Final posting.

If anyone wants to keep this blog I suggest copying it now as it has been posted on a free site with only 30 days free!!!!!!!!

Saturday 22nd.

The final day is hot and steamy..about 33 degrees.



We started the day with a trip up the cableway to the top of Table Mountain. After an hour there we have mopved to the Waterfront for shopping and lunch.



We will meet at the coach at 3.30 (1.30 GMT ) to return to our base to pack and change before transferring to the airport. The flight is scheduled to depart at 8.40 pm ( 6.40 GMT.)



We will sadly bid our farewells to South Africa after an exceptional tip.

Friday 21st December v Avendale CC.

Avendale club is the spot where Bob Woolmer spent a lot of time in his early days in SA developing cricket in disadvantaged areas. We played there before in 2001 and they were delighted to welcome us back and hosted us in a most generous manner.

Bancroft's batted first and posted 291 - 9 off 50 overs, not quite a school record we think ( will have to check on return to School ). Ari 37 and Anand 44 put on 92 quickly for the first wicket and the Rishabh 61 and Faiz 67 punished the bowling mercilessly. Simon Macloed chipped in with a quick fire 20 at the end.

Once agaun the bowling was most effective and vendale manged only 140 in reply, Faiz taking 4 - 12 and Gareth 3 - 43.

After the game we said goodbye to Dr and Mrs Khan who had watched our 3 games in Cape Town, they will be back home by now. We later said Goodby to Mr Jaob who has been with us all the way from Winghoek and who has proved invaluable as the team Doctor!! We will say goodbye to Professor and Mrs Kopelman at the CT arirport as they fly home at the same time but with a duifferent carrier.

7 wins from 9 games is an outstanding return from the tour and certainly by far the best record of the 5 tours we have undertaken to South Africa. The team played very effectivley as a unit and nop one failed to make a contribution on and off the field. The management's admiration to the team for their outstanding efforts was conveyed to theteam at a team meeting in the evening. At the meting a few awards were made. After ione or two " amusing " awards the following were given.

Best tourist Simon Macleod

Batsman of the tour Rishabh Shah

Bowler of the tour Abhi Bothra.

And then JGB presented some school awards.

Half colours for cricket were awarded to Abhi Bothra and Gareth James.

School colours were awarded to Simon Macleod. Anand Patel and Rishabh Shah.

Thursday 20th v St Augustine's CC

St. Augustine's, a club we played 3 years ago, is the home of Basil D'Olivera for those of you aged enough to remember hime. They were delighted we returned and hosted us in a very generous way.

Bancroft's batted, Anand 34 and Ari 27 put on 73 for the first wicket in a fairly sedate manner which put a bit of pressure on the rest of the batsman causing one or two to gert out cheaply altho' Faiz's shot staright to long on was entirely his own fault! Nigel scored 44 and Tom 27 to help us to 198 all out. In reply St Augustine's lost wickets regulaerly and after the top order went there was little effective resistance and they were bowled out for 66, Faiz taking 4 - 9 off 6 overs and Abhi 4 - 16 off 10, both first class spells.

Wednesday 19th December. v Western Province CC

Have had no internet access since Tuesday so a brief resume of the final stages of the tour for anyone who might read it.

WPCC has one of the most beautiful club grounds in the country. Very near to Newlands it has an even better outlook on the mountain as there is no brewery or railway line to break the view. The facilities are second to none with cricket hockey football a gym and many other facilities. The members are also life members of Wetern Priovinnce at Newlands and have right of access to matches at Newlands like MCC members at Lord's altho unlike MCC members who actually own Lord's and therefore have free access every day of the year they have to pay the gate fee!!

Bancroft's batted first and did so very effectively - Visakan Balakumar posted an excellent 76 with Rahul Patel scoring 27 and Nigel Jacob 26 in support. 256 all out in 48 overs on one of the hottest days of the trip including Namibia was a good effort. We bowled WPCC out for 139, Akash 2-19, Abhi 4 -16 ( another excvellent spell ) Nigel 2 - 7 and Visakan 2 - 17. An excellnt 5th victory

Tuesday 18th December.

This morning we enjoyed the pre booked trip to Robben Island. Altho' the sea was a little rough all survived the journey and certainly were moved by the guided tour by a former political prisoner. We are now in the Waterfront having lunch before deciding what to do with the rest of the day. Unfortunately our base has no internet facilities at all so your correspondent is now reliant on Internet cafes. Given that we have 3 matches in the next 3 days further blogs might prove difficult until Saturday.

Monday 17th December.

An early phone call delivered news that was not unexpected. The match had been cancelled because of the rain the day before! So we set off early for Cape Town and arrived mid morning at our school and final base. After an hour's practice and lunch we set off for the large shopping mall at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town. After an afternoon spent there we returned top the school and ate locally. Most people's sleep was interrupted by a constant howling gale - the Cape Town Doctor was blowing well.

Sunday December 16th.

Our trip to the beach had to be abandoned as it rained all day - we felt at home!! Instead we went to a shopping mall at Somerset West and then visited Stellenbosch and returned to the hitel via 3 beautiful mountain passes - well they would have been beautiful had they been visible. The weather brightened up in the evening so we went to Hermanus ( our beach! ) for supper instead.

Saturday 15th December

Most of the day has been spent travelling. We said a fond farewell to Knysna at 9.15 this morning and began our trek along the remainder of the beautiful Garden Route. Having passed by Wilderness and George and seen the considerable flood damage along the coatline caused by recent bad weather we spent two hours in the seaside resort of Mossel Bay, where m,ost of the team had another meal opnly about 3 hours after breakfast!!!! JGB and resident Consultant Mr Jacob went in search of some sunblock for Simon MacLeod while APM and JKL did the rounds of the craft shops. We then spent half an hour at the headland where JGB, Mr Jacob and most of the party climbed up the cliffs to the light house, JKL prefering his suduko and APM his talking novel! The view was superb. After another "pit stop" at which the boys refuelled themselves once again we arrived at the beautiful Houw Hoek Inn at 4.45. The boys immediately started on the rounds of the activities with Anand Patel looiking very elegant on the Trampoline whilst Jack Lewis and Simon Macleod began the Bancroft's open championship on the crazy golf course!! Unfortunately after a long sunny drive the moment we arrived it clouded over which has rather taken the edge off the beauty of the spot and the forecast for tomorrow is that it will be windy and possibly a bit wet. Plans for a beach trip to Hermanus may have to change.

Unfortunately the only internet access is in the manager's office so any plans for photos on this site will have to go on hold as the speed of the internet is desperately slow. I also apologise to our correspondent who has requested a posting of the scorebook! Life is, I'm afraid, too short for that luxury!!!!!!!

Friday 14th December R & R in Knysna

After 90 minutes school work this morning the team took a trip by boat to the famous Knysna Heads the narrow point where the Knysna Lagoon and estuary meets the Indian Ocean. Knysna was a busy port over the years and in the days of sail many ships perished as they tried to beat the currents through this opening. On returning to the hotel the rest of the day was spent swimming in the pool, walking in the town shopping and looking at the local crafts or generally recharging batteries for the second half of the tour. Six matches in 7 days ( all whole day games in considerable heat ) has been a challenging schedule and the rest was needed by all, especially the "young" team off staff running the trip!

Thursday 13th December.v Knysna Sports' School

We left Woodridge with heavy hearts. Not only is it a beautiful location but we had been entertained in an excellent manner. The bonds between thye two schools were greatly strengthened by our visit.

After a drive to Knysna where en route we saw the longest bungee jump drop in the world into a ravine and stopped at the Storms River gorge for a drink and photos, we arrived at the Lourie Oval in Knysna to play our next gamne v Knysna Cricket School. The school which offers 9 sports to children from a whole variety of backgrounds especially encouraging the development of those from disadvantaged backgrounds was founded in 1982 by Keith Cretchley another old friend of ours who is always delighted to see us and host a game. Having lost last time he fielded a much stronger sided !! The match was a 35 over game as we did not get there until 1.00 and another match was scheduled for 6.30!!
Bancroft's batted first and moved along at a steady, if unspectacular pace, Anand Patel scoring 51. We were a little behind the clock until Rahul Patel came in and scored a quick fire 46 off 27 balls, rather foolishly running himself out when he was going well. Bancroft's total of 181 - 7 was good off 35 overs against an attack with a couple of quick bowlers. The sports school batted effectively with opener Jade looking quite a prospect scoring 43 and no 6 Geoff ( I use Christian names as the scorer forgot to include surnames !!) hitting 45 including 4 sixes until Abhi Bothra got him with one that turned and hit a top edge! Abhi's 4 for 36 off 7 overs was the pick of the bowling although Akash Sikka and Faiz Khan also bowled effectively. Thed opposition were bowled out for 121.

So at the half way stgae in the tour in terms of time the results are played 6 and won 4 - this is the best set of results on a South African tour and we have 4 further games in which to build on this performance. The topuring party is working very effectivley together with everyone playing their part and all are developing their skills as cricketers from playing in a variety of different conditions. They have also been so far excellent ambassadors for the school and met with a whole range of opponents from a great variety of backgrounds. It is also to be hoped that they have taken in something of the culture and traditions of the country as well as recogniused its beauty.

Wednesday 12 th December v Old Woodridgeans Sports Club.

The day was gloomy with fine mist and rain hbowever we decided to go ahead on time with another 50 overs game starting at 10.00. We used the conditions well ( the opposition kept remarking that we must have felt at home bowling with a wet ball!) and they were bowled out for 189 with only Grant Lockhead scoring effectivley - he must like playing against us, this time he scored 69, on the last tour as a school boy he scored a century against us altho on that occasion he was dropped 4 times!. Pick og the bowlers was Shameel Khan 1 for 16 off 8 overs, Abhi Bothra 3 for 26 off 7 overs and Faiz Khan 3 for 27 off 9. Johnny Russell not only took an excellent catch in the deep but also ran out one of their opening batsmen with a direct hit. Bancroft's batted well in better conditions. Anand Patel scored a good 69 and was well suported by Visakan Balakumar 21, Faiz Khan 29 and James Tuplin 24 not out. A good victory after which the team was taken to Port Elizabeth where they enjoyed any one of a variety of eating places in the Broadwalk shopping mall.

Tuesday 11th December v Woodridge College.

Despite it being holidays the college fielded a strong side including Christiaan Straeuli who willbe at Bancroft's in January. Bancroft's won the toss and batted. The opening bowling was straight and the fielding outstanding and the team found run scoring hard. Only Rishabh Shah with a patient 72 scored effectivley and Bancroft's were bowled out for 159, not enough on a good wicket. However the bowling was effective and Woodridge did niot find it easy to reach their target losing 6 wickets. Pick of the bowlers was Gareth James 10 overs 3 for 35. South Africans do not like facing spin. In the evening the team was taken out to an African restaurant in the countryside where they had traditional Potjke ( a stew cooked over a wood fire ) - a most enjoyable way to end the day.

Monday 10th December.

We left Blumfelde at 05.00 after a veryt warm night when some found it hard to sleep in their huts. It was dark so the driver had even more game to avoid including a family of warthogs which was determined to run in the road ahead of the bus. After an early flight to Johannesburg and a transfer to Port Elizabeth we met our chartered coach and our driver Marius who will be looking after us until the ned of the trip. We were taken to Woodridge College - home of so many SA Gap students who have been to Bancroft's as well as the home for 12 months for a number of post A Level Bancrofctians. Wed were met by Craig Neave, the Headmaster, a good friend of Bancroft's who has spent a sabbatical term with us 5 years ago and who recognised many of the team, some were in the Prep School at the time when he had helped out with cricket! Members of the team were impressed by the beauty of the site and the sheer space, they have 5 cricket ovals, 3 swimming pools, an astro turf hockey pitch as well as countless tennis courts, netball courts and other facilities - all that for a senior school of 350, but they do have sport for all every day!! The boys were entertained to dinner in the school that evening and the staff in the Old Woodridgeans Club.

Sunday 9th December - Blumfelde.

We said goodbye reluctantly to our luxury accommodation in Windhoek early in the morning ( breakfast at 06.15 ) for the drive 200km SE into the desert on the Windhoek HS bus - all mod cons as you would expect from a bus built in the early 1970s!!! We saw more animals en route ( it took over 2 hours ) than we saw cars - kudu, imphala, springbok, donkeys, warthogs to name but a few. We arrived at the remarkable cricket field on the farm owned by Mr Jan Ackerman about 9.45. In the middle of his farm (45,000 acres no less with approaching 5000 sheep) he has created a cricket field with its own irrigation system ans water bore hole. It is not Lord's, the grass peters out before the boundary into sand which means aerial shots can stop in a bunker, but the articial wicket is good and the african huts around the ground ( in which the boys slept) give it a feel almost as unique as Lord's. The uniqueness is rounded off by 4 trees wiuthin the field of play where the local rule is that you can be caught of the tree ansd if a ball gets stuck you can carry on running - something Tom Kopelman took advantage of when he scored a 9 (11 being the record ) !!

Windhoek HS batted first and clearly knew how to make the most of the conditions scoring briskly with very un english style aerial shots. They scored 299 all out in 42 overs. Our bowling toiled in the heat (42 degrees), Rahul Patel took 3 wickets, only Simon Macleod was economic going for 40 off 9 overs. H Marx scored 132 for the opposition. When we batted we took time to adapt to the conditions and their fielding in the heat was more energetic than ours. Visakan Balakumar scored a maiden 1st XI 50 and batted effectively, supported by Rishabh Shah, 34. Others made reasonable scores but we fell well short being bowled out for 208. (nb Tom Kopleman's 9 in one shot must be a new school record of sorts!!.)

Catching up. Friday 14th December.

Firstly apologies for no entries o0n the blog for almost a week. We had no Internet access whilst in the desert and no easy access whilst at Wodridge as the School was on holiday so today we will try and catch up. We are at Knysna and all are in good heart. We have enjoyed a week of cricket, six matches in seven days, the seventh being a day oif travel, so today has been for rest and recreation much to everyone's benefit.

Saturday Dec 8th - Namibia day 4

Match today v Windhoek Technical High School.

Faiz did the right thing when he won the toss and chose to bat. Ari went early flashing outside the off stump but failing to move his feet, a fault brepeated by Rishabh who had looked entirely comfortable scoring 30 until his error. Faiz Khan and Nigel Jacob competently sxupported Anand Patel who was beginning to move his feet at the other end, a big improvement on his first shot when he gave first slip a comfortable catch which he obliged by dropping. Faiz got out when he tried to launch a ball from Namibia into Botswana only to find Long off who took an excellent catch. Nigel Jacob played well until he sacrificed his wicket in the search for quick runs. He was followed in quick succession by Tom Kopleman and Jack Lewis who both got out using the long handled approach -the minnings closed with a not out cameo from James Tuplin.

However at the other end throughout was Anand Patel who played ever more fluently and competently and who finished with a superb 126 not out. It was an outstanding innings. Not only did he carry his bat but in the five tours Bancroft's have made to the African continent he became the first Bancroftian to score a century (98 fom Faiz Kahn on the last trip being the closest.) He was a tired man when the 50 overs were up and was rightly applauded off the pitch by both sides. Bancrofts ended on 256 for 6.

Tom Kopelman took and early wicket when the opposition started batting but the opposition scored quite freely until Abhi Bothra came on to take control from one end in an excellent spell of controlled spin bowling . His figures of 10 0vers, 4 maidens 16 runs 2 wickets do not do justice to such an outstanding spell of bowling. He will bowl a lot worse in future spells and claim 5 wickets. Faiz Khan, Akash Sikka and Visakan Balakumar each took 2 wickets and the 10th was an entertaining run out with both batsmen at the same end. The opposition scored 122 so Bancroft's won by 135 runs. A second excellent victory. In the evening we were entertained to a Braii by the opposition at which a number of presentations were made and speeches given. The main thrujst of the speeches from the opposition side being how grateful they are to Bancroft's for coming to Namibia, they do not get many touring sides at all and how excellent the matches have been for their cricketers and they felt for the Bancroftians, both for their cricket and for the experience of mixing and meeting many Namibian people.

Tomorrow we travel 200km south east of Windhoek deep into the Namibian desert to play on an isolated farmstead. The coach leaves at 07.00 and we are picking up the opposition on the way - the boys of Windhoek HS. It is a major occasion in the area and families will travel from Windhoek and all the farmers from a wide area will be at the match, it is quite an experience. Sadly there will be no internet there so the next post will be probably from Woodridge College on Monday or Tuesday. Thed team will leave the Blumfelde farmstead on Monday morning at 05.00 to catch the pane to Jo'burg and then on to Port Elizabeth and Woodridge College. They will be sad to leave this special country.

We apologise for the absence of photographs. There seems to be a technical hitch. Maybe some IT experts in the team will be able to work on this at Woodridge.

Friday 7th December - Match 1

Today was the first match v Namibian Cricket Academy XI ( a selection of players from their academy.) We arrived in good time because the match was preceded by a visit from the British High Commissioner - an honour. He was a delightful person and thoroughly enjoyed meeting the teams and the staff and was pleased to toss the coin for the match.

We batted first, Anand and Ari started steadily with a good opening partnership and they were followed by Rishabh who scored a fine 75 in partnership with Simon Macleod and Gareth James. Shameel make a brief visit to the crease but scored usefully and the innings was ended by a partnership between James Tuplin and Nigel Jacob. James wielded his club to great effect and a high proportion of his runs came in boundaries. We scored 240 for 6 off 45 overs. The Academy never really recovered from two early wickets taken by Shameel. The bowling was effective and showed promise for the rest of the trip. The other wicket takers were Gareth James, Jonathan Russell and Nigel Jacobs. The fielding was good with an amazingly athletic catch from Jonathan Russell and a smart run out by Rishahis evening to do the bh. We won by just over 100 runs ( the slight vagueness is caused by the fact that the score book has been left at the ground in preparation for tomorrow's match v Windhoek Technical High School. This was an excelent start to the tour and was a fine team effort.

This evening to do the hotel a favour we freed up two rooms - six of the team were temporarily homeless, well not really - they were relocated in the Presidential suite, the premier room in the hotel with two floors, two bathrooms including a jacuzzi, and sofas, and every mod cons, a suite indeed fit for the President. Who says that Bancroftians do not fall on their feet! The other bit of good news is that JGB's suitcase has finally arrived and he is now able to wear something different!!!

Windhoek - day 2

It was an early start this morning, and breakfast met the very high standards which we have witnessed at the hotel. Visakan in particular enjoyed the grub, demolishing a number of eggs with ease. Breakfast was followed by training, between 10 and 12. The fitness training was not to the satisfaction of some, namely Simon MacLeod, however it did not last long as the sun rapidly sapped our energy. We then moved onto a unique net session in grass nets, and managed to watch the Namibian National U19 squad training. The nets allowed us to get a taste of conditions in the middle, and there was a marked improvement in the quality of cricket from the evening before. The entire squad is optimistic about tomorrow's game, and we hope to come to terms with the entirely different conditions here in the middle where it really counts. Three matches in three days will be a hard ask, especially as the day time temperature today was 36 and the local pundits are telling us that the forecast for Sunday, when we are moving 200km south of here to play on a farmstead deep in the desert, is for it to be even hotter with the temperature in the low 40s. We hope to post the scores of the game against the Namibian Cricket Academy Side tomorrow evening - who knows if JGB's case turns up with his camera we might even have a couple of photos.

Windhoek - day 2

Breakfast was a feast involving fruits, meats, full english, croissants, cereal and fruit juices. Visakan has managed to lock his suitcase and lost the keys, however all has been solved.

Today was the first day of cricket, we have no match, instead two sessions of nets, and some fitness training (simon struggling along) and some light fielding drills. the facilities here are wonderful, the grass nets are unique. Sprirts are good within the team, and everyone is eager to play some good cricket tomorrow, hopefully resulting in a win. Currently as we type Jeremy is trying to negotiate the return of his bag, but seems to be failing. The hotel is top class, with all the luxuries and services you could want. Although the swimming pool is oddly cold, it is nice and refreshing after a hard two hour session of training. More training to come later, and a buf

Windhoek - day 1.

Every one and every thing arrived safely - well almost everything. JGB's suitcase was left at Heathrow and as we type is apparently somewhere on its way! (He's been wearing the same clothes now since TUESDAY morning. (think of those poor boxers))
Wed afternoon saw us settling into our hotel ( photos to follow when the camera arrives ) and then the first nets followed by an evening meal at Joe's eatery, the most popular eating house in Windhoek. Comments: Rish - it was massive, Tom - erm.........i dont know, James - I enjoyed my rack of ribs, rump steak and chips, Faiz - Was excellent but for the mixture of crocodile, kudo, zebra, chicken, ostrich and some other meat has given my stomch an odd vibe.

Opening remarks.

I hope that during the tour of Namibia and South Africa that from time to time a diary of what we have been doing will be posted along with the occasional photograph. Watch this space!