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!!