Here Tom Jones reminisces about our time spent in a
land far far away!
The first leg:
Getting to Tobago.
Friday March 21, 4pm at Newcastle Airport domestic
departures: the scene is set for the first leg of
Warkworth CC’s inaugural Tour of the West Indies…
all players, supporters and travel partners are
present and accounted for, tickets distributed and
passports checked. Fond farewells are made before
everyone takes a deep breath and pinches themselves
in an attempt to check that they are really going to
be setting foot on Caribbean soil in less than 24
hours…and with that, the group sets off.
On
their way to Crown Point International Airport in
Tobago, the Warkworth CC Touring party, smartly
dressed in their pristine white Tour Polo shirts and
some wearing their official Tour Sun Hats, first
flew down to Gatwick, where they spent the night and
took in the sights of sunny Crawley.
The
next leg of the outward journey was from Gatwick
itself to Tobago via Grenada. All went well on the
long haul flight, fellow passengers complimenting
the guys on their behavior and some even asking
where we were playing so that they could come and
watch! Could this be the start of an International
Platinum Club?
Landing at Grenada we were all amazed to see it was
raining. Umpire Bramald calmly flicked through his
Duckworth/Lewis stats and made a mental note of what
contingency plan would be required if the
precipitation persisted!
But there was no need to panic! Once we touched down
in Tobago, the sun was still high in the sky and the
temperature a heady 80 degrees! A steel pan band
played a welcoming tune and the first bottles of
Carib lager
were consumed with gusto thanks to Robson D! Even
though this was a delightful gesture in its own
right, I think what was really special was seeing
the two Warkworth CC Welcome Boards as we walked out
of arrivals. We knew we were here… and the locals
knew it too….
Second Leg: Finding our feet.
Our
base for the next week or two was the Toucan Inn. It
was comfortable, in a great location for getting to
the beach and local “amenities” and all the staff
were extremely friendly. And
so it was that the Warkworth CC Touring Party took
over the hotel and made it a home away from home.
Top bombing quickly became a daily ritual in the
pool as did head tennis and saying sweet things to
the resident tropical birds!
Exploring the local vicinity meant having to do
impromptu interviews wherever we went as the cricket
fanatical locals kept approaching us in the street
or on the beach and saying they had been waiting for
us to get here for weeks! The distinctive green
“floppies” soon had to be replaced by less
conspicuous millinery such as rasta hats, as it
became clear that this was a requirement for a minor
celeb to blend in!
In
the first couple of days we all sampled the delights
of the palm tree lined beaches and took a liking to
pina coladas as well as the ubiquitous Carib lager!
Some of the group got some much needed pre match
practice in on the golf
course at Mount Irvine whilst others decided to go
in search of green parrots or Loring lesser spotted
Douglasses in the rain forest! Adam Hall triumphed
in the golf which was not to be his only award of
the trip…
During all this settling in period, we were
challenged by Declan at Reception to play a
“friendly” against his local club side at Bon
Accord. After some serious negotiating and checking
of our insurance policies, we agreed to play in what
would now become our first cricket match on Tour.
The Third Leg: Beyond a Caribbean
Boundary: Three games in four days.
Now
started the serious business of donning the Tour
whites, enduring the incredible
heat and facing up to our first West Indian
opposition…
To
our credit we performed more than adequately as we
bowled Bon Accord out for less than 140 in their
allotted thirty overs. Matt Currie was the pick of
the bowlers although W Pringle also should get a
worthy mention. It was great to see the latest
products of the Warkworth spin-bowling academy on
show as well in the form of Mick “card shark” Sewell
and Michael “ Mushtaq” Potts. Even the fielding was
good in the main: skipper D Potts and Stephen
“Lightswitch” Dimelow taking excellent catches.
After half a ton of watermelon and bananas for
“tea” our two openers, Potts and Dimelow, strode
purposefully to the crease both carefully padded up
and helmeted! The rest as they say is history, as
Warkworth went on to record a memorable maiden
victory on Caribbean soil by 5 wickets. Everyone
contributed to the run chase, Davison and Jones
putting together a 60 run partnership to ease the
Tourists home!
After a night of celebrations back at base it was up
early the following morning to try and catch
breakfast before catching the plane across to
Tobago’s neighbouring isle
of Trinidad where we were due to take on the might
of Alescon Comets. Having successfully completed
this part of the trip, we were then transported to
our next cricketing venue of Munroe Road in Central
Trinidad thanks to Suruj Ragoonath of West Indian
Test Match fame and Maniram Ragbir our very own West
Indian spin king.
After a very short “warm” up (!!!) we were soon at
the crease again, this time Hall A and Jones opening
up. Another 50 partnership ensued, Hall playing with
great freedom and confidence cutting anything short
and square of the wicket. Jones was more intent on
ducking under the bouncers which were seemed to be
heading his way in quick succession. Once both
openers departed, all other batsmen contributed to
the scorebook (ably managed by Ian “Crazy” Gray)
including a little cameo performance by messrs Howie
and Bramald. In all, Warkworth amassed 140 from
their 35 overs. It must be mentioned at this point
that ALL the umpiring was conducted by Mr
“Rod-rent-a crowd Bramald” who no-balled, short
runned and wided his way through almost 200 overs in
temperatures of in excess of 95 degrees. For this
alone we would like to thank him. Phil Douglass too
should be applauded for taking on the role of second
umpire and he it was who perhaps inadvertently
turned the game in Warkworth’s way when he gave out
captain Ragoonath, much to the delight of W Pringle:
another prized scalp to be added to his scrapbook!!
Indeed, with Pringle in the “zone” and Mani getting
his own back on some former teammates from Comets,
it looked good for the Tourists as the home side
wobbled on 80 odd for 8. However, a combination of
friendly bowling and lusty hitting to the boundary
meant that Comets scrapped their way to victory.
The
post match “lime” was really something quite
special. Hosted back at Pierre Road, home of the
Comets, the Tourists were looked after really well.
Drinks and conversation flowed, speeches and
presentations were made (notably A Hall’s MOM from
Dinanath Rhamnarine) and delicious local curry was
consumed by all. It was a truly memorable evening a
real holiday highlight.
Most of the Warkworth party spent that night in the
T&T National Cricket Academy which in itself was a
treat. The following day we took in a tour of the
Test match venue in Port of Spain, the Queen’s Park
Oval before making our way over the Northern Range
to Maracas Bay where we played beach cricket in the
surf and tasted the “must-have” shark ‘n’ bake.
The
return trip to Tobago became a bit of a concern when
over half the party were delayed but eventually
everyone got back safely to The Toucan.
Friday morning was another bakingly hot day and this
time we were due to play against the Cavaliers at
Shaw Park, just outside Tobago’s capital
Scarborough. The venue was a real treat, right by
the ocean but it was also a complete sun trap and we
all seemed to suffer more than earlier in the week.
Consequently, Warkworth were quite comprehensively
beaten this time despite getting nearly 150 from
their 35 overs. The good thing was that everyone got
involved and credit must be given here to Doug Potts
for managing this delicate issue extremely well. I
think I am right in saying that over the three
matches, everyone got a bowl AND a bat: need I say
more?
Step Four: Do we do it again?
The first week of the
Tour was ended in fine style, drinking the bar
almost dry, sharing a Cuban cigar and reminiscing
over what we had all experienced … the big question
is shall we do this all again? That will have to be
decided at some point in the future. For now,
Warkworth CC turns its attention to retaining the
title of the Northumberland Premier League and
playing on English wickets whilst never forgetting
the great times had by all in the Caribbean.
