We all set off from theGeorge BestCity airport on the 19th Feb high with expectation of what we were all going to experience over the forthcoming 17 days in India.
After a short journey across the Irish Sea we all had a bit of chill out time in Heathrow watching some cricket and awaiting our Dublin friends Carlo Rendell and his girlfriend Isobel Duffy who were flying in later than the rest of the touring party.
Off we set that evening on the very impressive Indian Airline “Jet Airways” on route toDelhi. Around 9 hours later we landed safe and well but just a little tired. The first thing that struck me on landing at Delhi Airportwas the sheer size of it, I think it took us around 15 minutes just to taxi to our terminal. The second thing to hit me was the smell, it’s hard to describe, certainly not putrid but again it certainly wasn’t overly pleasant!!
After waiting for our bags for what seemed like an eternity we ventured out for our first taste of life in Delhi. All the baggage helpers outside the airport must have been licking their lips when they saw 20 pasty white and tired Irishmen trailing out cricket bags and suitcases awaiting the arrival of our tour bus.
We stayed at the very beautiful Oberoi Maidens hotel in Old Delhi, the hotel was first class as were the hotel staff. We didn’t have long to wait about as we had a practice net organised for that afternoon which allowed everyone to shake the travel cobwebs out of the system and get a gauge for how hard it was going to be playing in such heat.
EARLY DAYS
Alan Waite has already written about our fixtures on tour so I won’t replicate all that again but I would like to mention the innings that Lee Nelson played later on that first evening in Delhi, it really was out of the top drawer. Nelly and I opened the batting that night under the floodlights and he said to me as we were walking out how nervous he was, his first few shots were indeed jittery looking shots and he probably should have been caught out very early in his innings, all that aside, Nelly went on to crash bang wallop his way to an awesome ton, hitting a six to bring it up with the team only needing around 2 or 3 runs to win. I have no doubt at all that Lee will go on and represent Ireland, he has the passion for the game, a very solid technique and has all the shots in the book, and he’s still only 18!!!
Our second day inDelhi we went on a tour around the city, to be honest this was my highlight of the entire 17 days in India. We all went on a rickshaw ride around the town and to say it was an eye opener would be a huge understatement. The sights, smells and sounds were fascinating, literally every corner we turned there was a new spectacle to behold us, the smells of the spices all along one side street, then the next street would smell of open sewage. It really is a land of complete contrasts.
We played our second game at one of the first class grounds in Delhi, it was a nice ground but enormous in the size of the boundaries, I reckon KP would be one of very few people I’d back to clear the ropes on this ground. Unfortunately, the wicket was very average, a real dust bowl of a wicket that looked like it hadn’t seen water in at least 3 months! Ray McCavery batted very well for the team and got us up to a respectable total but unfortunately due to a dropped catch with the opposition still requiring 39 runs to win we lost with the last wicket partnership bringing the game home for our hosts.
We then had an arduous journey from Delhi toAgra, the town which holds India’s finest and most recognised landmark, The Taj Mahal. The journey was long and tiring but all the same it certainly wasn’t boring, the traffic inIndia is like no where I’ve ever seen before, there are cars flying at you head to head right until the final second when one driver becomes the “chicken” and pulls into safety!
THE CONTRASTS WERE AMAZING
The one thing that I know will stick in all the guys’ minds for a long time to come will be the poverty that we witnessed throughout our time in India. Delhiwas definitely the worst. When we reached Agra we stopped at a railway track as the barriers were down to allow the trains to pass through. As we looked outside our air conditioned bus there were children doing dances with conkers on their heads, children doing handstands but the most upsetting thing for us all to see was a young girl, no older than 2 ½ years of age being cradled by her mum on the roadside, when the mum saw our bus she immediately pushed the child off her and made her start dancing. The mum playing something resembling a tambourine and the child dancing away begging for money, the thing that got me the most was that the child was clearly sleeping in her mums arms before we stopped at the railway tracks and the mum had clearly awoken the child to start to perform again, the child was staring up at us in the bus crying her little eyes out and the look of desperation in her eyes would have broken the hardest of men. Of that I will guarantee you. This image has stuck with me from that moment on and I don’t think it will ever leave me, I have a 3 year old daughter and it made me reflect on the great life that we as parents try to provide for our children, unfortunately for so many thousands and probably millions of kids in India this will never happen for them. That experience has made me sit up and reflect on the life I have and to be very grateful for it.
We made our way then to the Taj Mahal, we all got our pics taken were Princess Diana sat and were all in awe of this wonderful spectacle. I’m not normally overawed by things like this but after being there and walking around this unbelievable place I can fully understand why it is referred to as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
We stayed overnight in Agra, certainly not one of the nicest places in the world but the boys were happy to get a good nights kip in preparation for the long journey back to Delhi Airport on route to our second destination, Mumbai.
THE MAGIC OF MUMBAI
I really enjoyed Mumbai. It really was a city of contrasts. Your either filthy rich or you have nothing, very little to no middle class infrastructure. In Mumbai we were treated incredibly well, we had Sunny Singh, the former Ballymena Pro from years ago as our contact there and he did a marvellous job as our host. Sunny was able to organise our game at the Bradbourne Stadium, the ground that England were due to play their test against India just weeks after the Mumbai terror attacks. It’s hard to beat Newlands in Cape Townbut the Brabourne Stadium is absolutely beautiful, perfect outfield and glorious wicket. We got to play against a couple of the Mumbai first class players along with Nayan Doshi the formerSurrey spinner who was over in Mumbai preparing for the forthcoming IPL. We also got to play at the Bombay Gymkhana ground, the scene of the first ever test match to be played at in India, again a very beautiful ground with superb facilities. Whilst in Mumbai we were introduced to an Indian Broadcaster named Milund and he was superb with the team, inviting us to his club, the same club as Sachin Tendulkar plays for, for an evening meal and drinks. Throughout our stay in Mumbai we were looked after every inch of the way and our thanks and appreciation go to Sunny Singh and to Milund.
SUPERB TOUR WITH GREAT PEOPLE
Off to Goathen for the final part of the tour, and the short flight from Mumbai was welcomed by all the party. The Hotel we stayed in was top notch and was right on the beach so the guys’ spirits were well and truly lifted. The temperature by the pool read something like 39 degrees and 87% humidity, I think all the guys realisedGoa was going to be a hard place to play! Unfortunately the grounds in Goa were very average indeed, the Vasco ground resembled a desert during the first game with regular dust storms interrupting bowlers run up’s and batsmen pulling away never mind the fielders! The one thing that we did notice was the Indians attacking play, they were not afraid to come dancing down the track and give it a bash but on the flipside of that they were excellent at manoeuvring the ball very well into gaps, something that we as senior players in N.I all need to improve on.
All in all the tour was superb, like any tour it had it’s difficult moments, but for the schedule we had in place for the 17 days add in the travel within India and then add in 8 fixtures the boys all stuck at the task in hand incredibly well. Personally, I enjoyed India, I doubt I’ll ever be back but I am also so pleased that I went and got to experience all the sights sounds and smells that I did. It really was a once in a lifetime trip.
On the final night during the Captain’s speech at the end of tour dinner I made reference to a few individuals who made this tour a success for varying reasons. I would like to do the same now to publicly acknowledge those people.
Firstly, Alan Waite is the talisman behind the Ulster Grasshoppers, he is an awesome administrator, he deals with everything from start to finish in our tours and if people think its just a matter of phoning a travel agent and booking hotels and flights then you’d be sorely mistaken. Alan deals with all the collection of money, passport details, sponsorship, writing articles, dealing with travel agents, dealing with contacts at whatever destination we are travelling too…..believe me the list is nearly endless. On behalf of all the guys within the touring party I would like to thank Waity again for all his efforts. I believe some years ago Kyle McCallan had the nickname of “FIC”-Future Ireland Captain, as I said in my end of tour speech, I’ll go one further, I think one day Waity will be nicknamed “FIM”-Future Ireland Manager.
I’d also like to thank all the guys who played on the tour, everybody put a hell of a lot of effort in at all times in what were tough playing conditions, special mentions to Ray McCavery, Michael Turkington, Paul Stafford and Neil Watson. To the six Under-20 players I hope you all learnt a hell of a lot from the tour and enjoyed the Grasshoppers experience. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Grasshoppers is a superb way for the good senior player to venture to far off lands and visit some amazing places and play at some amazing world renowned grounds, the Ireland team are getting busier and busier in their annual schedule now but I would really recommend to the good senior player who maybe is just not good enough to make the Ireland set up to utilise the Grasshoppers and all that we offer in touring the world.
Watch this space for the next tour!
Russeller
