Vidyaloka College take spoils at Galle

MATCH 5 V VIDYALOKA COLLEGE GALLE INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

Galle is one of the most famous cricketing arenas in the world with the backdrop of the city’s famous Dutch Fort which over looks the southern end of the ground. Unfortunately, heavy overnight rain on the south coast delayed the start of the game and the overs were reduced to 35 per side. The wicket was very damp and it was no surprise when we were invited to bat by the Vidyaloka skipper.

Chris Harrison and Christian Rice opened the innings and it was clear that scoring runs was going to be difficult in the early stages of this game. Christian fell for three going back when the need is to play forward of the crease and get as close to the pitch of the ball as possible. Josh Habergham also struggled and at 29 for 2 off 8 overs things were not looking too good. James Wainman joined Chris Harrison who by now had the measure of the pace of the wicket and was despatching the poor deliveries to the boundary. Having got to 52 Chris was very unlucky to be given lbw when he clipped the ball onto his pads but the third wicket partnership had taken us to 104. James Parsloe was the next to go when he was stumped for 6 whilst trying to force the pace of the scoring. A quick cameo 13 from Tom Pettican and a loose shot from James Wainman who was batting very well (50) brought Fred Kamstra and Alex Woodward together at 150 for 6 off 31 overs. Fred (20 n.o. and Alex 2 n.o.) steered the score to 177 for 6 off 35 overs.

Vidyaloka came out to bat after the break in brilliant sunshine with a now dry outfield and hard flat track. The ealy exchanges were very much in the batting sides favour before James Parsloe got the breakthrough in the 8th over. Some good fielding and a run out reduced the home side to 43 for 2 off 10 overs. This brought the Vidyaloka star batsman to the crease, KT Madushait, who proceeded to play a wide variety of glorious strokes to all parts of the ground. He and Eranga put on 50 for the third wicket. Fred Roberts (5-24-0) and Andrew Ward (6-32-1) bowled steadily but it was not until Alex Woodward (5-15-2) that the brakes were applied at one end. Unfortunately Rajvir struggled for any consistency with his leg spin and he went for 50 runs off 4 overs. By now it was clear that our total of 177 was about 35 runs short of the target we had been looking for and Vidyaloka reached 178 in the 33rd over to win the game by 5 wickets.

Following the end of match presentations our Tour Guide Upali led the party around the Dutch Fort and along the wall top. The day was finished off with drinks (cokes and ginger beer) in the colonial tea rooms inside the walled town.

TSUNAMI MEMORIAL SAT 10th

TSUNAMI MEMORIALS & FOUNDATION OF GOODNESS


After the match at the MCC Grounds we visited the Hikkaduwa coastline where the tsunami waves caused the devastation which destroyed 24 of the 28 villages in the Seenigama Community. The large Buddha statue was donated by the Japanese Government along with aid to help build the first stages of the coastal defences on the Galle Road.

The tsunami memorial is on the site of a mass grave where there are believed to be 800 bodies, This memorial also commemorates the 1800 people who died when the Galle to Colombo train was swept away by a 30 ft wave as it stopped to rescue people stranded in the first wave which had only been 4ft deep.

Standing on the shore on a beautiful sunny afternoon it is hard to imagine what the people suffered on that fateful morning in 2004.

From the beach we moved on to the Foundation of Goodness where Kushil Gunasekarra welcomed the Tour Party and showed us around. He outlined all the developments which have been completed since our last visit and his plans for building a model village in North Sri Lanka. We are all looking forward to visting the village and School on Monday.

MATCH 4 v APRIL 10 SRI SUMANGALA COLLEGE

APRIL 10 MATCH 4 v SRI SUMANGALA MAHA COLLEGE AT MCC GROUNDS HIKKIADUWA


Today’s match was a Twenty 20 played at the newly refurbished Sumangala College ground. For 58 years this venue had been a gravel outfield and coconut mat wicket until the Foundation for Goodness showed representatives of the MCC the facilities. With £3/4 milion funding from Lord’s the ground has been transformed to the oval you see here, with a Notts artificial wicket and pavilion combined with a two lane indoor coaching school.



Josh won the toss and invited our opponents to bat, so James Wainman and Andrew Ward opened the attack. The breakthrough came in the third over (total 14) when James forced the opener Dandiths to fend a short ball to Josh Audsley making his tour debut behind the stumps. Jonty Dixon took over from Wainman and bowled a steady couple of overs before the heat got to him, however, not before the opener Grimham smashed a long-hop to be brilliantly caught by Tom Pettican. At 76 for 4 off 13 overs the home side then tried to step up the pace and began to force their shots. Tight fielding and the introduction of Fred Roberts and return of James Wainman curtailed the College hopes and their innings closed at 123 for 6.

Wainman 4 -0 - 23 – 1

Ward 4-0- 20- 0

Dixon 3-0-27-1

Hall 4-0-31-2

Nicholson 3-0-18-1

Roberts 2-0-10-1



Chris Harrison and Josh Audsley opened the innings and struggled to cope with the extra bounce that the artificial surface offered and Chris was caught at point (3) trying to steer a ball just wide of off stump. The two Josh’s took the score to 40 when Audsley was caught trying to force the pace for 14. Habergham soon followed when he failed to follow through on a lofted drive and presented a straightforward catch to mid-off. Tom Pettican soon began to enjoy his first outing with the bat and playing his natural hitting games was soon despatching the ball to all areas of the ground and surrounding tropical foliage. James Wainman also got in on the act and both batsmen closed the game – TP 43 not out and James 30 not out with a total 127 for 3 – a fine victory!

MATCH 3 v KINGSWOOD SCHOOL KANDY

Today's match was played at The Pallakalle International Stadium which is currently under construction in preparation for the ICC Trophy next year. We were the first English side to play on the ground and follow the likes of Sri Lanka U19s, Australia U19s and Pakistan A. The selection for today's and the next game at Hikkaduwa was designed to enable the Selection Committee to see everyone in preparation for out Tour Test Match at Galle on Sunday 11 April.

Extras 49!!

Josh Habergham won the toss and put our opponents in, the 9:30am start enabled our fielders to do their bit before it got too hot. James Wainman and Jonny Hardman opened the bowling and unfortunately both were a little wayward, especially Jonny who strugled to find any consistent line or length. Normal service was resumedwith the introduction of Alex Woodward who immediately applied the brakes and in a seven over spell took 2 fo 12. Mike Wren-Kirkham bowled steadily and made a valuable contribution restricting our oponents to 27 for 1 off his bowling. Rajvir Dutt's leg spin once again gained him two wickets but it was the introduction of James Parsloe  2 for 4 and James Wainman's return bowling fast leg cutters which closed out the Kingswood innings at 142 for 9 off 35 overs. The highlight of this was a fine stumping by Jack Harrison standing up to James Wainman.

Jonny Hardman finds the pitch!

Woody puts the brakes on!

Harrison watches the ball into the gloves!

As you can see the scorebox is not quite ready, but Kate and Alice have everything under control

(including our boys!).

With an early start we turned around immediately and Chris Harrison and Christian Rice enjoyed a 10 over Le Mans start taking us to 76 for 0 at lunch. Kingswood responed after the break with a spin attack and Chris went for 46, quickly followed by Josh Habergham for 8 who snicked one to the keeper. Chris Austin making his debut unfortunately could not handle the spin and fell after three deliveries leaving us on 105 for 3 and looking a little shaky as the rain clouds gathered and heavens threatened. Cometh the hour and cometh James Wainman to slog his way to 28 and GSAL to victory by 7 wickets reaching our target in the 24th over.

"I will get my 1stXI cap, memo to self, concentrate."

All in all a reasonable performance with one or two players haveing to reassess their technique and Andrew Ward remembering to pack his kit! Guess who got the muppet award!

CHILLIN IN KANDY!

Captain of the Dodgeball Team!Dining out overlooking Kandy Lake

Sightseeing in Kandy

Kandy is the cultural capital of Sri Lanka and a very popular destination for tourists, particularly as the climate whilst warm is less humid in April. After a leisurely breakfast we departed the hotel at 10:00 am and made our way to Asgiriya Stadium, Sri Lanka Cricket's second ground. It is also the home ground of Trinity College and venue for two games on our previous school tours. We were met by the groundsman and caretaker who did remember our  visit in 2007 (the pink polo shirts) and he kindly allowed us to walk around the ground to take photos.

We then moved on to the Temple of the Tooth which is the holiest site of the Bhhudist religion. Upali our guide gave us an in depth tour which everyone found very interesting.

Next stop was the National Botanical Gardens to see one of the largest spanning trees in the world and get cose to some of the wild life aka a scorpion!

After lunch in a local restaurant organised by Upali we returned to the hotel pool for a late afternoon of volleyball and dodgeball much to the amusement of the hotel waiters.

MATCH 2 v BHARATHA CRICKET ACADEMY KURUNEGALA

Mon 5 April

MATCH 2 v BHARATHA CRICKET ACADEMY KARUNAGELLA


Another early departure from the Cinamon Lodge Hotel to Karunugella a large provincial town in the Hill Country of The Cultural Triangle. The cricket oval was built in 1950 and regularly hosts touring international sides and schoolboy teams from around the world. Two days before our arrival South Africa U19s had played a provincial representative XI.

To commence proceedings we had an official opening ceremony in which we were invited to sing the National Anthem while the School Flag was hoisted (the Boys did manage the first chorus!) this was followed by an official photograph and welcome from the President of the Academy. Our opponents won the toss and decided to bat, a decision we were pleased about having seen the amount of grass on the wicket. James Wainman took the new ball along with James Parsloe and both began with a good amount of pace and movement in the air and off the pitch. JP made the breakthrough in his first over forcing the opening bat to fend a short ball to Tom Pettican. James Wainman followed with a sharp cutter to remove the other opening batsman for 5 leaving the opposition at 7 for 2 off 3 overs. JP struggled to get a good line because of left and righthand batsmen and as a result gave a lot of wides away as the ball swung in the humid air.

As the game progressed it was clear that Extras were going to make a significant contribution to the overall total. Rob Nicholson was first change and quickly got into a good groove pitching the ball up to the batsman and forcing them to make mistakes. Despite a ragged start to his second spell he finished with 1 – 23 off 8 overs. Jordan. Hall replaced JP and he too bowled a steady pace and line and finished with 1 – 21 off 5 overs. The star performer, however, was Alex Woodward who bowled a very disciplined line and length and with Fred Kamstra standing up behind the stumps kept the batsmen in check. Alex finished with 2 – 20 off 8 overs a very fine performance on his debut. Jonty Dixon bowled a steady 4 overs and despite struggling with the humid conditions made a good contribution to checking the home side’s batters. James Wainman and James Parsloe came back to close out our opponents innings – James Wainman finished with 4 – 17 off 7 overs and James Parsloe 2 – 23 off 6 Baratha U16 Academy 120 all out off 38 overs – Extras top scorer 41!!!!!

Chris Harrison and Josh Habergham opened the batting and both soon found the pace of the wicket and set about making shots. The weather conditions were clearly changing and it was only a matter of time before the rain would arrive. Chris Harrison began playing with his usual flamboyance scored freely reaching 24 before the heavens opened. Josh had also scored well reaching 15 before the game was brought to an abrupt conclusion by a large flash of lightning and thunder clap. The deluge which followed sealed the fate of the game leaving GSAL on 42 without loss off 6.2 deliveries JG claimed the victory on his Duckworth Lewis calculation.

After our farewells the Tour Party moved on to Kandy to stay at the Chaya Citadel for the next three nights and enjoy the sights of the city before playing Kingswood Cricket Academy on the new international ground Pallakalle Stadium.

Sigirya Rock World Heritage SIte via Pinawella Elephant Orphanage

After a delayed departure from Ranweli due to low tide and the ferry running aground in the creek we set off at 0900 for Pinawella on Saturday. The journey took us alongside paddy fields and through mahogany forests as we made our way in land to Pinawella. We arrived just in time to see the first party of elephants bathing in the river. Everyone managed to get up close to the elephants and one or two even managed to help with bathtime!

Our guide Upali had organised lunch at the riverside restaurant so everyone got a good veiw of the elephants as they bathed. After lunch we all went in to the orphanage to see the baby elephants being bottle fed and look at the elephants grazing.

We then had a long journey up to Dambulla where we then went to see the bhuddist caves. The local troop of monkeys alos proved to be highly entertaining.

At 5:45pm we arrived at our second hotel, the fabulous Cinamon Lodge Hotel. The students made a b-line for the pool and enjoyed the facilities on offer while the staff organised the first mas laundry.

SUNDAY 4 April - today started nice and relaxed - a climb up Sirigyra Rock - 200m high

Despite the mid morning temperatures fluctuating around 40 C everyone made it to the top and throroughly enjoyed the experience and the stunning views across The Cultural Triangle.

We spent the rest of the day back at the hotel by the pool and then played an intra squad match organised by Mr Dunn and Mr Gardner. The rules were rather strange but Harrogate Hurricanes came out on top depite the protestations of the Menston Maurauders captain. And so on to our second game - keep watching!

Played 1 Won 1

MATCH 1 V NELSON CRICKET ACADEMY COLOMBO


2 APRIL SARAWANAMUTTU INTERNATIONAK STADIUM

Having had one day to acclimatize it was down to business on the second day of the tour with an early start from the hotel at 7:15am in order to make the start time of 9:45 am at the Sarawanamuttu International Stadium. The boys were in good spirits and full of expectation at the prospect of their first game and when they saw the ground they the level of expectancy and excitement certainly increased! The stadium was the location for Sri Lanka’s arrival on the full Test scene when they played England in their first 5 Day test in 1982 and is regularly used by visiting teams for warm-up matches and ODIs.

Having won the toss Josh Habergham decided to bat and Josh Audsley and Christiam Rice took to the field to mark the opening of the 2010 tour. Our opponents were Nelson Cricket Academy, one of eight in Colombo which draws its players from the local schools and clubs, and who like ourselves were a side comprising U17-U14 players. The early exchanges were certainly in the bowlers favour as the new bal swung viciously in the hot, 39°C, and humid 95% atmosphere. Josh Audsley succumbed to the outswing falling to a sharp catch in the gulley for 5. Christian Rice battled on when he was the next to fall to a late swinging yorker which took his off stump. Captain Habergham looked very comfortable and was striking the ball well; however. a little rush of blood to a short pitched delivery sent him back to the pavilion following a fin e catch in the deep for 11. This brought Fred Kamstra and James Wainman who took the score on to 117 with some positive shots. James was caught for 38 and was soon followed by Fred who was dismissed from a fine catch on the long on boundary also for 38. At 137 for 5 we were bogged down but Mike Wren-Kirkham stepped up to the crease and began to take on the now dominant spin bowling. With a series of quick ones and twos the heat finally got to Mike and he had to retire on 20. A final flourish by Fred Roberts and Andrew Ward together with Mike returning to the crease we were all out on the penultimate ball of the innings for 172.

James Wainman and Jonathan Hardman opened the bowling and both struggled with the new ball and conditions, however James soon made amends in his second over. A fine in swinging cutter removed the off stump of the opening to dismiss him for 0. James repeated this in his next two overs and Nelson were reduced to 28 for 3. The batting side soon recovered and al our bowlers were punished as they moved on to 94 before we turned to the spin bowling of Fred Kamstra and Rajvir Dutt. Both bowlers flighted the ball well and supported by some fine catching from Christian Rice (3) and Josh Habergham (2) the home side collapsed to 110 all out after 24 overs. Rajvir finished with figures of 4 wickets for 10 runs off 4 overs and Fred 3 for 16 off 4.2. All in all a fine recovery and excellent start to the Tour.

MATCH 1 April 2

Tody we had a fine victory against Nelson Cricket Academy Colombo. Having won the toss Josh Habergham elected to bat - the School XI scored 172 off 39.5 overs. J Wainman & F Kamstra 38.
Nelson 110 all out R Dutt 4 - 10 off 4 overs, J Wainmam 3 - 25 off 5 overs.

More detials nd photos to follow when the technology allows!