The long awaited Cricket tour of England finally departed on Wednesday 31st July. Twenty-eight students and 4 staff could have easily been mistake as the Sri Lankan Cricket team at Colombo airport, however, we were better behaved and better dressed. Every student had 17 items of personalized BSC cricket wear and two very smart matching bags. The kit designed by our sportswear supplier and sponsored by several companies was very striking and certainly made us feel the part! In the airport we were treat like royalty and received a first class service through check in, customs and boarding! We were evewn announced by the pilot on the plane.
The flight was smooth and the boys watched lots of films, ate a huge amount of food and even had the chance to snuggle up together and have some sleep. The arrival at Heathrow was just as efficient as our departure. Within no time at all we were through customs and boarding our luxury coach (with wifi!) to Bayswater. The first stumbling block of the tour was the fact that our huge cricket bags were struggling to fit on any coach. Next time I think we can go for smaller bags!
A good sleep was required by all and at breakfast the next day we were refreshed and ready to go. It was lovely seeing the boys try new food, whether they liked it or not. Some boys discovered that in England, chicken bacon or sausage doesn’t really exist! The first set of matches were with Latymer Upper and Edge Grove schools. These were both home and away International fixtures. The O15 team took Latymer by storm and the U13’s were defeated by an extremely good Edge Grove team. Both schools offered amazing facilities and wonderful food for parents and players. Already our boys were amazed by the quality of food and facilities in England. The evening gave us a chance to explore Oxford Circus and visit the Niketown and Sports Direct Shops where quite a few pairs of trainers were bought. The range of fast food available for dinner was warmly welcomed after our hour long walk back from London and to our surprise we were met at the hotel by Kyle Crosland who was released from hospital with following dengue and managed to join us a day later!
Portsmouth was a 2-hour journey but the food, drink and hovercraft take off on the pebble beach made it all worthwhile. Following lunch we set off for the school and once again the boys and coaches were stunned by amazing facilities. What an honour it was to play at these grounds. Whilst both teams had tough and tight matches we did lose narrowly. The U13 team were actually playing U15 boys who towered over them. Portsmouth Grammar had also visited Sri Lanka (where we beat them) making this our third international home and away fixture. Food was heavily consumed during the interval by players, coaches and parents (I think Portsmouth had a winning plan over feeding us). On the journey back to London we saw an array of high performance cars on the roads which caused a temporary break from the ridiculous singing (especially from Hassan). During the journey Mr. Kyle announced the punishments for players, who rolled a dice to see if they had to sing a song or wear their entire clothes backwards. In the evening we welcomed the largest pizzas I have ever seen in my life and munched away at them in the hotel.
The trip to Staffordshire took us through beautiful countryside and both Denstone College and Abbotsholme School were amazing places. Once again both teams were defeated but the boys continued to value the experience and learn some new skills on very fast grass wickets. By now we realized we were playing in some of the most exclusive facilities in the country and regardless of winning or losing we cherished the experience. At both schools a lovely buffet of English tea, sandwiches and cakes was provided to players and yet again our hosts were wonderful. It was now back to the hotel at Alton Towers Theme park for an all you can eat global feast.
With extremely full stomachs the boys went to rest in their rooms or play in the arcades as we were up early the next morning for another huge buffet breakfast and a full day at Alton Towers Theme Park. With entry an hour earlier than the general public we all headed to the extreme rides; Oblivion, Smiler and Thirteen, but that was not before 8 boys who were late entertained us with a minute of ridiculous dancing! Please do ask if you would like to see the video! The park remained quite empty for the day so boys were able to ride many of the attractions and even fit in time to fill a cup of pick and mix sweets. After a tiring day we still managed to win even more tickets on the arcade machines and pack our bags ready for the journey up north.
Manchester was the base for the ‘north’ part of this trip and after a bag drop at the hotel we went straight on to Stainland CC where the U13’s suffered a close defeat against a Yorkshire U13 squad. During this match the O15’s enjoyed a traditional English fish and chip meal whilst sat on the grass watching the game. After the match we headed up to Barkisland CC for a T20 match and we were welcomed by a huge crowd, music blasting out from a DJ and flashing wickets. For me this was such a good carnival atmosphere in Mr. Kyle’s and my own home town. The boys were well received by our families, friends and club members and our parents were treated to a free bar! Whilst the match was close it became difficult for our boys to bat in the dark and we narrowly lost the game. Chamaka was a crowd pleaser during this game since he hit more sixes than we have ever witnessed. It was wonderful to see how well respected our boys were and the support they got from this very friendly crowd. As with the other matches, a speech from the captains followed by presentation of awards and memorabilia provided a perfect finish. The food in the club house was well thought out with curry and vegetarian lasagna for all.
On our way to our final matches against Silcoates we made a short stop at the White Rose Shopping Center where children and staff bought huge quantities of chocolate and sweets. The day at Silcoates was yet again another wonderful experience for our children. The pitches were perfect, the weather was sunny and the hospitality was world class. Mr. Roberts the Director of Sport at Silcoates has been a friend of mine for 15 years and knew exactly how to put on a good day for us. I though the best part of the day would be the cricket but the boys seemed to enjoy rolling down the grass hill and playing football after the matches far more! The U13’s finished the tour with their first and well deserved win against Silcoates and this set us up for a good sing song on the way back to Manchester. After arriving at the hotel it was a quick change and a walk to the Lowry Centre in Salford where we had a feast of Nandos.
Once again it was an early and beautiful breakfast for our last day, by now I think the boys were stuffed from food and full English breakfast but we still managed to finish off a large amount. The final event of the trip was a tour of what some people (not me) regard as the greatest football team in the world’s stadium – Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United. The tour was amazing and we had plenty of opportunities to ask questions about their history and take photographs in the changing rooms, managers box, directors chairs and media room. This was a fantastic tour and a great ending to the trip.
My thanks go to parents who allowed the boys to come on the trip, boys who chose to come on the trip, sponsors who provided us the chance to look like an elite team and most importantly my colleagues, Mr. Aruna, Mr. Eranga and Mr. Kyle who worked tirelessly throughout the entire trip to ensure that everything went without fault and provide the boys with a once in a life time experience. Roll on the next one!
Men of the Matches:
U13 v Edge Grove – Rajeev Navaratnam
U13 v Portsmouth Grammar School – Shehzad Rajkotwala
U13 v Denstone College – Rajeev Navaratnam
U13 v Calderdale Academy – Thishan Kahandawalaarachchi
U13 v Silcoates School – Mathew Karunaratne
O15 v Latymer Upper School – Rahul Chigullapalli
O15 v Portsmouth Grammar School – Hasan Sohail
O15 v Abbotsholme School – Kavinda Subasinghe
O15 v Barkisland Cricket Club – Chamaka Perera
O15 v Silcoates School – Kyle Crosland
Men of the Tour:
U13 – Thareen Gulawita – For bravery and never complaining despite a broken clavicle.
O15 – Salman Akbarally - For maturity and helpfulness throughout the tour.
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