Well I'm back home after a very frustrating trip to Australia. Frustrating
as, on arrival in Sydney, we were told that the weather had just broken
after a prolonged drought. We all laughed and thought nothing more about it.
In the final analysis we lost half of the 50 over matches to that stuff that
falls out of the skies called rain albeit warm rain!! This caused all sorts
of difficulties with team selections so that everyone would be given a fair
crack at the whip. 12,000 miles is a long way to travel not to play cricket.
Check out full reports on matches (or not) on www.wdcu-cricket.net
Sydney centre and the harbour area were spectacular but Sydney itself is a
sprawling, busy and vibrant major centre for Oz. A couple of visits to the
waterfront reminded me of Cape Town although we only had one meal there
courtesy of Andy Hislop's parents for which grateful thanks. We were, in
fact, based at Guildford one of the suburbs of the city. Accommodation was
ideal in motel apartments attached to what was the only entertainment in the
area with a lively bistro attached. Food is one of the cheap items in Oz
with Tuesdays and Sundays offering steak and chips for $5 (£2 approx). This
went down very well with the lads but there was also an extensive menu
otherwise available. The tour phrase for eating habits for the lads was
"grazing" - imagine a flock of sheep continuously munching at the cud. That
is an exact description - little and all of the time. They must have spent a
fortune! The Subway food chain shares increased dramatically in value during
the tour. The visit to the SCG for a training session with Murray Creed was
memorable as were visits to Cogee and Bondi beaches - just had to do the
latter!! Two people were lost at Bondi whilst we were in Sydney neither of
them ours fortunately.
Moving on to Brisbane and the difference was dramatic. Staying at the
Hillcrest Apartments at the top of Vulture Street on the south bank of the
river provided sensational views of the city, the river and the sunsets
(when not raining). The apartments were huge with two bedrooms and a central
lounge/self catering area adjoining. The riverside restaurants and the
artificial beach were big attractions and the visit to the Gabba was
incredible.
The rains followed us to the Gold Coast and Surfers' Paradise and the only
cricket experienced was on the beach. It takes four hours to walk the length
of it we're told. The waves got bigger as the stay progressed and
sandblasting was the order of the day if lying on it. Much of the time was
spent by the hotel poolside topping up the somewhat indifferent tans
experienced to date.
It sounds as though this was one big "holiday" but the truth is that we were
in Oz to play cricket. The fact that we were not allowed to half of the time
meant that we had to fill time by visits to indoor cricket centres with lots
of coaching sessions. Our resident coach in Sydney was Keith Lawrence (28)
who was absolutely superb. He is thinking of coming to Scotland in the near
future to coach (level 2) whilst at the same time catching up on an MBA
degree. He will go down very well over here and I have his e-mail address if
anyone is interested.
Overall Oz was fascinating but very westernised in the areas visited. Dubai
is the place to shop for duty free and I hear shouts of "Give it up" when I
tell you that 200 cigarettes cost less than a fiver there. I've got to
provide the news writers with stories like setting my pads on fire from time
to time, haven't
I?
It's not long till our own season begins so all 3rd XI, Juniors and parental
social secretaries please stay by your phones for the calls to arms. I'll be
in touch shortly.
Colin Dawson