Having left ninety five degree heat in St Lucia on Monday afternoon, to be confronted with having to de ice my car windscreen before going to work on Tuesday morning, confirmed that reality had returned and the tour was over, bringing to an end a fantastic seventeen days.
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In organising the tour the main objective was to play good cricket, so we expected the opposition to be tough and so it proved winning only one match out of eight matches played, but we always gave a good account of ourselves and had we batted a bit more consistently may well have won three or four games. There were many fine individual performances, and everybody broadened their cricketing knowledge and learnt something about their own game. The opportunity to play twice on the test ground in St Lucia and two of the grounds in Barbados that will be used for the 2007 world cup, and against both test and state cricketers was a great experience.
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The spirit and comradeship among the twenty two man party was first class and many new and lasting friendships were made. Everyone owes a great deal to Andy Clement for his overall organisation of the tour, to Clarence Hiles & Hendi Wallace for organising fixtures and ensuring that everything went smoothly in the Caribbean, and to Chris Yeates who captained the side superbly.
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All tours are ultimately about the characters who toured and the memories they helped form. This trip was no different.
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What can you say about “The Turk” that he hasn’t said himself! Good looking, charming, well dressed & an excellent cricketer! We saw all these aspects during the trip. Michael arrived at the airport with a tan – How he got it we are not quite sure but if Ivan McCombe is reading Michael is definitely a potential customer! On arrival it was straight to the beach with a bottle of baby oil – No factor 25 here. He had at least two outfits for every day and never appeared anything less than fully groomed Anyone reading this article must ensure that they never give him the opportunity to sing. It is quite simply the worse ever heard. He decided to have a short snooze before heading out one evening, during which time his room mate (Mr Russell) moved forward all available watches & clocks. He awoke in a state of distress and headed to the pool area to find most of his team mates in hysterics. On the field he showed his usual determination scoring two fine half centuries. A great tourist, whose ability to poke fun at himself provided much humour for everyone.
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Hopefully Neil Russell will tour again with the Grasshoppers – Only this time we will speak to NASA and organise a direct satellite link up back to Comber! Has anyone ever spent as much time on the internet or email? We learnt what was happening in Northern Ireland before the BBC. Throughout the tour Neil showed what a destructive player he is, and was involved with Barry Cooper in one of the most remarkable three quarters of an hour’s play of this or any other Grasshoppers tour. The ground was Donacloney with Sunshine, the workers frequently leaving their posts in the biscuit factory to watch & comment (Loudly) on the cricket. The opposition contained test player Fidel Edwards & three Barbados state players (Just in case anybody thought this was just a social tour!)
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The first thirty overs was an interesting experience as the opposition racked up 298 for 5 almost exhausting our supply of balls into the adjoining electricity sub station. What then followed was pure theatre. Edwards charged in, twice finding the edge of Neil Russells bat & the ball flying over the slips for two boundaries, Neil practicing the shots as if he meant it! In Edwards next over he did mean it as he lifted him over square leg for six. By now the locals were really winding Edwards up. His next over to Barry Cooper resulted in four successive boundaries – Four of the best cricket shots you will ever see. The carnage continued until after ten overs the Grasshoppers had reached 88 for no wicket. At which stage Neil was out closely followed by Barry. The Grasshoppers went on to finish with 210, a fine effort given the quality of the opposition. Fidel Edwards bowling figures 6 – 0 – 48 – 0 You will note that ten days later he played in the Bridgetown test match against South Africa. When the game finished Fidel Edwards posed for photographs and swapped shirts with Barry & Neil. A day we will all remember.
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Back in Waringstown “Stoker” often has the odd pint of Tennants in the Planters (Never on a Friday night) & a fish supper in the Country Chippy. After nearly three weeks in the company of Gavin Rodgers he has moved on to drinking Chardonnay & eating Lobster. He it now trying to have the necessary menu changes made in the Planters! What a great competitor! He growled at the fielders in the same way he does playing for his beloved Waringstown and earned the respect of everyone for his whole hearted effort in less than bowler friendly conditions.
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You may have noticed in the business news how the shares of Cockspur rum soared during the first three weeks in April. This was solely due to the efforts one man – Big Pete White. Peter was our travelling umpire, and stood in all eight games, a tough ask for anyone in the extremely hot conditions& certainly the players were greatly appreciative of having someone of his experience and good nature out in the middle. Pete’s approach to fluid replacement after each match would not necessarily be recommended by the general medical council. Volume Yes – Composition No
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One of the more bizarre episodes involved four team members who went out for a quiet day’s sight seeing in St Lucia & came back wearing dresses! Quite why this happened nobody is really sure, the concerning factor was that they continued to wear the attire out to dinner that night by which time they also had developed ample bosoms. So if any wives or girl friends find that they are missing anything from their wardrobes this article might help throw some light on the matter!
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Every tour needs someone who gets up in the morning and makes sure on the days that there is no cricket that the boys just don’t just lie about the pool but do something constructive. Gavin Rodgers provided this in abundance. The eight of us who went out on a boat trip in St Lucia which led to an encounter with three whales right up against the side of the boat will always remember an incredible experience, or the spectacular helicopter trip around the Pitons in St Lucia (Gavin, who is a qualified pilot has subsequently told me that the helicopter would not have been deemed airworthy in Northern Ireland – Comforting thought!)
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None of us particularly like been wakened by the telephone in the middle of the night, but when you are Shone Pollock preparing for an important test series, having Gavin calling you in the middle of the night because “It seemed a good idea” is not ideal. Jonty Rhodes another of his old university chums also suffered the same fate. I hope they could understand what Gavin was trying to say because we certainly couldn’t!
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As fines master he was lethal, no one escaped his punishments. In hindsight though it was still better to have drank some concoction of wine or spirits rather than some the things he dreamed up for the tee totallers. Poor David Kennedy, Graeme Hunter & Neil Russell were subjected to tins of sardines, crushed up potato crisps & pots of yoghurt which no doubt tasted horrendous.
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On these occasions Paul Stafford often performed his impressions of the cricket commentators. For anyone who has not heard his Richie Benaud buy him a pint the next time he is in your club and he might oblige, it is worth hearing.
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For hair dos the top prizes must go to Gareth McKee & Ian Morrison. Gareth looked as if he had fallen under the machine that lays the white lines on the road & Ian was clearly trying to become the Grasshoppers first Rastafarian.
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For the ladies, well there is always one who fancies a bit of chat, we had that man. Was it his slightly posh accent (Campbell College I think) or his boyish charm? who knows, but he did talk some rubbish!
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I have had the good fortune to tour with Graeme Hunter for more than ten years. Whether it is careful planning or just coincidence but every time we go away he announces that Cathy is pregnant. Again he did not disappoint. Thankfully Cathy has not yet worked out Graeme’s plan that if the babies are born shortly after a tour ends, they should be three by the time the next tour comes around and this should help allow Graeme to go!
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These are just some of the anecdotes from the trip, but overall it was such a good trip because everybody got on so well together, tried so hard on the field, and when not playing carried out the scoring, umpiring or water carrying duties willingly. It was a great pleasure to be part of.
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It should not be underestimated what the Grasshoppers have provided for local cricketers over the last twenty years. There are few if any touring clubs that have covered as much of the world. This trip was another chapter in a touring history that now runs to ten major overseas trips - South Africa (3) Zimbabwe (3) World Tour to Fiji, New Zealand & Singapore, Argentina & Brazil, Cyprus, & The Caribbean. Where to next? As always at the end of a tour thoughts turn to the next possible venue. Ideas for 2008 include India or Australia. Long may it continue!
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Tour Party
Andy Clement David Kennedy Paul Stafford Nile Smith Alan Waite Simon Stokes Martin Dalzell Colin Andrews Barry Cooper Ian Morrison Graeme Hunter
Gavin Rodgers Neil Russell Sam Beckett Michael Ross Peter White
\r\nChris Yeates Keith Morrison Michael Turkington Neil Black Gareth McKee
\r\nJonathon Terret
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