Whalers cricket tour - Sri Lanka
2006
A 9.30pm flight meant a 6.30pm meet
at the airport. All Whalers were present and correct by 7.00pm at a very busy
Heathrow Terminal 4, but we arrived to the news that the flight would be
leaving 4hrs late. With a general shrug of the shoulders we checked in,
squeezed through security and headed straight for the bar. The first donations
to the kitty were gratefully received and the tour commenced with poker,
backgammon and drinking games – all accompanied by Ed’s sounds of the eighties
from his ipod docking station-type thing (which was
to become a feature of the tour).
Tired and a little tipsy we trudged
on to the plane.
The flight went as well as can be
expected with a brief stop at the
Because of the delay to the flight
we arrived at
Finally we arrived at the amazing
A couple of beers to the sound of
the euro-disco in the function room was enough to make
us all ready to retire and prepare for the first cricketing activities the
following day.
We woke early to see the hotel in
its surroundings for the first time. Exotic birds, chipmonks
and giant squirrels were all active as we sat eating our breakfast outside.
Most of us were intrigued by the different fruits and the opportunity to try
Sri Lankan bacon, but Duncs chose to waste no time
and went for the curry!
By mid-morning we were on the bus
and heading to a nets session to blow the winter cobwebs away and acclimatise
ourselves (it was already reaching 30 degrees). We arrived at the gates to be
greeted with RANGIRI DAMBULLA INTERNATIONAL CRICKET STADIUM in huge silver
letters and a glimpse of the six-storey high stadium in the background. As we
all looked at each other it was hard to tell whether it was excitement or
concern in our eyes.
The stadium was impressive to say
the least. The huge concrete stand dominates the pitch where the grounds men
were working away, flowers ring the boundary and rain forest-clad mountains sit
in the background. The scoreboard still had the names of the last match to be
played here against
We quickly got down to the business
of playing cricket. It was the usual eclectic mix of dross and shear brilliance
that would be expected from any Whalers net session but the heat clearly got to
us. Having enough water to see us through the tour became a priority. After
over two hours of exertion we returned to the hotel for lunch to find the girls
by the pool with drinks in hand.
After a shower and some food we set
off for our first tourist activity of the trip - an elephant ride for those who
still had some energy left and another hotel bar for those who hadn’t. We
returned to our hotel after a busy day and were grateful for a relaxing evening
in the hotel restaurant and a few beers while we thought about the game the
next day.
In the conversation around the table
that evening we asked Alima “what are tomorrow’s
opposition like?”, his answer was ringing in our ears
as we fell asleep that night, “formidable” he replied.
Whalers V Dambulla C.C. 1st XI – Rangiri
International Stadium
We arrived at the ground at 10am to
see the opposition ready and waiting, each with a huge smile on his face, which
was slightly disconcerting. This was it, our first match. We walked into the
dressing room to see that we each had our own station to change at, we felt
very important. We all took the traditional walk out to inspect the pitch, all
sporting our matching
So Al and Duncs
made a nervous walk out to the centre and the Whalers cricket tour really got
underway…and we made a pretty good start!…albeit a slow one. We didn’t lose a
wicket for 35 minutes as Al and Duncs blocked and
pushed the ball around with a boundary here and there (although Duncs did most of the scoring), but the inevitable happened
as Al was bowled for a glorious 2 runs, which brought Dario to the crease.
Things moved along for a few more overs but a rash call from Dario gave too much for Duncs to do and he was run out. Maybe the occasion had got
to him a little, although their fielding drills before the start of play were
evidence enough that they were pretty sharp in the field.
Ollie strode out to the pitch.
After about 20minutes at the crease
there was more evidence that the occasion had got to Dario, he had forgotten to
put on a box! A call back to the sidelines produced more smiles from the oppo and a few titters and comments from the Whalers as a
box was handed over.
Then, the turning point in the
match, the oppo changed the bowling and Chandana was brought on to reap havoc. Obviously he was a
spinner, and Dario was his first victim – caught and bowled. The next 4 wickets
went for 7 runs. Ollie managed to get 17 on the board but Phil, Ads, Dan and Ed
went in quick succession. The ladies on the tour (the Whalettes)
did a great job at shipping water to the batsmen at the fall of each wicket, so
they were working pretty hard at this point. Rich didn’t seem to be dealing
with the heat particularly well, but that didn’t seem to stop him from hitting
a quick-fire 13 in ones and twos! He came off the pitch looking positively
knackered.
Another mix up with the calling led
Rich to be run out and Clippy came into bat. With the
total on 86 this called for a momentous last wicket stand…but in fact all we
got was a momentous stride forward as he was bowled for a golden duck.
Amusingly Clippy held his pose for about five minutes
after his stumps had been torn out of the ground and the opposition were
already half-way back to the pavilion.
Chandana had bowled 7 overs for 22 runs and 6 wickets.
A little disappointed in the batting
performance after such a promising start (we were 52 for 2 at one point), the
Whalers sat in the dressing room, chomped on their curryfied
pack lunches, and discussed tactics for the field. Rich, still recovering from
his batting sprint, sat directly under the air-conditioning unit anticipating
that he would feature in the bowling.
If we bowled well and were sharp in
the field we felt that we could still make a game of this. Al injected some
inspiration by handing out the zinc war paint and with a quick blast of the
theme from Bay Watch from Ed’s music system we ran out to try and bowl these
Sri Lankans over.
James started the bowling and gave
the captain exactly what was asked of him, a good spell of 3 overs, 1 maiden for 10 runs.
However, when James bowled a perfectly good ball – good pace, on a length, at
off-stump - and the batsman strode forward and nonchalantly whipped it off his
legs for four, we felt that we could be in trouble. The other bowlers seemed to
struggle in the heat and giving away 17 wides with
only 86 to defend was bad news. Clippy managed to get
the only Whalers wicket of the day as the batsman tried to sweep and top-edged
it to Ollie behind the stumps, but sadly the opposition got the runs in only
9.2 overs and we were well and truly beaten.
We exchanged handshakes, gifts and
more smiles with plenty more photos and general faffing
before jumping back onto the coach to get back to the hotel and the very
welcoming pool bar. It had been an amazing day at an amazing ground and already
the tour was living up to our expectations. We probably didn’t perform to the
best of our ability and we put that down to the occasion getting to us, the
heat and maybe having too much respect for the opposition. With three more
games to go we had plenty of opportunity to redeem ourselves.
Leg 2: Danbulla to
As the team coach left Rangiri International stadium, the Whalers and Whalettes were in reasonable spirits despite the small
matter of a nine wicket defeat. These spirits were raised still further with
the impromptu arrival of an ice cream rickshaw outside the stadium to consume
on the short drive back to the hotel. The somewhat early finish to the game at
least left decent pool time and the team repaired to the hotel pool parading a
variety of swimwear including Dan’s Speedos which were to play a (ahem)
prominent role in the games later on.
The Culture Club pool, by a mere
coincidence of design (although notably NOT designed by Geoffrey Bawa), had a swim up bar which provided a perfect setting
for the first serious game of 21’s of the tour. And so matters proceeded for a
good three or four hours as the Lion beers kept on flowing. Rich and Ol seemed in particular trouble with some of the rules
which later in the game included falling backwards off your chair into the
pool. The aerobie also contributed to the civilised
nature of the environment being somewhat dissipated and with Ol treating us to some new words from his profanisaurus, one family was heard to comment that we
were, “like typical Brit’s abroad”. Praise indeed.
Unfortunately all good things come
to an end and with the pool bar closing at 8, dinner
was called followed by some short games of table tennis and pool, and a return
to the bar with some gin and tonics. After the third call of last orders for
the evening, leading wicket taker Andrew Clipsham
suggested a continuation of festivities in his room with some duty free gin,
and Al, Ads and Rich ‘Green Day’ Giles were brave enough to accept. My memory
of the finer points of proceedings is somewhat limited, but I can conclusively
confirm that gin and soda is not a great mixer, gin and sprite is definitely borderline, and gin and coke is best avoided.
The next morning saw the
distinguished delegation of Ol, Julia,
Dan and Dario make an early start representing the club in the culturally
important ancient capital of Ayaverdua. They were the
lucky ones first to receive first copies, hot off the presses, of the Sri
Lankan national daily ‘The Daily Record’ which carried an exclusive front page
report (OK actually page 14) about the Whalers tour. The report contained
surprise news of the appointment of a new captain Andrew Hammer; the most surprised
being current captain Adam Hanmer.
The afternoon saw the remainder of
the group head off to
The following morning saw breakfast
at a previously unheard of 6.30am with the aim of climbing Sigriya
Rock Fortress before the heat of the day kicked in. The hours climb through
gardens and historical remains was indeed worth the effort for the spectacular
views all around. With a decent bit of fitness work dome before 10am the long
bus journey down to
And so onto Kandy
where the Sri Lanka – Pakistan test match was drawing to a rapid conclusion on
merely the third day, and for the princely sum of about 50p each we had some
tickets to watch the death throes of the game. At the ground the team met up
with Kamal, who had come up for the day from
Unfortunately all was not well at
the Golf Club where our reservation hadn’t been confirmed and there was no
space for all of us. With Ol, Julia, Ed and Beth
despatched to the dismal staff quarters, it was not until the next day that
they were allocated spacious newly constructed mansions as an alternative.
Rumours that they actually didn’t want to move due to the high quality of porn
DVD’s on offer in the staff quarters remained unconfirmed. With the team bus
withdrawn from commission, Kamal sent his van to pick
us all up for an excellent dinner at the Hilltop hotel to round off a long day.
The keen golfers amongst the party
got up early the next day to get a sneaky nine holes in. With caddies, spotters
and markers galore, and beautiful surroundings, I am reliably informed the golf
was also of a reasonable standard. After breakfast the squad headed off to an
elephant orphanage, and later to the Botanical Gardens in
Match 2:
Whalers C.C vs. Old Antonians C.C, St Anthony’s
School,
Whalers 142ao (39.2 overs)
Old Antonians
145-4 (26.2 overs)
Old Antonians
win by 6 wickets
The Whalers gathered under the
stewardship of Ollie Bayne at Murali’s old school in
Unfortunately the Whalers top order
again failed to make significant runs in the face of bowling not that different
from your usual
The task of repairing the innings
fell to Dario and Ads, and they proved equal to the task adding 55 in the next
53 minutes. Dario in particular was in no rush as he took a relaxing 24 balls
to get off the mark, while Ads accumulated some runs with his unique range of
shots. With the score breaking three figures, the Whalers looked to push the
rate along a bit with Hanmer finally perishing for a
top-scoring 25 and Dario for 23. The tail added another 40 with contributions
from Osgood (10) and the in form Richard Giles, a speedy 19. With Paul’s 6000
mile flight to record a three ball duck, the final total was 142, four balls
shy of using our 40 over allocation.
With not a huge sum of runs to play
with the Whalers needed early pressure and wickets. Osgood and Gould started
well, but opener Susith began to take a liking to
Gould’s bowling, before he was the first wicket to fall caught by Bayne at
mid-on. With Old Antonians other opener retiring hurt
with cramp on just 4, there were two new batsmen at the crease, and the Whalers
sensed a chance. With the introduction of Mildon the
Whalers exerted some control and Paul finished with impressive figures of
6-2-19-1. At the other end Clipsham continued his
successes of the previous game with a clean bowled. Antonians
didn’t need to take any risks though, and although Giles opened with a maiden, and a wicket in the following over, Whalers didn’t
have enough runs to play with, and ran out losers by six wickets. Number 4 bat Sansweena finished on 44 not out, watchful in defence, but
swift to punish anything loose. A competitive game, but one the Whaler’s were
disappointed to have lost, another 40 runs would have made it a very
interesting.
Man of the Match: Adam Hanmer
Champagne Moment: 50 partnership Ads
and Dario.
Muppet Moment: Dan Osgood and
Richard Giles, Shall we dance ‘running’ between the wickets.
A: An elephant’s height is twice the
circumference of its front foot.
Whalers
Cricket Tour: Leg 3
7 April; evening.
Once the post match analysis of the
8 April;
Today we transferred from
We arrived back at the rafting
centre to get out of our or soaking clothes (except for Ollie who had foolishly
not brought a change of clothes) and get stuck into curry for lunch. Amila had asked
for an extra special hot one to be prepared for Duncs
after his big talk about vindaloos and phals. The general
consensus was that whilst not being especially hot (although no picnic either),
it was especially revolting being made almost entirely of dried fish. Back we piled into the magic bus and headed
for Induruwa. Shui, as usual, excelled himself and delivered us to the
hotel an hour ahead of the ETA. But it
had still been a hell of a long day in the bus when we arrived at the hotel
(over 7 hours travelling time) but it was a great spot – right on the beach,
with an excellent pool and volley ball court.
Food and beer ensued before an early night.
9 April;
R&R on the beach
After the rigours of Dambulla and
So it was late starts all round and
after breakfast, most whalers did nothing more taxing than move to the deck
chairs. There was, nonetheless, a short
session of beach volley ball but it quickly became too hot and after a spell
messing about in the surf, Baywatch-style, it was back to the deck chairs for
reading and sleeping. The notable
exception to this general loafing was Clippy who
decided that he didn’t yet have enough cheap tat to take home so he chose the
heat of the day to wander a few kms up the beach to Bentota to stock up.
For those remaining at the hotel beach, once the sun dipped it was time
to start the beach volley ball in earnest to keep our fitness up and hone our
skills in advance of sterner tests.
That evening, a change of scenery
was called for and we ordered a fleet of tuk tuks to take us up the road to Bentota,
for most of us to have an excellent seafood meal at the Golden Grill and for a
small minority to watch some football game at the local 5 star hotel. We joined them after the meal to be treated
to some of the worst live music in the history of mankind – you may find it
hard to believe that we treated to ‘the birdie song’ played on electric violin
accompanied by 80s synthesisers but we were.
Truly awful.
10 April:
Match 3. Whalers vs
Southern United
So it was with clear heads and a day
of relaxation behind us that we pitched up at Galle
International Stadium. This was our
first and only game at a test venue (Dambulla has, so
far, only hosted ODIs) so were determined to make a
good go of it and buoyed by our (semi) respectable showing in
By international standards, the
ground was surprisingly basic with very few permanent stands and those that did
exist were rather run down. However, it
is remarkable that we – or anyone - were able to play there given that it had
been completely inundated by the tsunami just 16 months earlier. The ground has sea on two sides and had been
completely flooded: buses from the bus station behind the ground had been
deposited on the outfield (others were washed out as far as the
The edge of the occasion was
slightly blunted by the fact that the local scouts seemed to be having a
gymkhana on the outfield and this was accompanied, all day, by booming dance
music. I have never played cricket with
Axel-F or Ace of Base as an accompaniment but I can’t say that it detracted
from the day.
Ads won the toss and very sensibly
decided we should bat. And so one of the less glorious days in the history of Whalers
cricket began. The oppo were young, fit and started off by doing one of those
impressive fielding drills that the locals at
Anyway it was with purpose and
determination that Al and Dario strode to the crease. Al took the first ball from one of (if not
the) quickest bowlers the Whalers have played.
However, we had a solid if not spectacular start and we negotiated the
first few overs without loss. But it was not to last long and that was
about as good as it got – when Dario fell after a patient 6, the floodgates
opened. The rest of the batting is
probably best left to rest in the scorebook; only one player - Al - made it to
double figures (13) and we were bowled out for 60 in a little over 23 overs. As with Dambulla, it was the spin bowling that did all the damage –
it was accurate, they moved the ball and it was not particularly slow:
completely unlike anything we see in
60 was clearly nothing like enough
to defend against such an obviously able team and it was agreed that we should
press on and have lunch after their innings.
So after a quick turnaround, it was out into the field for them to
hammer the required runs off in 5.2 overs. Nonetheless, it was not all bleak as we did
manage to get one wicket (and hence avoid a 10 wicket drubbing) – a caught
behind off Dan – and Ollie managed to throw the ball into the face of one of
their batsmen which added a bit of variety to the proceedings. As with the other games, the wide count was
unacceptably high although as usual the Umpires were completely merciless about
anything down the leg side.
Anyway, ‘Southern United’ clearly knew
a good thing when they saw it and eagerly pressed for a rematch 20/20 with them
batting first. Not content with the
punishment we had received already that day and, fools that we were, we agreed.
I do not know what the world record
score for a 20 over innings is, but if it is more that they scored, it cannot
have been by much. They clearly saw this
as an exercise in teaching the impudent colonials a thing or two whilst
boosting their averages in the process and they set about our bowling attack
with relish. The bowling figures make
for terrifying reading for those who had the pleasure of bowling in Galle International Stadium that afternoon – the most
respectable economy rate was 8 (James Gould and Dan O) and more than one
unfortunate Whaler went for more than 20 an over (names withheld to preserve
dignity). Anyway it was pretty
relentless stuff as they thrashed their way to 285-5 in 20 overs. There was one comedy moment when Rich was
banned from bowling – apparently for bowling too many ‘dangerous’ beamers. That the batsman consistently trashed such
balls for 4 or 6 did not seem to concern the umpires! Bright sports (such as they were) were Paul
M’s outstanding catch at midwicket to dismiss their brutal no 5 (off the mark
with cover drive for 6) and James and Clippy’s 2
wickets apiece.
The Whalers’s
required run-rate was a mere 14.5 and it was with this in mind that, stand-in
Skipper Paul M, sent out Phil and Duncs to trash the oppo’s bowling to all parts. With a score like that to defend, one might
have supposed that they would go easy on us and give us a chance to play a few
shots. Not a bit of it: if their
approach differed from the first game, then I did not detect it and it was with
their pacy opening pair that they started with
again.
If there is a lesson in this game
however, it is that conservative defence does not necessarily produce more runs
than wild slogging in a hopeless cause.
We stormed to 85 all out; fully 25 more than our earlier effort in half
as many overs.
There were three batsmen who reached double figures: Phil (13), Ollie
(16) and Ads (11*) and that we lost by 204 runs does not, fortunately, matter
as this was not an official Whalers game.
This gives much relief to batsmen and bowlers alike.
The report of this match cannot go
by without noting one important event.
The spectators’ ranks were swelled by the presence of the British High
Commissioner and his family who dropped by to watch the end of the game. What he made of it, we will never know but it
was nice to have the support of Foreign and Commonwealth Office at such a time.
Once we had shaken hands with the oppo, handed over the goods in our presentation and
showered we had a quick shifty around
Official
Game:
Man of the
match: Not
awarded
Champagne
moment: The
Whalettes (for continuing to support us)
Muppet
moment: Dan’s
first, wide-strewn over
Unofficial
20/20 game:
Man of the
Match: James
Gould (2 wickets)
Champagne
moment: Paul’s
catch
Muppet
moment: Richard’s
bowling ban
Monday 10th April 2006
Licking their wounds after serious
defeat inflicted by the locals the Whalers followed at least 3 colonial forces
into the safety of the ramparts of
There was only a minor skirmish to
report during the retreat when Duncs’ trainer was
viciously attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Showing a presence of mind that had
been notably absent earlier in the day as all 20 Whalers wickets had fallen, he
cleverly flicked the object of their desire out of reach and down the sea wall
into a tree. 20 short minutes later with the aid of long stick, several rocks
and some intrepid climbing the pair were reunited. The dogs meanwhile found
other ways of enjoying themselves.
The day was dissected over Lions and
a meal; many theories were mooted to account for the performances of the day.
In short conclusions were that the opposition were rather good and would almost
certainly be going on to play for
Tuesday 11th April 2006
An early start again for
the Whalers charity division. Duncs and Kath choosing to take some time together and Dan busily
revising for a role in No. 10 – apparently learning how Tony takes his tea.
Yet another replacement bus took us an hour north of
We arrived at an impressive looking
school (rebuilt with help from overseas) where we were met by Graeme Kettles
from the charity Sri Lanka Direct through whom our donations had been made.
None of us were quite sure what to expect or what was expected of us. It
transpired that a ceremony had been arranged in the main school hall which was
filled by around 200 children and some of their parents. There was an excellent
speech delivered entirely in Singhalese by a man who may well have been head
master. The children were then instructed to file up to the front to be
presented with a package containing some books, pens, crayons and a new school
uniform. In total we had provided 359 packs – we left the remainder with Mr
Kettles to be given to an orphanage he knew of down the coast.
We were then called into a smaller
and incredibly even hotter room to make a presentation of 10 new sewing
machines (7 from Whalers) to women whose equipment had been lost in the
disaster. They were brand new Singer machines and the women seemed very pleased
to receive them. They plan to work as a community and produce clothes and
fabrics for domestic consumption.
Next stop was a much needed and
appreciated lunch at a restaurant over the road from the ocean. A curry buffet
which included several superb local fish was kindly provided by Yasir of Inter-Cab (a Sri – Lankan travel agency) who
organises the local operations of Sri Lanka Direct.
After lunch we went to the beach to
perform what many people had been anticipating would be the highlight of the
trip, the presentation of fishing boats. Local fishermen who had lost their
boats were excitedly waiting for us. The boats were narrow, high sided canoe
type single hulled structures that required an outrigger to be fitted for
stability which the locals could make themselves out of wood. Whalers had
provided 8 boats which came with the fisherman’s name and Whalers CC written
down the side of them. Each fisherman stood by the boat that was to be his,
many with their families, waiting for the Whalers presentation party to come up
to each in turn and hand over the nets that the boats needed while trying to
look at the many cameras and smile. All of the fishermen appeared very excited
to be getting their boats, and like everyone who we had encountered during the
day we found them to be grateful, humble and extremely positive.
We were then treated to a cup of tea
and some rather strange cake in a wooden hut which was part of the hotel that
had hosted the presentation. Mr Kettles made a short speech explaining how his
charity had come in being and thanking all those who had made the day possible.
Special thanks was given to Yasir whose work on the
ground in organising and fact finding makes it possible to run the charity from
the UK and still be confident that the money was going to the right people and
really making a difference.
I think that most if not all of the
Whalers who made the trip that day found it a very rewarding experience. Having
got so close to the areas that were affected by the Tsunami it was impossible
to not feel empathy with the people who lived there and had to find a way of
carrying on with everyday life despite what had happened. Meeting people in the
flesh and hearing their stories first hand brought home the magnitude of what
happened far more powerfully than a TV camera and crew ever could. What was
moving was seeing what had happened once the cameras had left and the attention
of the worlds media had moved on. All of the people
who we met and helped had a confidence and optimism that you would not
necessarily have expected having gone through what they had. It was great to be
able to do something to help them. It also became clear that the organisation
The smaller bus which we used to get
to the area we did the charity work was not quite as comfortable as the one we
were used to but there was plenty of opportunity to get some sleep during the
drive home! There was one stop just outside
We arrived back at the hotel in time
for a swim in the pool and for dinner. Duncs and
Kathy had had a good day too, going into Bentota to
see what was happening there (not much apparently) and Dan had begun to get to
grips with his homework project. Having done some “good” during the day it was
necessary to redress the balance by doing some “bad”. After a good meal at a
local grill restaurant and some drinks in the nearby 5* hotel, this took the
form of abusing our sportsman’s bodies with alcohol and another meeting of the
gin club. After an “
Wednesday 12th April
& Thursday 13th April 2006
A couple of early starts for games /
charity / travelling along with some big nights and tiring days meant that for
the next couple of days the Whalers were happy to lounge around near the hotel.
There was still plenty going on but no organised trips meant that we were able
to let the driver, No. 2 and guide Amila go back to
their families to celebrate the Singhalese New Year. The New Year also meant
that there was not very much going on – perfect!
There was a lot of reading and
relaxing on the beach, lots of swimming in the sea and pool (including an
organised medley race). The waves were very powerful in the sea and it was easy
to get washed down the beach (more of that later) the walk back to the hotel
was as far as some people got from the sun loungers!
Andy took a walk down the beach on
Wednesday to go to Bentota and explore along the way.
Despite being well covered in sun cream and wearing a hat he got burnt through
his
The time at the beach also allowed
us to explore other areas of our sporting ability and rather surprisingly we
found one that we could beat the locals at! The volleyball competition against
the staff of the hotel was keenly anticipated and took place in the evening when
the sun had gone down enough to make moving an option. A carefully selected
Whalers 6 took on 6 of the waiters and kitchen staff in first to 21 point sets.
Whalers won the first 2 games causing a panic among the Sri Lankans,
a quick phone call and all of a sudden a ringer arrived pushing one of their
players off the court. He dominated the next set but it was getting late and
the Whaler team tactically accepted an offer of the light. Whalers won 2 – 1.
There was a barbeque organised by
the hotel one evening to celebrate the New Year. Grilled chicken and pork were
served with potatoes and fries and as with everything washed down with Lion
beers. There were also some fairly frightening fireworks which seemed to be set
off at random and at fairly random angles, another great night was had by all.
It was always unlikely that an
English team could have an injury free tour to
Thankfully the knee seems to be
recovering well and Duns was seen at the Putney drinks with out crutches. It
must have been a very, very painful injury and the way he handled that and the
disappointment of missing the last game is to his credit.
The second casualty of Bentota was Ed who was the first of the group to suffer
(enough to admit it to the rest of us) from the much anticipated “Deli Belly”.
He found it hard to eat anything for the last few days of the tour and um, had
difficulty sleeping too.
The hotel on the beach was a great
place to have some down time and to relax after what had been a great fun but
quite busy first 10 days in
14th April 2006
The final leg of the tour / holiday
was in Sri Lankas capital and only genuine city,
We were staying in the “Fort” area
near the sea which is the main business area of the city. There was a very
strong military presence because of the increased risk of an attack by Tamil
rebels during the New Year celebrations. Also there was nobody around as they
were all spending time celebrating with families and friends. This meant that
there was not very much to do for the Whalers so it was another day by the pool
eating and enjoying the delicious milk shakes. For dinner there was a choice of
fish restaurant, Indian or bistro type food. Most went for the fish which was
very well received, the Indian was very good too and those with dodgy tummies
had pasta. There was no drink being served in the hotel due to the celebrations
so the atmosphere in the disco was not all it could have been. The mocktails were largely untried once people realised that
they could still enjoy the mini bars in their rooms. It was all good
preparation for the last game the following day.
15th April 2006
The final game of the
tour and an opportunity to redeem ourselves although we would have to do it
with only 10 Whalers. The opposition were the Panadura
Sports Club whose ground was on the outskirts of the city. It was not the
prettiest of clubs but had a sense of history about it, helped by the photos of
past captains and a plaque commemorating the opening of the facility by the
High Commissioner of Ceylon dating back almost 100 years
When we arrived at the ground (at
10.00am) there was a strange lack of opposition in the pavilion. The reason for
this became clear after a pitch inspection. The official line was that there
had been heavy rain overnight which had left the pitch wet. It was absolutely
sodden with water and there was suspiciously little water in the outfield. For
whatever reason the pitch was a classic “sticky dog” and unplayable. The
decision was taken to start later at 1.00 if it was dry enough and sure enough
as the day went on more opposition arrived and by 1.00 the pitch was ready and
we had a full set of opposition. In fact we were able to borrow a player from
the Sports Club and so Tiwanka a 17 year old leg
spinner from
The later start to the reorganised
35 over game meant that if we bowled first we would have to do so in the
hottest part of the day. Almost certainly having realised this, the slightly
portly Sports Club won the toss and chose to bat first. This gave the Whalers
bowlers a great opportunity to show that they were capable of restricting a
side to a realistic total. Dan O opened the bowling from the pavilion end to a
fairly attacking field and although the trouble that he had had earlier in the
tour in finding the right line to the batsmen continued he bowled with pace, on
occasion getting some lift from the pitch and troubling the openers. He was
ably assisted by James from the other (rugby stand?) end who bowled as he had
throughout the tour with plenty of guts and no luck. There were a few chances
early on with the help of some good committed fielding and just when it felt the
early pressure was being relieved Dan got one of the openers. Unfortunately the
Whalers were unable to maintain the intensity of those opening overs as the batsmen became bolder and the heat took its
toll. Wickets did fall at fairly regular intervals but there were plenty of
runs being bludgeoned in the meantime.
Dario bowled well and was shown some
respect by the locals who were far more accustomed to spin than the teams we
come up against in London, however there was usually one boundary ball per
over. It has to be said that sadly the outfielding
lacked refinement despite 2 run outs and there were far too many drops in the
deep. Most notable was Dans’ effort at dismissing the
opposing skipper Nandana when he hadn’t scored many -
the ball fell out of his hands and over the rope for six. That proved to be a
costly error as Nandana moved to a century. Like most
of his team he wasn’t really interested in running between the wickets but he
had a good eye and powerful shoulders and heaved plenty of balls into the legside and to the boundary. He finished on 110*.
The ringer who we had borrowed for
the day, Tiwanka took a great catch (for which he was
barraked from the dressing room) and was a very handy
leg spinner. He had control and genuinely moved the ball. His only wicket was a
highlight of the match, a reflex catch at first slip by skipper for the day Al.
Clippy also bowled well, with a long spell. He was
forced to reduce his pace to leg spin after straining his side early in his
spell but continued bowling a tight line and the batsmen found him hard to get
away.
The Sports Club batted out their full allotment of overs
and made 253/7, as well as Nandana, Namale had a good innings, making 54. Dan took 2-22 (some wides may have been left off),
Dario and James were unlucky to concede 53 and 51 respectively without taking a
wicket. Andy 0-22, Rich 1-27, Tiwanka 1-32 and Ads
1-30.
So 254 to win from 35 at
over 7 an over to win. It was a big ask, especially
remembering our previous totals on tour. Dario and Ol
went out to begin the reply and started very nicely. Their opening bowler was
quite quick of not many strides and there was some short stuff around. However
we knew that the outfield was quick and it seemed that the locals were as keen
to run in the field as they had been when batting. We needed some big
partnerships but there was no need to play big shots early on.
The good start ended when Ol was dismissed for 18. Phil walked out to bat at 3 hoping
for some runs. He was not about to duck the chance of helping the Whalers to a
tour victory, unfortunately what he did duck was a short ball – straight into
the path of it. A sickening crack and he was on the floor blood gushing from a
cut above his eye. He was rushed by tuc-tuc to a
local clinic and received a couple of stitches.
Al came in at 4 and played a good
captains knock, defending solidly. He eventually top scored with 37 but sadly
wickets were falling at the other end and Whalers were always behind the game.
Ed came in and hit a quick fire 18 and Rich chanced his arm to make 33 before
playing the worst shot of the tour after moving 3 feet outside off stump to
have a heave at a straight one and being bowled. Tiwanka
looked good before missing one that may well have been going down leg.
The innings had a cheering finish when Phil (9) came back out for a last wicket
partnership with James (12) covered in blood and this time wearing a helmet.
James was last man out and Whalers had lost by 69 runs.
Despite loosing it was not a
humiliating display and on another day (preferably cooler) Whalers could have
won. The game was played in good spirits and the Sports Club captain was glad
to receive his trophy while our player Tiwanka got a
tour shirt.
Champagne moment went to Phil
hitting a four after returning from his stitches and Muppet was Dan for his
drop. It was an enjoyable end to the tour and a tired but upbeat team who
returned to the hotel. Thanks again go to the Whalettes
who did a sterling job with water and support and still managed a trip to the
shops.
The game over, the unsuccessful and
similarly unshowered team headed back to the hotel to
prepare for the final night.
Buoyed from having been serenaded in
the Heist Bar by two of
Having devoured portion’s
of ‘Sir Richard Hadlee’s Surf and Turf’ or ‘Beefie’s Bolognese’ it was time for speeches and
awards. First up, Al presented Amile with a signed mini-bat. The Whalettes were
then handed not-so beautiful yet delicately wrapped bouquets of fake
flowers. Whether this was a full and
fair reflection of all their help and support on tour remains to be seen but
they say it’s the thought that counts!
Not even the ignominy of gaining a
wicket by ‘stumping’ for a fast bowler, or quite probably the worst shot seen
on tour could prevent Rich from being awarded Player of the tour. 77 runs and 3 for 99 however, meant the prize
was fully deserved. Paul Mildon received
All but Ed, Beth and Dan took off to
a club in a fierce tut-tut race. Dario,
Adam and Phil won the race, but James took it all too literally, arriving last
but actually having been the only Whaler to drive himself! 500 roupees per
person later, beers and Arrack began to flow.
Unfortunately the music deteriorated to Europop,
but this was not enough to stop Adam from leading the way on the dancefloor, except when rebuffing young ladies or falling
asleep. Even Duncs
managed to move to the music with crutches flying about everywhere. The tut-tut journey again proved eventful,
with Adam and Al both forced to get out after running out of fuel!
The following day, we were up and on
the bus for our final journey. Having
passed Amile’s quiz, we said goodbye to our guide,
No. 2 and Shooey and checked in for the flights. The usual last minute rush to get rid of all
foreign currency duly followed, with Adam spending his on a foot massage. Once Duncs had
finally found himself a seat, Rich had caressed his pillow to sleep and James
had argued with the air stewardess, the remainder of the flight proved
uneventful and at 8:30pm the trip was over.
An epic!