Grenada 2011
Wednesday 27th July
After a successful 10 days, with some tremendous cricket played, today was a chance to chill, relax and mess around in the pool and sea. Overcast and sultry the sky may have been, the weather was still hot and humid, although the breeze was welcome, even though it was a week later than ordered!
As the sun set tonight, the staff sat on the patio with a smug congratulatory smile, and a cocktail – Grenada 2011, what a fantastic tour…
Tuesday 26th July
After an adventurous journey across the island, with Foxy at the wheel, we arrived at the serene, picturesque and lush Progress Park. With a veritable sea of palms as a backdrop gently rustling with the Caribbean zephyr the scene appeared apt for our last game of tour. The baked deck in front of us looked ready for some quality cricket…
Winning the toss and putting St. Andrew’s into bat, Captain AJ bowled some vicious overs to keep the opening batsmen on their toes. With JHK firing balls in from the Pavilion End, he soon mopped up their opener, making him the leading wicket taker of tour. In rising temperatures, the bowlers of Smith Senior, Alex Coleman and Harry O bowled good lines, drawing the opposition into taking chance clips over the top. With some stunning fielding, return throws coming into Smith Junior at the stumps like tracer bullets, the Davenies 1st XI were on top of the game. Stanley Walsh came on as 12th Man to hold onto a slap to Mid-Wicket, but Smithy behind the pegs stole the show with some slick glove work. At the end of their 30 overs at the crease, St. Andrew’s had reached 107-4.
With a manageable target to reach, the opening pair, threatened with walking home if they got run out, strode to the crease looking resolute and indefatigable. With the calling between the pair now established, the scoreboard ticked over nicely before Isaac played on unluckily to an absolute snorter. Jake was joined by the redoubtable AJ who pushed the run rate on with some scorching nicks through the slips and chips to the unmanned on-side. Sadly, no real partnerships developed after Jake had his middle stump skittled, although Harry O, Smith Senior and Crawf all occupied the crease and chipped a few off the total. Manfully, AJ battled on – the paradigm of calm determination – reaching his fifty with consummate ease. With Stanley and Smithy Junior, the epitome of calm, to guide the good ship Davenies home, we cruised to a victory with 7 overs left.
Hackneyed though it may sound, over the past week, the cricket has improved from strength to strength, considerably beyond expectations. Every member of the tour party has played his part, contributed fully and enhanced their cricket. We have taken wickets, held onto catches, scored runs, been immersed in Grenadian culture, made friends and, perhaps most importantly, created memories that will last a lifetime.
Monday 25th July
For the first Twenty-20 of tour, we travelled to the picturesque bay of Woburn. With the azure backdrop of a mill pond Caribbean Sea, and under another Grenadian cloudless sky, the wicket was ready for contest. As AJ stepped up to bowl the first ball, goats stopped play – a first for Davenies, I believe. With monstrous turn and bounce, AJ caused the openers all sorts of trouble, but not as much as JHK who opened from the Pavilion End, snapping up 3 quick wickets with movement off the seam and late swing. Sadly, those dismissals brought the Presentation big hitter to the crease, who then proceeded to slap the Davenies bowlers around the park, treating his visitors with utter disdain. Mercifully we ran out of time before he could reach his century, however, to their credit, our fielders kept to their task chasing balls around the field with alacrity and undiminished endeavour.
Despite an unassailable target to reach, the opening pair of Bruce Chritchley and Smith Junior strode to the crease with purpose and set about the run chase. After a few classic singles to steady the nerves, an adventurous 2 culminated in our now customary opening run out. The ignominy of Bruce’s walk to the pavilion was only mildly dissipated by Smithy joining him moments later after skying one to mid-wicket. Xavier then arrived at the crease with Benny A., who set about making a swashbuckling 32 or so, whilst classic drives shored up the Woburn Bay End. Smith Senior and AJ made a belligerent middle order stand before yet another miscommunication. Harry O came and went, before Ricky S saw the innings to the end, sadly 20 runs short.
Following this, a highly competitive 10 over match ensued, meaning that the entire Davenies touring party played competitively today. The highlight of this was Lawrence Dale teeing off and showing the Grenadians that British cricketers can play aggressive strokes.
Two close matches in perfect conditions (except for the 15 minute, mid-innings torrential downpour); and, yet again, the Davenies boys exemplified the qualities we expect. Ambassadors indeed…
Sunday 24th July
So, on a breathless steamy morning at the silent La Sagesse ground, the Grenadian National Team awaited us. Following overnight rain, the outfield began sluggish, so losing the toss and being put into bat seemed ominous.
After a couple of well-timed nudges into the off-side, our opening pair of Isaac and Jake seemed to be ticking the scoreboard over nicely. The inevitable, and now standard miscommunication, resulted in AJ being called to the crease. With the opposition opening bowler really bending his back into his introductory salvo consistently in the high 60s, AJ ‘guided’ 2 nicks through the slips before chasing a wide one to give the keeper an absolute gift. Lengthy but low scoring cameos came from Stanley and the 2 Smiths. Lawrence could not help playing his natural game, although that ended with a sky-rocket being snaffled. Harry came and went, not before playing some stylish forward defensives and nurdles, before Benny A assaulted the bowling with his quick-fire singles. From the scoring box, clearly he was working on his wagon-wheel…
After 29.4 hard fought overs on a sweltering day, only Spencer Bruce Chritchley remained undefeated as Davenies reached 121.
After a delicious lunch of pork and rice, the opposition strode into bat needing 4 an over. With tight bowling through the opening pair of AJ and Stanley, only a perfectly adjudged LBW and a catch at silly cover were the results of their efforts. The change bowling to Smith Senior and Benny A only served to raise the required run rate as some beautifully pitched bowling left the batsmen with little choice but to hit the ball as hard as humanly possible. Following on from Friday’s excellent fielding display, the Davenies 1st XI were on their toes in the field, pouncing on every cannonball fired from the wicket, with relish. Exemplary throwing in from the outfield resulted in Smith Junior being able to cover the wickets without moving. As the battle moved on, Harry O tossed up some flighty leg-spin to tease the batsmen into going over the top. Sadly, some dropped catches from wilting fielders allowed the batsmen a breather at the crease, but with 5 overs to go, the rrr had risen to 8 an over.
Into the final over and the tension was palpable. Fieldsmen nervous, but alert and on their toes; batsmen focused yet breathing hard – the game was on a knife-edge. Some great death bowling from AJ brought the match down to the final 2 balls. With a fiercesome in-swinger, the penultimate delivery just shaded towards leg and was given a helpful tap from the batsman to help it on its way. Match over, with 1 ball to go – what a superb game. It was tremendous cricket all around, from start to finish, with the Grenadians worthy winners in the end.
All that was left to end the day was a quick dip in the azure water in stunning cove at La Sagesse.
Saturday 23rd July
The morning heralded the standard tour tick list so far: cloudless powder blue sky, searing heat, bearable humidity, pre-breakfast pool session, and Miss Bell adorning our day with yet another outfit. With a carb-loaded breakfast on board, a nets session awaited us at Grenada’s National Stadium. Today’s session focused on line and length which, as the boys ironed any remaining kinks in their run ups, deliver actions and follow-throughs, was successful (apart from the ball-shaped bruise on Mr Hutchings’ thigh – please no sympathy, he should have moved)! We left feeling confident of meeting the Grenadian National Team tomorrow in the cauldron of La Sagresse.
After the compulsory warm-down session in the pool, followed by a highly nutritious burger and chip lunch, this afternoon’s activity comprised a visit to the National Park. A guided tour through the varied native flora and fauna was illuminating, educating and entertaining. After a walk through what appeared to be a set from Jurassic Park, or an Indiana Jones film, only more humid, The Seven Sisters Waterfall greeted us. Like bouncing puppies, the touring party dived in eager to experience the awesome beauty and unbridled power of nature first hand. The lung-busting, sweat-inducing trek back to the bus was rivalled only by the eye-popping spiralling and acute descent from over 600m to sea level in just under 5 miles…
Sadly, Mr Locke-Hart’s evening aqua-aerobics session had to be cancelled owing to a brief clearing-up shower…
After yet another belt-straining buffet dinner, the teams for the next 2 matches were announced, tactics discussed, and the need for an early night concurred upon.
Friday 22nd July
With barely a whisper of breeze by the pool this morning as the Davenies touring party took advantage of an early morning aqua-aerobics session the talk, between knee raises, was of missed opportunities yesterday and of manifest opportunities today.
Winning the toss and electing to bat seemed a distinct show of bravado from Captain AJ Woodland. With a baked wicket to play on and an outfield that offered spring, runs would have to be won over the top, or through quickly scampered singles. AJ found himself at the crease earlier than anticipated after Ricky S dollied one up to silly mid-off. With Jake ’13 and one day’ Easton they put on an impressive opening partnership. With savage blows from the bat, sublimely crafted singles and synchronous calling, runs flowed. With Stanley in partnership, Davenies put on over 50 runs for the 3rd wicket. The heat of the midday sun took its toll however, as Bruce Chritchley then joined AJ briefly, before ‘slasher’ Dale bestrode the wicket to make a swashbuckling 10. Smith, A., then made a sparkling cameo before Isaac Rodgers with his Vaughanesque cover drives saw the innings home. After 30 overs, Davenies had amassed 163 (AJ 69*).
Having posted a sizeable score, we raced to the field to defend the total. AJ opened with spin, of sorts – Bruce ‘the cat’ Chritchley pounced at point onto a smartly struck cut to affect a perfect run out, swiftly followed by another piece of electric fielding from Ben A to take a second wicket in the first over. Stanley bowled with pace and venom from the parade ground end without luck, but with every dot ball the opposition fell further below the worm. JHK was pressed into service as the first change from the perfectly umpired Gibson end. With precision wicket-to-wicket bowling and coruscating fielding, the GBSS found themselves run aground as JHK took 4 wickets from his 3 overs. A 3rd run out seemed like a training drill as Xavier ‘13th Man’ Garnham rocketed the ball in from the boundary. The opposition were skittled, finally, as some tight, tidy and pacy bowling from Alex ‘Mustard’ Coleman reduced them to 48 All Out.
As group hugs, high fives and congratulatory slaps on backs dwindled, a rare moment of true touring spirit pervaded proceedings. As emissaries from both sides joked and laughed after an excellent Davenies victory, a fun 10Ten match was floated. With mixed teams, and the B Team Umpires in service, a real show of camaraderie sprang from genuinely altruistic seeds. Every member of the Davenies touring party and the GBSS had a bat, bowled an over, and contributed in the field.
Parents left the ground pleased with the result, proud of the team spirit and, no doubt, humbled by the friendships made before them. Today was a time for true ambassadors, and the Davenies’ boys became just that.
Thursday 21st July
As another beautiful day dawned across St. George’s bay, the tension was palpable at breakfast with the first tour match a few hours away. With a scenic drive across the island to the tropical wilderness of La Segresse the boys were excited as they disembarked from the air-conditioned coach onto a beautiful yet stunningly hot outfield.
Having lost the toss, our hosts elected to bat. Opening salvos from AJ Woodland and Ben Arnold were impressive, keeping the opposition to 12 runs after the first 6 overs. With some stunning catches on the boundary from birthday boy, Jake Easton and Stanley Walsh, the big hitters bestrode the outfield to the crease. Unfortunately, the St. David’s middle order got to grips with our change bowlers, finding the gaps in our tiring field. With catches dropped, and dives mistimed the run-rate accelerated alarmingly. Smiting the ball with aggressive, yet perfectly timed shots, St. David’s reached the impressive total of 210 after 35 heroic, yet sizzling overs.
With a hefty target to chase, openers Harry Oliver and Richard Sliwinski were involved in a miscommunication resulting in AJ arriving at the crease slightly earlier than anticipated. When Stanley joined him a few minutes later, a stoic partnership was required. Some 50 runs later, hard-hitting Lawrence Dale contributed with a brief blitz with Alex Smith winning the stylish leave shot of the day award.
In temperature approaching several thousand degrees (according to umpire Jonny ‘Dicky Bird’ Hutchings), Davenies batted out their 35 overs to the tune of 128 runs.
Tomorrow the Grenadan Boys Secondary School side await us at the Police Academy Ground. With little shade and an outfield with the consistency of concrete to negotiate, another tough match awaits…
Wednesday 20th July
An intense nets session at the National Stadium heralded the start of the Davenies 1st XI tour of Grenada. Under darkening skies and large drops of rain, our bowling started off wayward as our pace-men adjusted to the heat, humidity, wind conditions and bounce of the track. With attacking shots in abundance from the outset, the squad was in good spirits as the local news team arrived to film the fielding drills at the end. Head Coach, Andrew Tennant was probed thoroughly before we adjourned to the hotel for team luncheon.
After a calorifically-balanced meal overseen by tour nutritionist Jonny Hutchings, a warm down aqua-aerobics session was held by our especially flown-in fitness consultant Edward Locke-Hart. Tour wardrobe mistress, Miss Sophie Bell, made sure everyone was appropriately attired for this, and that sun cream had been applied in copious amounts.
This evening, the selection panel will, no doubt, endure a lengthy meeting to decide which combination of raw talent, shot-choice and bowling attack to unleash at La Sagresse tomorrow.
Tuesday 19th July
Gatwick at the crack of dawn seems a long time ago now! After some 9 hours to Barbados, and then a 3 hour wait for the final flight to Grenada, some very tired boys and staff sat quietly at dinner. Despite local fish and creole sauce, or chicken, to accompany rice and beans, or pasta and sauce, conversation was at a premium. Even Mr Locke-Hart was too tired to unleash his Miami Vice, circa 1985, wardrobe on us!
Boys trudged wearily to air conditioned rooms to unpack, sleep and prepare themselves for nets in the morning at the national stadium…