, but apparently not necessarily so for 16 & 17 year old cricketers who have not cooked a meal before and certainly not had to shop for the contents in a local Bajan supermarket. Expecting to find the contents of Sainsbury’s in Park Farm, some of the group were a little challenged when the shelves didn’t quite contain all their required ingredients!! Josh Woodward turned what should have been a 10 minute trip into a shopping marathon as he struggled when unable to locate poppadums, naan bread and a tin of chopped tomatoes! Meanwhile Ben Norris was in turmoil having forgotten his phone and his only lifeline to instructions for making strawberry mousse.

Back at base camp things went from bad to worse for poor Ben when he was caught seeking advice and a whisk from the local chef in the restaurant next to the apartments. Similarly Josh was found sneaking back down to the shops (obviously he had forgotten something despite his marathon stint earlier in the day!).

Resident ‘Come Dine with Me’ adjudicator Mr Rowe had set a 7.00 meal time as part of the strict marking criteria for today’s competition. Our amateur cooks all busied themselves ahead of the judging panel’s visit. Table cloths appeared from nowhere (although the beds were looking rather bare), freshly picked flowers were eagerly placed on immaculately laid tables and some even went to great lengths electing suitable play lists to impress the judges (Mr Castle & Mr Rowe). Paddy Cox produced an excellent 3 courses featuring soup, fajitas and cake desert, whilst Jack Fackley impressed his room with steak and chips and a salad garnish! The winner though was budding master chef Ben Norris who created a protein focussed, steak with poached eggs on a homemade salsa verde. This was followed with a fresh strawberry mousse made with whipping cream and strawberry protein shake?? Ben had strangely made a romantic theme for his evening with a selection of soppy love songs as a musical playlist and even prepared face masks of his roommates girlfriends so they would feel at home….all very strange…the staff left the boys to their own devices after a very quick visit!! Special mention to captain Josh Woodward who made a valiant attempt cooking his first ever meal. The curry was a hit with his 3 roommates, although he didn’t quite get his measurements right with the rice, which they will now be eating for the remainder of the tour.

WALLY OF THE DAY:

Josh Woodward – who may need a little help before he goes to Uni in September!!