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Rossall School India Cricket Tour
After a blessing from the Reverend Cooper, Rossall headed off to Calcutta via Dubai with Emirates on 19th March.
The Group arrived at their accommodation, The Tollygunge Club (a Colonial club) early the next morning.
After lunch we headed to the C4 club for a net, which was an eye opener for all. The heat took its toll and all looked forward to the rest day on Friday 21st March - a religious holiday – Holi. The group was restricted to remain at the Tollygunge club for the day where all enjoyed the club facilities: swimming pool and golf course.
Rossall had to endure playing 4 games of cricket in 4 days. The first match was against the Calcutta cricket coaching association – the C4 club. This club consists of taking the best cricketers from all schools over the Calcutta district. Alex Lewis won the toss after a long opening ceremony and inserteed the C4 club. The opposition made 243-5 with Chris Metcalfe being the pick of the bowlers, but Lewis Johnson, Matt Dryden and Ben Spencer took wickets.. Rossall replied well against stiff opposition making 135-4 with Ben Spencer scoring 37, Lewis Johnson 19 and Alex 17*. There was a long presentation ceremony at the end of the match which was recorded for the Indian News channel 24-7. The 2nd match was against St. James School. Rossall made 100-9 with again Ben Spencer top scoring with 3 with runs also coming from Dryden and Metcalfe. Despite the small total Rossall fought hard by taking 6 St James wickets with Matt Dryden the pick of the bowling taking 2-31and Craig Mitchell bowled with enthusiasm. Luke Gibson and Jake Hargreaves were good in the field. The third game was against La Martinere School in the centre of the city. Lewis Johnson took 5-50 and Danny Stone kept well as La Martinere made 242-8. Rossall managed 120-7 in reply with Matt Dryden top scoring with an impressive 41.
In the afternoon the tour party visited Eden Gardens the home of Indian cricket. The party was allowed to walk around the outfield and the home / away dressing rooms - perfect opportunity for photos. It was also at this point, some of the group experienced being interviewed for television. The bus journey in the afternoon took us over the River Hooley, the Victoria Memorial St. Paul’s Cathedral and the local racecourse.
Our final match in Calcutta was against Heritage School. Rossall collapsed from 90-3 to 116-7 in their 20 overs with Matt Dryden making 39 and Chris Metcalfe 27. Alex hit two large 6’s and Josh McIntyre hit his first ball in India for 4. Rossall fielded well, especially Callum Clowes and Toby Holder-Williams to make the Heritage work hard for their runs but lost with 2 overs to spare.
On the 26th March the group flew up to Guwahati in Assam. After a 4 hour transfer to the Assam Valley School in Tezpur, Rossall arrived late in the Afternoon. The group was split up with boys being placed in the boarding houses of Namdang, Dhansiri, Lohit and Manas. The first day saw the group have a tour of the very impressive school before being taken to a local Assamese village and a tea planter’s bungalow. It was here where many of the group experienced the art of tea tasting and spending a couple of hours living in luxury.
On the second day we headed off on a two hour journey to the National park – Kaziranga. It was a disappointing day as the weather was not kind to us and we saw Rhinos, elephants and buffalos from a distance.
The third day saw a visit to the local Williamson & Magor tea estate, the owners of the Assam Valley School. Here the group were introduced to the process of plucking and producing tea. In the afternoon we had an extensive net session preparing for the big match the following day.
Rossall struggled in front of well over a 1000 people making 68-8, with Chris Metcalfe top scoring. Assam Valley won by 10 wickets despite James Hough determined to put Assam Valley off over the microphone. The second match was much closer Rossall losing by 10 runs James Conboye and Chris Metcalfe top scoring. This saw all those who had not played a key role in the matches so far have their opportunity and all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Awards as follows:
Leading Batsmen: Matthew Dryden
Leading Bowler: Chris Metcalfe
Leading Fielder: Callum Clowes
Best Tourist award: 1st place: Alex Lewis; Runner up: James Conboye
In the evening the Chris Metcalfe, Alex Lewis, Matthew Dryden, James Conboye, Josh McIntyre, Daniel Stone, Mrs Trapnell, Miss Booth and Mr. Root were interviewed by the Schools TV channel and news reporters. The final day saw the boys join in with lessons for the morning and Rossall were the main event in assembly. Alex spoke well for 2 minutes before, Mr. Roberts spoke on the History of Rossall School and it was rounded up with Jake Hargreaves leading us for the Carmen, which was sung by all. Mr. Jurczak enjoyed teaching his lesson before the party headed to Tezpur to visit the City of Blood. All were stunned by the endless poverty and how backward the city was. Everywhere you looked there was something extraordinary to see – the colour, noise, movement of people and bizarre smells. It was the group’s first experience of walking the streets of India. Something I am sure many would want to do more at greater length on a return to India.
The final goodbyes were said at the party put on by Assam Valley in the Senior Common Room. Early departure the next morning to Calcutta started our long journey home. The Tollygunge Club was where the party stayed for the last night and the group thanked Rita Sen for her efforts and for looking after us in Calcutta. There was also an opportunity to buy gifts for friends and relatives before dusk. The tour party arrived back at Rossall 10pm.
A big thank you to the members of Common Room who accompanied the tour party;
Mr. J. Roberts, Mr. T.Root, Mr. P. Jurczak, Mr. A. Griffiths. Also thank you to Mrs Trapnell and Miss Booth for supporting the party superbly.
Roll on the cricket season.
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