After months of planning, it was finally here, thirteen of our most talented cricketers are about to embark on a tour, that I hope, will provide them with moments they are able to cherish for a lifetime.
Our arrival into Heathrow, almost three hours before the flight, gave the squad an opportunity for some last minute shopping. Hawaiian shirts were very much on the agenda for Noah as we now all eagerly anticipate said shirts make an appearance at the ‘salsa night’ later in the trip.
As we started to take our seats onboard the aircraft, it became clear that one lucky (or unlucky) squad member would be seated next to Mr Hine and I in a row of three. As the boys slowly started to recognise this, their movements suddenly became rather more swift as the seats allocated to our party started to fill rapidly (lets hope their movements are as quick in the field tomorrow!!). Unfortunately for James Parry, he drew the short straw and had to deal with myself and Mr Hine for an eleven hour stint, sorry James!! I must say we were both delighted as James’ ag was loaded with various confectionary!
Our flight was a smooth one and most of the boys managed to get some sort of sleep, especially Hugh Croft who is clearly a seasoned flier as he came prepared with ear plugs, eye patches and a travel pillow. There also seemed to plenty of sleeping coming from Harry Burleton and Sam Ruffell’s aisle too judging by the amount of snoring!
As we flew over the Sahara and down towards Botswana, it suddenly hit me how far away from the bubble that is Lord Wandsworth College we actually were.
After touching down in Johannesburg slightly after 07:00 we were met by our tour rep and hopped on a coach straight to Eldoraigne High School for a morning training session. We were met at the gates by three, very smartly dressed sixth form pupils who escorted us to our changing and net facilities. Archie, James and Scott were the first to make use of the lovely batting conditions as the bowlers toiled away wholeheartedly but without too much success. A short, sharp fielding session followed and it’s safe to say we were a tad rusty! Team press-ups for wayward throws soon got us back on track as the standard improved dramatically at the back end of drills.
Harry Burleton pulling off a great one-handed grab during training drills
Back to the hotel we went as the boys made full use of the rooftop restaurant , grill and swimming pool. An afternoon of relaxation was absolutely needed after a long flight and intense training session.
For dinner that evening we were booked into a Mexican grill restaurant and I must say, the food is spectacular. Board after board of quesadillas, bbq chicken, ribs, burritos and Mexican specialities were served as the boys tucked in to a well deserved feast.
A Game of Uno was the main source of entertainment for the evening as James Parry and Jack Hine were temporarily crowned tour Uno champions.
The boys then retired to their rooms for a good nights sleep as our first match of the tour is a 40 over game tomorrow afternoon back at Eldoraigne High School.
Joe Wheeler and Noah Hindle will be writing tomorrow’s blog and match report which I am sure will be full of their usual whit…
Lord Wandsworth College South Africa Cricket Tour 2020 