Barbados Cricket Tour - Main Page

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At last the 1st of March arrived and once again Perkins CC were off on tour to the friendly, sun-kissed island of Barbados. This was our second trip to the island - our first in 1997 was so enjoyable that we decided that we must go back again.

We had a party of 38 - which included 15 players. In the two weeks that we were there we were to play 5 games.

We arrived at our Hotel - Coconut Court in Hastings at about 4:00pm on the Monday. We all got to our rooms then made sure that we were all down in the bar for 6:00pm for Happy Hour, to ensure that the tour started in a positive fashion!!

On our first full day everyone relaxed after the flight and got geared up for the welcoming cocktail party in the evening.

Our party was held at 'Rampus by the Sea' in Speightstown. Sir Gary Sobers and Sir Everton Weekes attended and welcomed us back to their island. The rum punch and beer flowed like water, then after eating the music and dancing began. We had an excellent evening and in our midst we found we had a few stars in the dancing department , was it the result of the music or the rum ?

Our matches started off with the first one against North Stars in the parish of St. Lucy where a horse wandered onto the pitch during the match. We came a good second in this match but we had a very entertaining day. We then joined the team and their friends in a Bajun buffet and drinks. Then it was 'fines' and a sing song to round off our day with them.

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Our second match was at Mahaica in Speightstown where we seemed to be having to chase the ball across the road into the bus station an awful lot. We finished the match - we came second again and then joined local children for a game of football on the cricket pitch, then it was Bajun stew and drinks again. While we were there we met up with Stafford and Tweetie who we met 2 years ago when we played against Bristol. There was much talking and hand shaking and threats from Tweetie that they were going to give us an even harder match this time !! (we lost last time )

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On the Sunday we went to Conrad Hunte CC at Shorey Village ( where Nigel Benn's Auntie Lucy has a bar ). We started playing but soon rain stopped play for about 45mins. We think this was a ploy on their part as we consequently lost the match!

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Our fourth match was at Market Hill where we had a close match 2 years ago. We think they remembered that we nearly beat them then so had a stronger team this time around - we lost by 75 runs. Another good evening followed and they wanted us all to go back there on the Saturday to play them again and promised us we would have an even more enjoyable evening with them. Unfortunately we couldn't oblige as some of the party had booked for the Jolly Roger and various other trips.

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Our last match was to be at Bristol against Tweetie and co. But due to heavy rain during the night the match had to be cancelled , but they still wanted us to go to their club and join them for the Bajun buffet, drinks and entertainment!! As the match was cancelled we visited the local rum distillery instead and then a Rum shop in Speightstown where it didn't take us long to mix with the local, have a sing song and to drink the Rum shop dry.

Claiming the victory by default.......obviously they heard we were going to beat them and they watered the pitch !

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Our matches had come to an end with us coming a good second in each one, but we came out top in the Bar and Entertainment department. We even had our own musical director on tour complete with his sheet music !

In between the cricket we visited the biggest horse race in the Caribbean :- The Sandy Lane Gold Cup at the Garrison Savannah - which was just up the road from our Hotel. Another good day, some went home with less dollars and some with more than they started the day with. We did all sorts of other things from beach bathing to various excursions ranging from fishing trips to ' Ted's Tour' of the Island. The evenings were spent in bars, The Boatyard, Harbour Lights and various restaurants and Kentucky Fried Chicken for a certain Mr Craig Brammall !!! - KFC will not be making as much profit now that he's back in England !!

Before we knew it it was Monday 15th   and time to leave this beautiful island for the cold wet weather of Shropshire.

It was another successful trip and we would like to think that we shall go back again one day to meet all the friends we've already made there and maybe to win just one match.

Our sights are now set on a tour to South Africa in 2 or 3 years time. Wonder if we can win a match there ?.....no harm in dreaming is there !