CRICKET O n a sunny day in February, with the temperature barely above freezing, the tour party
agenda. Both teams struggled with the unexpectedly slow wickets, and local experience proved very valuable as the home side earned two wins. We were hosted once again by students before travelling to Wynberg the next day, where road signs to the ‘Jacques Kallis oval’ led us to the school’s 1st team pitch. Despite a good fielding performance, the total again proved too great for the 1sts and there was disappointment for 2nds as well. There were, however, signs of improvement as the teams showed how much they were learning in a short space of time. Our next matches, after a day off sightseeing with a visit to Cape Point, were against Paul Roos in two T20s. The strange ‘tennis-ball bounce’ conditions were too tricky for the 1sts to deal with and the home side’s experience enabled them to reach the target with ease. The 2nds also recorded a disappointing loss. And so we travelled to our last games of the tour against Rondebosch, notoriously one of the strongest schools in the province. The 2nd XI game was looking promising until a downpour stopped play. By this point, the 1st team were a few overs into chasing a low target, thanks to an excellent bowling and fielding display. Once the rain had stopped and play had resumed, some tight bowling from the Rondebosch spinners built pressure and runs were hard to come by. Enough wickets fell to leave Dulwich again short of the target. The final day in South Africa involved a sobering visit to Robben Island before enjoying our last night on the waterfront pondering our time in Cape Town. Despite the disappointing results, there were positives to take away from the tour: primarily, our improvements in the field due to what we’d learnt through our games and the day at Newlands. We’d also been playing against sides at the peak of their seasons, while the beginning of ours was still over a month away. We left grateful for the experience and with a clear sense of how of our games could improve before the summer.
South Africa tour
gathered in front of the pavilion for a photograph before heading to Heathrow. Who would have known that Terminal 3 check-in would provide the wicket for the first cricket of the tour? While waiting to be let through to the British Airways desk, the first batsman stepped out carrying a stump to face the tennis ball in a game of defensive cricket. Fast forward 14 hours to Cape Town and the official first event of the tour, a trip to Table Mountain. With high winds having closed the cable car and not yet acclimatised to the African sun after a long flight, we settled for a short walk round the mountain and talked tactics for the next day’s matches. The first afternoon and evening was spent at Somerset College. After training, we had our first of many delicious barbecues and were hosted overnight by students. The next day, the 2nd XI recorded a good win to start the tour, while the 1st XI were given a taster of some of the talent in the region and started with a loss. England were playing in the last One Day International at Newlands during our visit and we were lucky enough to spend the day in the crowd. It was a brilliant experience, although unfortunate that England lost, despite Alex Hales’ century. A T20 for the 2nds and a day/ night game under lights for the 1sts at Bishop’s College was on the third day’s
Nick Corbett (Year 13)
The strange ‘tennis-ball bounce’ conditionswere too tricky for the 1sts todeal withand thehome side’s experienceenabled themto reach the targetwithease
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