Fourteen of the touring party plus Clarence Hiles stood at the first in great expectation. In particular we all wanted to see Turk under pressure and he didn’t disappoint, his first two cack-handed efforts ending up amongst the holiday homes located between the fairways. After Clarence’s first effort fairing not much better he decided we would all need a mulligan for the first so that made us all breathe easy. There were a few good golfers out on display but on the whole we witnessed average golf played on a tight course in hot conditions.
Unsurprisingly the buggy Ricky and I had hired couldn’t withstand the reckless driving nor the now overweight cricketers, thanks be to the all you can eat buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We developed a flat tyre and subsequently Ricky had to ride on the back like a cowboy on a bucking bronco.
Jordan McKeown was the bandit of the day, playing off 18 he got 41 points (41 more than Nicky had predicted Bangor will obtain in the Premier League this season). Jordy claimed to have not played in years but we all know he lives the John Daly existence whilst studying in Newcastle.
I’ve been told that my articles don’t contain enough cricket content so I suppose I’d better move on and talk about our final game versus St. John Cultural. We had the pleasure of being joined by Pete Free for this fixture. Pete is an MCC cricketer and had just arrived on the island with his wife and kids so the fact he was keen to pay $100US to taxi up to play shows one of two things: either he loves cricket or loves being away from his wife and kids. Either way it was great to have the extra resources especially in the bowling department where we were dropping like flies.
For once Cowden called incorrectly and we were to field in the heat of the afternoon sun. Brilliant. The match was only a 35 over match so it shouldn’t last too long, how wrong I was. The opposition decided to slow down play anyway possible, changing pads and shoes at ridiculously regularity. At one point the batter wanted to change sex but this was one step too far. Consequently I decided to stop fielding and instead I chaperoned balls to the boundary, which in order to paint a visual description, wasn’t the biggest. My highlight of the fielding innings was finding a 4 inch long dead frog in the comedy rigamortis position. In cricketing terms the highlight was on the stroke of 35 overs when the umpire called time. They had achieved 264 in their allotted overs. One might think this was a huge total but knowing we had smallish boundaries and big hitters in our line up, nothing was impossible. I remember a speech from my childhood mentor Patrick Dixon who coined the phrase “Bangor Believe” anytime we were staring defeat in the face.
In reply our big opener Neil Russell took to the field with Peter Free who had already developed the nickname ‘Pete’ despite only being with the party a number of hours. Pete was unluckily bowled for a blob so Neil knew the pressure would be on him to keep things going. In typical fashion Neil bludgeoned the St. Johns’ attack all around the park, even playing through a nasty hand injury; what a hero. He eventually departed for a sexy 89.
The game looked to be heading in the direction of the home side until Andrew Cowden came to the party. With Russell the scoring rate increased and we were back in the hunt of victory. Oh the excitement. The skipper then departed along with a few others who didn’t contribute much and Ray and Zach put on a handy partnership of around 40 to keep us in the hunt. In the 29th over we were on 198. Zach then got out so me, batting at ten sauntered in needing 30 off two overs. Ray informed me that the slow left armer wasn’t turning it and I missed the first ball which the great Gaz Kidd would have been proud of. His next ball didn’t turn so I carved it over point for a four. Next ball was a McCollum special, not pitching, and I lofted it for six over cover. We needed 19 off the last over, I was on strike with Ray at the other end on 21 not out. The first two balls sailed over the rope for six and I thought happy days. Next ball I was clean bowled trying to be a hero and this brought BJ Boultwood to the crease. If anyone was to hit the runs it had to be ‘Beej’ he just tries so hard. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and we ended up not getting the four that we needed off the last ball.
Losing by 3 runs chasing 264 in 35 overs was some effort and although we lost it felt like a win so the spirits were high as we drove off to Clarence’s pad for some post-match drinks and the best spread I have seen since buying nuts magazine as a 15 year old. Clarence Hiles of North Down (although I won’t hold that against him) has been our contact in Barbados and we are indebted to him. The amount of work he has put in is outstanding and we thank you and Pamela for having us and hope to see “y’all” again very soon!
So that’s it for another tour. Over. Done. Home. I would like to also thank Neil Russell, Andrew Cowden and Alan Waite for putting in hours and hours alongside Feherty Travel of Bangor organising such a successful trip both on and off the field. Without you guys the spirit of the Grasshoppers wouldn’t live on so keep up the good work and NEW ZEALAND/Sri Lanka 2013?!
