SRI LANKA TOUR BLOG
Day 1 - Friday: After a 12 hour flight, via Dubai, the team arrived to a very warm Sri Lankan welcome, of flower garlands and traditional dancers, rain, thunder and lightning !!!!
Day 2 - Saturday: A good nights sleep was had by all and due to the wet weather the night before, morning training was moved to the Colombo Cricket Club's indoor cricket nets. After training the girls had a chance to have a couple of hours around the hotel pool before heading off to watch Sri Lanka v England T20 at the Premadasa International Stadium. The atmosphere was electric and although due to the rain delay in the middle of the match we didn't get back to the hotel until after 12.30am it was a fantastic experience and to top it off England won!!!
Day 3 - Sunday: Match Day 1 - after a late night, we had an early start for our first match at Thurstan College against Colts Cricket Club on a very hot and humid day. Disappointingly the girls lost both T20's convincingly and by the end the girls looked very tired from the heat, however they have learned lots and hopefully will be more competitive for our next match on Tuesday at the 15,000 seater P Sara International Oval
Day 4 - Monday: A much needed leisure day for the girls today, which has been spent mostly sunbathing around the picturesque hotel pool.
Day 5 - Tuesday: Match Day 2 - after another early start we arrived at the P.Sara International Oval which holds up to 15,000 people to play 2 x T20's against Devapathiraja CC. The air conditions today were very poor and together with the heat and humidity, the girls really struggled against a strong opposition and lost both matches.
Day 6 - Wednesday: Today we moved from Colombo to Kandy via Train. We departed the hotel by foot for the 20 min walk to the Colombo Fort Train Station, which at rush hour was an experience! The 2.5 hour train journey took us through the Sri Lanka country side including Paddy Fields and Forest, thankfully we traveled in the air conditioned first class carriage unlike most of the locals. On arrival at Kandy we checked into the stunning Grand Kandyman Hotel. After a spot of lunch we then headed off for a city tour of Kandy which included the most sacred Buddhist site in Sri Lanka, the Temple of the Tooth.
Day 7 - Thursday: Match Day 3 - today we were due to play Kandy Province in 2 x T20's at the 1st Class Asigirya Stadium (Trinity College) which originally was used for the Kandy Test Matches, which sits in the valley below our hotel. Unfortunately due to heavy rain overnight we arrived to a very soggy outfield so we had to sit around for a couple of hours to allow for it to dry, and then followed by a team effort to remove the covers we managed to start play at 11.00am. The weather in Kandy is also a lot cooler and not near as humid as Colombo so the girls found the conditions more to their liking and this resulted in a convincing win, their first of the tour. As there was still plenty of time left in the day a 10/10 match was also played which Hertfordshire also won easily. One of the highlights from the match was the arrival of our newest supporters, the local monkeys who took to watching us from the top of the score box.
Day 8 - Friday: Today we move on from beautiful Kandy to Negombo via a Tea Factory and then one of the highlights of our trip, the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage based among the green hills of Kegalle. The Elephant orphanage is home to 60 elephants who roam freely in the conservation sanctuary and the girls got the chance to get up close to the magnificent mammals. After lunch in Pinnawela we travelled for another couple of hours to our final destination of our trip Negombo and to the fabulous beach-side Jetwing Beach Hotel.
Day 9 - Saturday: Match Day 4 - today was our last match day of the tour and we played a very strong Sri Lankan Navy team ina a 40 over match at the BOI Katunayake Cricket Ground in Negombo, on what was probably the hottest day of the tour. After a good solid start Hertfordshire were bowled out in the 39th Over for 119, which the very strong Navy team knocked off for just 1 wicket in under 20 overs. A disappointing end to the tour for the team, but lots has been learned.
Day 10 - Sunday: Last day of Tour - today the girls got to enjoy their last day in Sri Lanka soaking up the sunshine around the hotel pool and beach before our final team dinner and our end of tour presentation. Our fantastic hosts and Tour Organisers, Lion's Sports Travel arranged a special suprise for all of the tour party and supporters, by giving all the girls a Sari and the guys were not left out and were presented with Sarong. At the end of tour presentation awards speeches were made by the Coach and Captain and Tour awards were given out to Batting: Amy Price Bowling: Catherine Cirkel All-Rounder: Arminah Awan
Day 11 - Monday: Homeward Bound - after an early flight out of Colombo, via Dubai, and 14 hours later we land back to a cold and wet Heathrow and back to reality - it has been a fantastic tour, all the girls were a great credit to both Hertfordshire Cricket and themselves, their attitude and conduct on and off the pitch was exemplary and made my role as Manager of the tour both easy and really enjoyable. Although the results on the pitch were not as they had hoped, I'm sure all the girls have learnt a lot on the cricketing side and have taken back home fabulous memories from this amazing tour.
Julie Page
Performance Programmes Manager
Hertfordshire Cricket
Lions Sports Travel
Specialist in Bespoke sports tours to Sri Lanka
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