Goodbye Barbados

Last update from Barbados.

Update 4

After a free morning shopping and exploring Bridgetown (the capital), the U/17 boys travelled back to Speightstown to play the rescheduled game against Colleridge and Parry in a T20 fixture.


Wanderers U/17  V  Colleridge & Parry School

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Wanderers lost the early wicket of Jacob Wilson. From here Kale Hare and Pat Whittard put on 60 in even time. After their departure there were contributions from most players with Reece Woods making a quick fire 25 off 10 balls and Daniel Lawrence a swashbuckling 26 from 8 deliveries to have Wanderers on 7 for 171 from their 20 overs. In reply, C & P made a good start getting to 115 for the loss of only two wickets. With three overs remaining C & P still needed 46 runs to take an unlikely victory but when they took 17 from the 18th over and 14 from the 19th there were some jitters in the Wanderers camp. Jacob Wilson came on to bowl the last over and gave up a miserly 6 runs. Wanderers U/17's win their first game on tour!!!

Wanderers  7 for 171

P. Whittard     65
D. Lawrence     26
R. Woods     25

Colleridge & Parry

T. Jellie     3/32
M. Morgan     1/15


Match Day 5

Wanderers U/15  V  Dover Juniors

Wanderers won the toss and elected to bat but were immediately under fire losing wickets on 10 and 24. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and we were bundled out for 89. In reply, Dover Juniors passed our score with ease and managed to amass a huge score of 214 for the loss of six wickets. Many lessons were learnt and we look forward to much better performances from here on.

Wanderers     89

L. Fairbairn     18
W. Simpson     16
Z. Williams     14

Dover Juniors     6/214

M. Cranfield     2/31
S. Fairbairn     2/16


Wanderers U/17  V  St. James School

On a roll, Wanderers won the toss again and elected to bat on a flat, dry wicket in the Eastern part of the island. Despite the early loss of Morgan, Kale Hare was able to push on and score a solid 51 and set up a big score for the Wanderers. Joined by Tom Jellie, they put on a valuable 151 run partnership with Jellie scoring 70 nefore being dosmissed when the score was 162. From here, some solid hitting from Alex Pisani and Reece Woods saw them finish with a total of 7/256. Mark Twyford and Mitch Morgan ripped through the St. James top order and they were never able to recover. In the end they batted time and were held to a mere 8/106. That's two in a row for the U/17's, they are now on a roll.

Wanderers     7/256

T. Jellie     70
K. Hare     51
R. Woods     33n.o.

St. James

M. Morgan     2/11
J. Wilson    2/13
T. Jellie     2/13


Match Day 6

Unfortunately our final games in Barbados were abandoned due to rain but not before both teams had the opportunity to bat, with some great performance from the Wanderers boys. The U/15 team managed to get to 2 for 76 from 18 overs against St. Philips Juniors with Simon Fairbairn getting 29 and Will Simpson getting 24 not out. The U/17's played against Grantley Adams and were able to put together a very competitive 9/195 from 30 overs with Jacob McGoldrick scoring 51, Tom Jellie getting 29 not out and Kale Hare returning to the wicket after being struck in the head to score 33 not out including a reverse sweep for 6 off the last ball of the innings.

Today we leave Barbados and head back to the USA. We've had a fantastic time here and have really appreciated the hospitality shown to us by all the clubs we have visited and from the Bajan people in general.

Another two days in paradise, another two matches down, with mixed results.

Match Day 3

Both teams travelled to Bridgetown to play Harrison School, a 300 year old school of academic excellence. Upon arrival it was clear that the start of play would be delayed due to the wet conditions over the past few days. The ground were in a sensational setting, especially that of the U/15 team whose field was surrounded by 19th century school buildings.

Wanderers U/15  V Harrison School

After winning the toss, Wanderers sent Harrison in on what looked like a seaming pitch and proved to be just so and the home team was soon reduced to 3 for 28. A rearguard action and some lusty hitting on a small ground resulted in them scoring  a very competitive 8/189. Wanderers  started brightly with a boundary from the first ball but a wicket followed immediately. Wickets fell at regular intervals and the game seemed out of reach despite a fantastic 89 from Will Simpson until Alex Dempster came to the wicket and struck 32 in better than even time to put Wanderers in a winning position. Unfortunately the lower order were unable to maintain the run rate and wickets fell to leave us all out for 182, seven runs short. A great effort, despite falling short.

Harrison  8/189
A. Dempster     3/23
A. Lean     2/16
W. Simpson     2/23

Wanderers  182

W. Simpson     89
A. Dempster     32

Wanderers U/17  V  Harrison

The toss was lost and we were sent in to bat on a very difficult pitch where it was going to be tough to get a result from the outset. Wickets fell early and we were left reeling at 5 for 44 before Tom Jellie and Reece Woods were able to get together and put on 51 and carry the team to  a total of 5 for 95. Jellie scoring 27 not out and Woods on 20 not out. Not a huge target on a pitch that was drying out and getting easier to bat on. The bowlers toiled manfully but were unable to remove one of the openers who carried his bat for 41 not out. Despite some late wickets, Harrison cruised to a win with 5 for 96 off only 23 overs.

Wanderers  5/95
T. Jellie     27
R. Woods     20

Harrison  5/96
M. Morgan     2/12
M. Twyford  2/13


Match Day 4

Today saw the U/15 squad take the short trip to The Foundation School, a short 5 minute trip from our hotel in Oistins while the U/17’s made the trip back to Alexandra School in Speightstown.

Wanderers U/15  V  Foundation School

After winning the toss and batting on what looked to be a pretty flat batting wicket we were unlucky to lose our first wicket on 5. From here we were able to put together a series of partnerships with Nat Wilson anchoring the innings with a well constructed 58. A contribution of 25 from Zac Williams and a rapid 28 from Vinay Matta helped us post a score of 168 from our 30 overs.  An early wicket to the visitors was a good startand was soon followed by another but when the home team was 2 for 115 all looked lost. An inspired bowling change, bringing on spin from both ends turned the game on it’s head with Iggy Cranfield and Zac Williams both getting 4 for 13 off six over’s to bowl the home side out for 143 off the last ball of the innings .

Wanderers  6/168
N. Wilson     58
V. Matta     28
Z. Williams     25

Foundation  143
I. Carnfield     4/13
Z. Williams     4/13


Wanderers U/17  V  Alexandra School

Wanderers finally won a toss and elected to bat with opener, Jake Wilson scoring 41. Against some West Indian fast bowling like we haven’t seen yet on tour, We were able to put together a score of 159 with contributions of 30 from Tom Jellie and 22 from Daniel Lawrence. Unfortunately, the joy ended there with the home side cruising to victory only three wickets down and with five overs to spare.

Wanderers  159
J. Wilson     41
T. Jellie     30
D. Lawrence     22

Alexandra  3/160
M. Morgan     1/14
J. Wilson      1/23

Update No 3

Update No 2

Over the last three days we have had our first two fixtures and a day out in the Carribean Sea.

April 10 - Match Day 1

U/15 Wanderers  V Carlton Cricket Club

Our first experience of a West Indian pitch on the Desmond Haynes Ovalwas a solid yet unfulfilled one. After winning the toss and choosing to bat on a hard, flat dry wicket we what we felt was a competitive target of 8/139. We were soon to discover that we were well short of the required score as Carlton Cricket Club raced to 96 without loss. Unfortunately, our score was passed in 21 overs for the loss of only three wickets. The highlight of the day was perhaps meeting the great Desmond Haynes himself.

U/15 Wanderers     8/139

T. Jellie     26
A. Lean     16
Z. Williams     11

Carlton Cricket Club     3/141

I. Cranfield     2/36

U/17 Wanderers  V  St. Philips Juniors

After losing the toss and being asked to bowl, St Philips set about making a competitive score of 7 for 234 including a century from Kyle Franklin. Knowing we had a big job ahead of us we set about chasing a big target with a slow but steady start. A magnificent 81 from Pat Whittard put us in a position to chase the score but with a required run rate of greater than 10 for the last 12 overs it was an uphill battle. A cavalier 41 off only 23 balls from Reece Woods wasn't quite enough and we fell short by 2 runs.

St Philips Juniors     7/234

J. McGoldrick     2/21
R. Woods     2/31

U/17 Wanderers     9/232

P. Whittard     81
R. Woods     41
A. Pisani     26


April 11 - Match Day 2

Unfortunately the elements conspired to deny the U/17's a game on Match Day 2, this game has been rescheduled as a T20 fixture on Friday afternoon.

U/15 Wanderers  V  Alexandra's School

A fantastic start with the ball had Alexandra's in trouble with the fall of three early wickets. Alexandra's recovered to set a total of 7 for 125. Fairbairn and Cranfield again made a great start of 50 before Zac Williams led the team to it's first win on tour with a quick fire 21. The rest of the boys batting sensibly, rotating the strike and putting the bad ball away to win in the 22nd over with 6 wickets to spare, a huge six over cover from Anthony Lean bringing up the win.

Alexandra's School     7/125

L. Fairbairn   3/30
A. Dempster  2/22

U/15 Wanderers     4/126

Z. Williams 26
S. Fairbairn  19
I. Cranfield  17
A. Lean 16n.o.

April 12 - Catamaran Tour

Sleep in today and then a short trip to Bridgetown for a day on a Catamaran. After a short trip we stopped to snorkel over three wrecked ships where sea life was abundant. Fish of all colours swim in schools surrounding us. From here we were able to snorkel with the Green Sea Turtles, getting up close and personal with the gentle, placid animals. Shortly after that we treated to a view of two humpback whales that had meandered into the bay we were in (something which apparently only happens once or twice a year). A lazy cruise in the Carribean Sea finished off a restful day before we get back into the competitive swing tomorrow.