Although it wasn’t particularly warm weather over the Easter holidays, Shiplake College athletes had the sun beaming down on them, as they headed to beautiful Barbados to enjoy a ten day sports tour. Cricketers, tennis players and netballers, accompanied by Mr Jonnie Howorth, Mr Adam Mallins, Miss Rebecca McKellar and Mrs Lou Porter, went abroad to enjoy training sessions and a number of fixtures against local schools, against the stunning backdrop of the Caribbean island.
Cricket
After a day’s acclimatisation on the beaches of St Lawrence and Dover it was time for the cricketers to get down to business. After an intense (and warm!) training session at the Franklin Stephenson Academy the boys were ready for the first match against Mill Wall CC, played at the aptly named Isolation Cricket Club! Although Shiplake were 32 for 4, a stunning rearguard from Ollie Brown (55*) and Freddie Bowcock (36), ably assisted by Alex Bradley (26) meant Shiplake finished their 35 overs of 175 for 7. Mill Wall CC never recovered and lost wickets at vital times, ending their 35 overs on 149 for 8. Finn Arbuckle was the pick of the bowlers, ending with 2 for 14 off 6 overs.
The team were then up against the talented Franklin Stephenson Academy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Opener Ben Arnold (17) laid a platform but soon the team lost wickets and found themselves 38 for 5 off 12 overs. Captain Harry Ibbitson battled away, leaving Shiplake 126 all out. A couple of dropped catches meant that Shiplake couldn’t finish off the tail and lost by a narrow margin of three wickets. The heavens opened the following day, and the match against the Lodge School took place amongst many puddles. Again Ibbitson batted extremely well, for an unbeaten 56 to set the Lodge School 98 to win in 20 overs. Lewis Bishop, Freddie Bowcock and Alex Bradley all picked up wickets to leave the Lodge 21 for 3, but they managed to put together two decent partnerships which we couldn’t break sufficiently quickly, and they chased down 97 for the loss of five wickets with an over to spare.
After a day recuperating at the Boatyard beach party the boys were ready for the last game of the tour, against Newbury Cyclones, home club of England bowling coach Otis Gibson, and host to an array for Barbados U17 players. It was a pleasure to see these players in action1 Some excellent Shiplake bowling saw Newbury reduced to 37 for 3 off 7 overs, with Alex Bradley and Tom Ibbitson taking early wickets. When Bowcock took two wickets in an over the hosts were struggling on 126 for 5. However, Barbados U17 batsman Josh Edmund strode to the crease and hit a faultless 122 not out, including 11 sixes to steer Newbury to 284 for 7 off 35 overs. A daunting prospect! Lewis Bishop and Darius Braun faced the opening bowlers against paces they had not faced before and did well with Bishop scoring 21 and seeing off the new ball. Contributions from Brown (22), Bowcock (18), Ben Arnold (17*) and Tom Ibbitson (14) meant that Shiplake got to 160 all out, but Edmund’s innings was the difference between the sides.
The prestigious Man of the Tour award was jointly awarded to Ollie Brown and Justin Van Vuuren. Harry Ibbitson was awarded Best Batsman, Freddie Bowcock won Best Bowler and Finn Arbuckle and Lewis Bishop jointly won Most Improved Player.
Netball
The girls enjoyed four different matches. In their first match they came up against UWI, the Barbados University Team. Although assured that this would be the easiest match of the four fixtures that were lined up, the girls had quite a surprise when the opposition proved to be the toughest match of the week! With each quarter of the match, the rivals managed to play many fresh legs, which – with only seven players – the Shiplake team found themselves unable to do. Despite the warm weather, it had been raining, which was a welcome relief! The tough match, which ended with a 32-4 loss for the Shiplake girls, provided them with things to work on for the next game: aggression, speed and dynamics.
The second game was against Knotre Dame Ballers, and, despite a 17-7 loss against the rivals, the Shiplake team had started to pull together, understanding more of the Bajan style and feeling slightly less intimidated! Match three was against another local school: St Georges Newbury. The Shiplake team were by now becoming accustomed to the heat, getting to grips with the fast pace and improving with every game.
By the fourth and final match, against the Barbados Development Squad, the scores were as close as they had been all week, with Shiplake finishing the match 8 points to 13. An early start for the match meant a hotter start, but the teams were well matched. Shiplake took an early lead, but with the opposition bringing on new players at half time, the opposition just managed to pull away in the last quarter. The time away together helped the girls become more acquainted with a variety of netball tactics.
Tennis
The Shiplake tennis players were pitted against a range of players, aged between nine and 18. The team, based at the Barbados Tennis Academy, enjoyed social matches with no official fixtures. Against the backdrop of beautiful beaches, the tennis players took on elite Barbadian players, learning a variety of different tactics and developing more consistency within their matches, as well as brushing up on serving skills with the US tennis coach for the academy. Angus Munro won the award for the most improved tennis player, showing that he really took what he was learning on board.
Between the matches, the players travelled from place to place in local buses, which bore a striking resemblance to moving discos: colourful painted walls and blaring music were a far cry from any school bus in the UK! The group also enjoyed indulging in sight-seeing and visiting local attractions, and visiting the capital of Bridgetown. A particular highlight was visiting the ‘boatyard’, a waterpark in the sea complete with rope swings and an ocean trampoline. The group also had the opportunity to swim with turtles, which was an incredible opportunity. At one point, aboard a catamaran, the team had the sudden realisation that the Cricket World Cup final was on. Swimming ashore to a local bar to watch the match seemed the obvious solution and so this was the course of action that followed! The team enjoyed a bonding karaoke evening, as well as copious amounts of revision when time allowed…! The pupils and teachers would like to extend their thanks to the schools who took part in the tour and made it all possible. Mr Mallins commented that 'the tour was an excellent time to bond and work hard together, and we were so fortunate with the incredible location. Thank you to everyone involved, and a special thank you to the parents who chose to holiday in the same area so that they could support their sons and daughters in these 'away' matches!'
