Elizabeth, thoroughly enjoyed by all of us, plus
our host families.
The following day we flew to Johannesburg
accompanied by the same South African cricket
team we had been watching the previous night.
On arriving we went for a lovely swim at a
school where Mr Lewis had spent a year
coaching cricket.
Our final fixture of the tour was a narrow loss
against St John's, Johannesburg, (a team we
ended up beating in a re-match during our own
English season). Our stay in Johannesburg was
only a short one before we embarked on a long
and uncomfortable three and a half hour drive
to our last stop of the tour, Sun City. This part
of the trip was to allow the squad a bit of time
to unwind and to continue working on, as Mr
Lewis quite often states, our 'team cohesion'.
We went to the water park, some played golf,
and we generally had a fantastic time. At
4.00am the following morning the keen ones
amongst us were outside the hotel, waiting
patiently until our truck arrived to take us on a
game drive. According to the driver, he had
worked at the game park for three years, and
had only seen leopards ten times, but we were
lucky enough to witness them, plus other
animals including giraffes and buffalo.
The last night of the tour was undoubtedly the
best, the highlight being Ross Kieswetter and
Chris Griffiths' fines challenge, and finally the
team meal we had afterwards. Ross was
eventually awarded 'idiot of the tour' for
collecting the most number of fines. His
forfeit: to wear ridiculous oversized sunglasses!
Adding insult to injury, he was forced to wear
them all the way back to Taunton! The trip
back was the most depressing one we had ever
taken!
This tour was incredibly important in
toughening us up to a much harsher version of
not only cricket, but life. The season we had
to follow proved how crucial this trip was to
our progression. Mr Lewis always stated that
although we lost more games than we won, he
wouldn't have changed any of the results. We
learned a serious amount about our cricket and
ourselves, and it is an experience we will all
never forget. I believe that it bonded us
together immensely, and I am very proud to say
that I was part of it and part of the team that
achieved so much success in the following
season back home. Thanks to Mr Lewis for
organising this amazing tour, and for all the
hard work he put into coaching us, and thanks
to Dennis for always being a good laugh and
for helping us out in the nets. All the players
would also like to thank their parents for giving
them the opportunity to go. We will never
forget this brilliant two weeks of our lives.
Aluredian
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