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!!