Grenada 2007
A fantastic tour has been had by all, on what is a truly beautiful island. The matches have been very even, played on brilliant surfaces in idyllic surrounds. The boys behaviour has been exemplarily, with numerous members of staff at the hotel commenting how they will miss the boys presence around the resort. Shows of sportsmanship and generosity will act as great memories for us all, something Davenies should be extremely proud of.
Grenada 2007 - Very good for me!
David Bushnell
Updates:
Sunday 22nd July - 0800 (Local Time)
Saturday saw a day of shopping and sun, followed by he end of tour awards dinner. It was a fantastic evening to look back on an extremely successful tour. The tour party set off on the long journey home at around 1030 local time, and are expecting to land at Gatwick South terminal at 0630 Monday morning.
Friday 20th July - 1905 (Local Time)
It seems winning cricket matches in the Caribbean is much like waiting for a London bus, you wait a long time, and then two pop along at the once. The last game of the tour against the St Andrews parish at the beautifully situated Progress Park, was comprehensively won by Davenies well within the allotted over’s.
Winning the toss, O. Rendell elected to bat, and after both F. Wright and himself departing in the 2nd over, it looked an interesting decision. J. Breckenridge, promoted to open the innings, had other ideas however, as he cruised his way to 20, before being run out from a sublime piece of fielding. Ably supporting were both H. Davies and T. Janse van Vuuren, but the tail then collapsed at the hands of the excellent leg spinner, who looked a very old 13!
Having made just 89, the boys were going to have to bowl extremely well. This they did, and between S. Myers, O. Rendell, J. Breckenridge and finally F. Wright, the quartet blew away the hosts batting line up for just 63. This meant a 26 run win to end the tour in triumphant style. The boys continued their generosity from the day before and donated a T-shirt to each to the opposition, which was again warmly received by the local children.
So, with the cricket finished, the party have a day of sun and shopping tomorrow, followed by the final dinner at the hotel. All of the fantastic supporters will be present to look back on a truly memorable 10 days in Grenada.
Click here to view photos of the day.
Thursday 19th July - 1825 (Local Time)
A win at last! After a morning of monsoon like conditions, a game looked highly unlikely at best. The rain finally stopped and the National stadium’s drainage did the rest, as the game started just half an hour behind time at 1230 local time. Winning the toss, the St George’s Academy side chose to field. A solid opening partnership between H. Breckenridge and F. Wright set the foundations for a dogged performance. Contributions from O. Rendell, H. Davies and finally J. Hurford saw Davenies reach 108-7 in their allotted over’s.
Lunch was taken in the rather impressive air conditioned changing rooms and the boys then set out to defend the biggest total made so far on the tour. S. Myers again made early inroads, taking 2-6 in his 5 over’s, a fantastic spell of bowling. He was ably supported by O. Rendell, J. Breckenridge, R. Fitz-Hugh, C. Sheen and F. Wright. Highlights included a stunning catch by J. B. and two wickets in two balls from F. Wright when the pressure was really on. The last over came, with the hosts needing 16 to win. O. Rendell did his best for them, bowling several wides, but Davenies scraped home by 7 runs. The match was exhilarating and enthralling, a fantastic advert for cricket.
The best was yet to come as the Davenies boys generously took their playing shirts and presented them to the opposition, with whom they had just shared a brilliant match with. This was an impromptu decision from the boys and showed admirable kindness to their counterparts.
An evening of celebration will be in order with drinks and dinner sure to be lively. Tomorrow, the squad complete their set of matches in the north of the island, where they will be looking to make it two wins in a row to finish off the cricketing year.
A remainder to all parents that the boys need to be collected from Gatwick South terminal on Monday morning, with the flight due to land at 0630 UK time.
Click here for photos of the day.
Wednesday 18th July - 1825 (Local Time)
After a night of torrential rain, practice was cancelled Wednesday and the morning was spent taking a late breakfast followed by some sun bathing by the pool.
Once lunch had been consumed just after midday, the party got ready to venture on the Bacon Butty sponsored excursion to the Seven Sisters falls. A stop off on the way to see the Grand Etang Lake and the local monkeys was a fantastic sight, showing off the beauty of the island’s rainforest.
The bus took us the entrance of the falls, where, armed with a walking stick each (not before time for Mr Rudd!!), we set off on the 30 minute trek to the falls. The overnight rain had, of course, made the trail somewhat treacherous, but Mr Bushnell put in a faultless performance, guiding the boys (along with Dexter our tour guide) to the bottom of the valley. The breathtaking views on the way down were no comparison to the sight on show at the 5th and largest of the seven falls. The fresh water rock pool at the foot of the waterfall was fantastic, and all the boys swiftly shed towels, T-shirts and footwear to jump straight in. After a good swim and some photo opportunities, the trek back seemed a nice thought! Scaling over 1000m back to the bus was hard work and the order of the staff was somewhat of a surprise. Obviously Mr B. was in 1st place overall, closely followed by F. Wright and T. Janse van Vuuren, but in second place in the staff came Mr Gibson, then even more surprisingly, Mr Rudd finished 3rd leaving Mr Tennant distraught in 4th place on his 32nd Birthday.
Drinks were taken and trainers cleaned before hopping back on the bus and returning to the resort. Showers were needed by all, which will then be followed by an evening of celebration of Mr T’s birthday. The whole tour squad are making the short walk along the beach to dine with the supporting parents at the Spice Island Hotel.
Thursday brings the day a lot of the boys have been waiting for, with a match at the wonderful National Stadium. Here’s hoping for the first win of the tour also!
Click here for photos of the day.
Tuesday 17th July - 2102 (Local Time)
Another day, another game! Tuesday brought a second trip in as many days to the La Sagresse ground.
An early morning swim, for those who were up, was followed by the now standard HUGE breakfast. D. Jones excelled again, consuming 3 omelettes amongst other options on offer. For once, everyone was present at the meeting point at the correct time, and the party left for the 40 minute drive to the ground. The weather was hotter than it had been since we arrived; this along with a hard match the previous day meant there were some lethargic boys in tow.
Upon arrival, skipper O. Rendell won the toss and chose to field, much like the day before. In front of them was a similar team to the day before, with a couple of notable changes.
Davenies started well in the field with S. Myers bowling an exemplarily line and length and finished with 1-15 from his 5 overs. The rest of the bowling was a little loose and meant that after an energy sapping 25 overs in the field, the hosts had made 128-5.
Approaching such a daunting score on a good wicket, but extremely slow outfield was always going to be tough, but the early loss of H. Breckenridge, run out by the proverbial country mile, meant that there was a lot of pressure riding on the Captain’s shoulders. Alas, wickets fell at regular intervals, including Rendell for 5 to a dubious leg before decision. Only W. Carter and L. Smith could manage a worthwhile partnership, sharing 32 for the final wicket, before Smith was run out to end the match. Davenies were dismissed for 76, meaning a 52-run defeat, and a quiet bus journey home.
Upon arrival back at the resort, the customary early evening swim was taken before drinks at the bar. An early tea was then on the cards, with Mr Rudd claiming it very important that people of his age eat at regular intervals. Following another feast of salad, soup, meats and desserts, the boys gathered around the pool table to view the Rudd versus Tennant grudge match, where Mr Tennant claims to have ‘mopped up’.
Wednesday brings an early morning practice session followed by an afternoon at the waterfalls, hopefully this will turn the fortunes before Thursday’s game at the National Stadium.
For photos of the day click here.
Monday 16th July - 2100 (Local Time)
After a a day of nets and relaxation yesterday, Monday brought the second match of the tour. Breakfast was taken at around 9am, where everyone took on vital supplies for the day ahead. The match was against St David's at the beautiful La Sagresse ground in the northern part of the island.
Davenies won the toss and chose to bowl on a wicket that was slightly damp after the early morning deluge. Skipper for the day, Joseph Breckenridge, chose to bowl and with that the boys took to the field. An excellent opening burst from S. Myers and J. Hurford brought early success, when Myers cajouled the openers into spooning the ball up into the Caribbean sky. The spinners were then introduced and took control of the innings. J. Breckenridge took 4 wickets, supported admirably by C. Sheen, who, in turn took 2 wickets as Davenies ripped through the opposition line-up. Runs did however continue to flow, and by the time R. Fitz-Hugh took the final wicket, the hosts had reached 99 All Out.
In reply, J. Hurford opened up with F. Wright, and together they cruised along, until Hurford misjudged a delivery from Man of the Match M. Baptiste. A steady flow of wickets followed and only J. Breckenridge held firm. The run rate soon started to climb, and when J. Breckenridge was 9th man out, it seemed impossible to win. Some excellent running from the tail-end got the boys within 8 runs of the hosts when the last ball was bowled. This represented a superb effort, and a real progression from the start of the tour.
The boys, although disappointed enjoyed a early evening swim once back at he resort. Tea was again a buffet, where Mr Gibson once again amazed onlookers with his phenomenal intake!
Click here for photos of the day.
Saturday 14th July - 2200 (Local Time)
After an excellent night’s sleep, the day started off with a early morning swim, orchestrated by Mr Gibson. Mr Rudd claims to have run along the beach; however, there were no witnesses….
A wholesome breakfast ensued, where certain boys’ bacon rations were enforced! This was then followed by the announcement of the team for the first game of the tour. The boys seemed nervous and slightly apprehensive about their first match on foreign soil, which added to a sense of anticipation in the camp.
A slow hour passed before the boys packed up and made their way to the bus to depart for the first match of the tour. Upon arrival, we were met by a typically Caribbean ground, with a wicket consisting of baked mud and straw rolled into the surface. This along with the long looking outfield could not be more of a change to conditions back home, and would prove a real test of the squad’s ability.
The home side batted first, and with the help of 2-2 from L. Smith, were dismissed for 91. In reply J. Hurford opened up and batted superbly well for 40 not out, and along with J. Wright (20), put on 59 for the 3rd wicket. Alas, we fell 7 short in our pursuit of their score, but lots of valuable lessons learnt for the forthcoming week.
The journey home was quiet and reflective, but, once back at the resort, the boys had a swim before dark and tried to shake off their disappointment of an opening loss. Dinner was taken around 2030hrs, which consisted of a barbeque buffet, where everyone was certainly not left hungry!
Tomorrow morning sees another practice at the National Stadium, followed by an afternoon of beach cricket and relaxation before two matches in two days.
Click here for photos of the day.
Friday 13th July - 1830 (Local Time)
Our first full day on the island, and what a day! Almost everyone was up early as the time difference took its toll and the day started with a swim in the swimming pool, followed by a big breakfast. All the boys (and staff) tucked into a variety of options, Mr Gibson excelled in this area, managing to almost eat the resort out of pancakes!
After breakfast the party walked up to the local shop and each boy was kitted out with a large bottle of water to see them through the day. The bus driver (Blewy) arrived early (unusual for the Caribbean) and we then headed off to the National Stadium for our first practice session. Upon arrival, the stadium was breathtaking, and the facilities fantastic as we settled down for practice. A warm-up followed by nets in the extreme heat meant that after 90 minutes the session was cut short for a look around the impressive stadium. The National Stadium is the ground which held several World Cup matches earlier this year, and is set to become a regular ground for the West Indies team. The boys were in awe of the surroundings and got extremely excited about the prospect of playing at the ground next week.
When returning after training, the party dropped their bags off and made their way to the ‘Fantasy Pool’. Lunch was taken along with drinks, and the boys enjoyed an afternoon ‘off’ from cricket. Several of the supporting parents made the short walk down the beach to see the boys and enjoyed a chat and drink with the staff.
A room inspection is now underway as Messer’s Rudd and Gibson run the rule over the boys’ rooms. Dinner will be taken around 2000hrs, followed by a drink and a well deserved sleep.
Tomorrow brings our first fixture against St George’s at the Camp Salines ground, where the team will be looking to reproduce their excellent form of the nets on the pitch.
Click here for photos of the day.
Thursday 12th July - 1815 (Local Time) - We've Arrived!
After a long day's travelling, we finally arrived in Grenada! The day started at 0500 from Davenies, where the party travelled to Gatwick by executive coach. The check-in and boarding went extremely well, only for the pilot to fall sick! A delay of about an hour was shortly over and we took off towards the Caribbean.
The flight went very smoothly, with the boys gaining praise for their manners and behaviour from the lively aeroplane staff. We were met by our ground handler Bentley, and he escorted us all to the Resort. The bags were promptly dropped in rooms and swim shorts donned, as everyone made the extremely short walk to the beach for a quick swim.
The boys are now all back in their room’s unpacking and preparing for dinner.
A fantastic day so far, tomorrow the cricket begins, with a training session at the national stadium.
Wednesday 11th July
Speech day, and all the boys are packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning. An update will appear here once we have arrived in our hotel in Grenada.