Final presentation and the end

On the last evening, we all gathered after dinner for the final awards, which was a happy, quiet evening as we celebrated our success and progress:

Match 1:
Player's player: Emilia
Champagne moment: Gerogia B's run out

Match 2:
Player's player: Georgia H
Champagne moment: Abii's 4

Match 3:
Player's player: Georgia B
Champagne moment: Esme's heroic 'body behind the line' fielding

Match 4:
Player's player: Miranda
Champagne moment: Emilia's almost run-out

Match 5:
Player's player: Kim
Champagne moment: Miranda's incredible catch

Tour overall:




Best fielder: Esme
Best batter: Emilia
Best bowler: Jacqui
Supporter's player: Kim
Player's player: Emilia
Champagne moment: Strody's captaincy

 We all want to thank everyone who helped to make this happen - Andrea, Strody, Matt and Gary for scoring, Tim for coaching, to all the supporters and helpers and those that donated and cheered us on. We had the time of our lives and are all better cricketers because of it.

And, the icing on the cake - all our baggage arrived in Heathrow!

Match 5 (final match) vs Colt's CC Ladies

We started bright and early once again, and made our way to the Colt's Cricket Club in Colombo, dodging our way through the traffic - and we actually arrived early!! Strody won the toss AGAIN (!) and chose to bat on a typical Sri Lankan wicket, dry and dusty. We thought we would be better off setting a total than chasing one down.

Unfortunately, this was not the case, and despite some hard work and beautiful shots from Georgia H, the team collapsed around her, all out in 20 overs. We decided it would be better to make a game of it, so had a rolling batting order and batted out our overs. This took some persuasion, as the umpires may have been after some extra money.. We managed a good total of 111 in some very hot conditions, with contributions from everyone that batted a second time. Maud even came out of her crease - a decent charge and block.

We had a very nice hot sit down tea, and took to the field knowing we had to bowl well. Emilia took the first wicket, with the ball swinging well, but it wasn't until Kim came on with her off-spin that we really made inroads into the Colts' batting order. Her 4 over spell was 5-12, including two fantastic catches to Miranda, one caught & bowled and a stumping from Maud. This was definitely the most devastating spell of bowling on tour. Jacqui also picked up a wicket, and was unlucky to not have more, with the batsmen struggling to play the extreme swing bowling. She particularly enjoyed bowling at the left hander and swinging the ball away. Sadly, we were not able to stop the Colts reaching our total.

Although some of our experiences in our matches have been humbling, we wouldn't change the experience. We've all learnt so much about our own cricket and has enabled us to become better players. We've met some really lovely Sri Lankan lady cricketers, which makes the result almost meaningless.

After the match we headed back to the hotel, tired but excited for the evening ahead - our last night on tour. Look out for an update tomorrow with the results of all the awards and photos from the presentation evening!

Love, Strody.

"City tour", golf and henna

Today we had a leisurely start, and at 10am we boarded onto the coach for a city tour of Colombo. Strody kindly took David to play golf, so we all had a day's rest from him (we love you really..!).

 Unfortunately, the city tour was not the most informed - "This is the theatre, built by the Chinese, this is the city hall, built by the Chinese".

Thankfully, it didnt last too long, and we stopped off for some retail therapy at a 'local' mall, which was 7 floors of anything you could possibly want except souvenirs - although there were some lovely saris.

Slightly strange poses of the Sri Lankan mannequins

From there, we each went our separate ways, either for more souvenir shopping, lunch at the beach, or chilling by the pool. We spent the afternoon relaxing, and drawing on henna tattoos.

Tomorrow is our last game, it should be a good competitive match - followed by presentation evening and awards, so look out for a long post tomorrow!

P.s. David won the golf. But only just.

Finally a proper day off

Today was a full day off, so after we all had a lie-in (but all woke up in time to make the most of an impressive breakfast) we split up and each did what we fancied - some braves a tuktuk into Colombo and wandered around the busy markets, some wandered around the hotel area, and of course we all got into the pool and played pool volleyball, and giggles were heard all afternoon.

Match VS Sri Lanka B

After another 6am start, the girls quickly fell asleep on the bus to the next game. With a few funny positions!

We played the Sri Lankan B team today, something that everyone was looking forward to, after deciding to "cough" field "cough" Strody "cough", we got stuck in .

It was a very hard game, as it was incredibly hot conditions and an impressive batting line up. The girls tried their hardest with some excellent bowling from Miranda and impressive fielding from Ellika. Strody also delivered some killer bowling, with Georia B and Gerogia H also contributong. After 40 overs we were chasing 347, something that Strody had full confidence we could do! Maud and Lucy also did incredibly well to keep under such hot conditions.

With a shakey start we managed to bat 32 overs which we were really proud of. Good contributions came from Lucy, Miranda, Emily amd Emilia

On the way to the new hotel we were all gifted with a wonderful tour of the surroundings from the one and only Maud. We are staying at Mount Lavina Hotel, its an incredible place with a beach  front, pool and wait for its cow statues!!!

Turtles, mangroves and an afternoon off.

Today was a day of rest, so naturally we had a 7am start, but it was worth the early morning to have a beautiful boat ride across the river, surrounded by lush greenery and mangrove trees. We stopped off on the way to see how cinnamon was harvested (a young sapling is peeled of the exterior bark, then the inner layer is gently peeled off and dried), which was very interesting especially as it was a small family which hosted us. They had very little material items, and lived in a beautiful mud hut with incredible scenery around!

Parents finally find a way to get rid of the kids

From there, we gently declined having our feet nibbled by fish, and headed off to the turtle sanctuary. This was a great experience - who knew baby turtles could be so cute?! The guide explained to us the elements involved in the conservation, and how they hatch the eggs in the sanctuary, keep the turtles there for 3 days, then release them into the sea - they have released over 3 million turltes so far, of 5 different varieties. They also keep disabled and injured turtles within the sanctuary, some which can be re-released. Most injuries are caused by humans - boat propellors, floating plastic, and fishing nets.

Skipper enjoying the baby turtles

We all split up for lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing - a mixure of shopping, David getting a haircut (it's a long story..!), amazing henna tattoos and of course, sun, beach and pool. Tomorrow is a even earlier start and another match, so look out for a match report and some tired faces!

A Need for Speed

The day started well. One wrong turn and Gary was proved right, as we headed in the opposite direction to where we were meant to be going. Such is the way of life in Sri Lanka. Our ever-smiling driver allowed Alison to reprieve Sandra Bullock's role in Speed, as we hurtled back from whence we came, the speedo never dipping below 100. No-one vomited, thanks be to Buddha.

The tsunami watermark is a poignant reminder of how far they've come.

The Foundation of Goodness is a special place. Rebuilt after the devastating tsunami of 2004, it's testament to everything that's good about faith, hope and charity, and the very best of humanity. Anura De Silva, our charming and articulate guide for the morning, showed us the spoils of many years of hard work and generous funding, not least from the MCC. We began at the preschool, where we were treated to a wonderful medley of English and Sri Lankan nursery rhymes. Every child attending the school receives a pack containing uniform, shoes, and text books, something that they simply couldn't afford otherwise.

As well as the formal schooling, there's an ICT suite filled with computers offering various courses free of charge. Such training would cost 500,000R in Colombo - here, it's absolutely free. Some of the top graduates in ICT are eligible to apply for jobs in a self-contained office, again on site, supporting a large Asian supermarket chain in admin and accounts. There's a women's centre too, with baking, sari-making, and sewing skills on offer.

The medical centre serves over 92,000 people and offers two surgeries a day. Again, medicine is absolutely free. This is an area where people are really struggling and the Foundation has offered an infrastructure that this area badly needed. This was a genuinely humbling experience for everyone, I think.

Moving swiftly on (how else?!) we headed to the Fort in Galle, colonised by the Dutch for 60 years. We split off for separate lunches as buffet-itus had set in and some opted to take a few hours to explore. The usual Chinese whispers regarding arrangements meant that some of us (ahem) may have kept the coach waiting.

It was back to the Foundation of Goodness for some hands-on training as the girls re-united with some familiar faces, and Tim (level 2) and Matt (level 1) got stuck in too. The facilities on offer uare first class and even include the Bryan Adams swimming pool. Thankfully no sponsor music over the tanoy.

So then it was back to the Citrus for the evening, where a few of us headed down the road to a Buddhist festival. Amazing how safe tuk-tuk travel feels now we've travelled by coach. The highlight of the evening had to be the motorbike 'wall of death'. Round and round they went as way too many of us stood in a flimsy wooden structure that felt like it might collapse at any moment.

Life in Sri Lanka is never dull.

By Esmé & Claire