Sri Lanka cricket tour

During the October half term break, the senior cricket squad comprising 18 boys from Years 10 to 13, captained by Ian Harris and accompanied by Messrs Kerry, Charlwood and Hewitt, toured Sri Lanka. Playing in hot and humid conditions, with the threat of a tropical downpour never far away, against some of the best schoolboy cricketers in the world presented a huge challenge to our players but one which we rose to with commendable spirit and determination and no little skill.

The tour began in Kandy, the island’s second city, after a long and arduous journey during which we experienced Sri Lankan driving for the first time! A warm up game involving all members of the squad was followed by matches against St Anthony’s College, abandoned as a draw after heavy rain, and Trinity College, who included three Sri Lankan U19 players in their team. A fine bowling performance restricted Trinity College to 207 for 9 in 40 overs, but our batsmen were unable to cope with the opposition spinners and collapsed from 35 without loss to 79 all out, despite a superb innings by Harris (48).

We then moved on to beach resort of Hikkaduwa for the second leg of the tour. Yet more rain delayed the start of the match against Richmond College at the International Stadium in Galle, one of two test venues we were fortunate enough to play at.  Eventually, Habs were able to post a competitive total of 184 for 8 in 30 overs, Jordan Urban top-scoring with 45, before dismissing the opposition for 160 thanks to a hostile spell from Naresh Rasakulasuriar (4 for 26). However, we were soon brought back to earth, well defeated the next day by a strong Southern Academy side at the Seenigama Oval, one of two grounds built after the 2004 tsunami with aid from MCC and Surrey CCC.

The final leg of the tour took us to the capital Colombo and matches against St Peter’s College and the Royal College. Charlie Mack (74) hit the highest individual score of the tour in our victory against St Peter’s, although it has to be said that a mix up in the fixture planning meant that we played their U13 side, still highly talented nevertheless! The game against Royal College was played at the Singhalese Sports Club ground, the oldest test venue in Sri Lanka, and again Habs got off to a good start, Harris and leading run scorer Alex Willis putting on 79 for the first wicket. The captain completed a well-deserved half century but our total of 192 for 8 in 40 overs proved insufficient as our opponents eased to victory by 6 wickets.

In addition to the cricket, we also found time to see the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, visit elephant and turtle sanctuaries and experience a river safari. The most rewarding excursion, however, was to the SOS Children’s Village in Galle. The Cricket Club has supported this charity since visiting a similar village in South Africa in 2011 and on this occasion we were able to deliver sports equipment as well as a sizeable cheque to our hosts.

The whole trip provided a fantastic experience for all who took part and will be long remembered.  Willis and Harris were consistently our best batsmen while Rasakulasuriar and Shaniel Lakhani took the bowling honours, although Aman Chatterjee also deserves mention.  The youngest member of the squad Olly Nathanson showed that he is ready to play at this level while second string wicket-keeper Saul Kaye was voted best tourist. Many thanks should go to the parents who travelled to Sri Lanka to support us wherever we played, to Desh Goonawardena and our travel company and particularly to Mr Kerry for his impeccable organisation.