PETERHOUSE NOSTALGIA

... MEMORIES ...

1988 - 89 CRICKET TOUR TO AUSTRALIA

Managers' Report

Pre-tour preparation: Unfortunately we were not able to have as much practice as we would have liked due to rain during the two day assembly period at Peterhouse. Some fielding was done however and some fitness training was all we could do. Team spirit was good and we felt confident. The Rector addressed us in the library before we departed and wished us well.

Air flights: Qantas Airlines were superb and the food and service was excellent. The biggest jumbo jet presently in use was most impressive and the computer information relayed to passengers via the video screen was very informative. Free packs of cards, airline lapel badges and pens were distributed to members of the team on the return journey. A visit to the cockpit on the journey over to Australia was a real experience and the view of the rising sun as dawn broke was something to see. The in-flight entertainment was enjoyed by all, particularly the Aussie Country and Western music and the comedy channel via the headphones. Internally in Australia we flew Ansett Airlines and again we were impressed with the food and service provided. Ansett air hostesses were extremely efficient and were easily the best looking! At no stage did we have any hold ups with flights or problems with baggage.

Transport: In Perth two mini buses were hired for us by Jon Swire-Thompson and these were used to the full. Perth is a large city and it was a good 30 minute drive to the sea from where we accommodated. We used the buses to drive out to Guildford which again was about a 30 minute drive south of Perth, towards the hills. In Melbourne Oliver Beaumont arranged transport for us in what was perhaps the most luxurious buses we had ever seen, one even had a TV! These hired buses took us to Melbourne Cricket Ground for our reception and to and from Monash University and Philip Island. It was a real pleasure not to have to drive too much in Melbourne.

On Philip Island Mr M Brown and Mr J McNiven very kindly lent us a Valiant Station Wagon and a Campavan mini bus to enable us to get about on the island and to go to the third day of the Third Test between Australia and the West Indies in Melbourne. The island was about 103km from Melbourne and we were rather glad to get back safe and sound after a most enjoyable day at the Test. In Sydney we used public transport most of the time because the schools along the North Shore were all within walking distance of a railway station. Our thanks to Ian Buchan who arranged a Mini bus to take us from Knox Grammar to the Airport on our return. We were particularly lucky to have been provided with such excellent transport, thus enabling us to see a great deal more of the cities we visited.

Accommodation: In Perth we were accommodated in an excellent private hotel run by the Y.M.C.A. called Jewell House. We each had our own room and could watch T.V. in the residents' lounge. Breakfast was prepared for us in the small dining room by very friendly Aussies who followed our progress with great interest.

In Melbourne we stayed at Monash University where again we each had our own room and went to a 'help yourself breakfast' each morning. It was a real pleasure to walk to the ground for the two day fixture against Victoria State U17.It took us a little while to get used to the idea that the university residences were completely mixed and that visits to the shower had to be taken rather carefully. Whilst at Peninsula School we stayed in the school's only Boarding House and were extremely well looked after by Mr and Mrs J Ward, the Housemasters.

On Philip Island we were very fortunate in being able to stay at the beach home of Mr and Mrs M Brown. We all managed to find a bed, even if some slept in front of the T.V. An efficient duty roster kept the food flowing and the washing up done. We could walk to the bay beach from the front of the house, but had to travel about 5km to the other side of the island to swim in the surf. This was an extremely happy and pleasant stay and apart from the weather, was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

In Sydney we stayed in one of the residences of Sydney University. The buildings were really beautiful, with ivy covered walls and colourful gardens. The University is close to the centre of the city and we were able to come and go as we pleased. After New Year we were billeted with Barker and Knox parents and were very pleased to experience some Australian family life first hand.

Grounds/Wickets: Wesley College in Perth was undoubtedly the finest ground we played on. The wicket was hard and extremely well prepared. The oval at Guildford was good and the old wooden Pavilion a very attractive building. The McGillivray Oval in Perth was a large Municipal sports ground with several fields. The ground was very open and the wind gusted strong all day. The wicker was fair but had been played on the previous day. The wicket at Peninsula was probably the most ill prepared. Rain the day before obviously hampered its preparation, but the square needed a lot of attention and was very soft with too much grass. Monash University Oval was good and the wicket hard and true. The changing room facilities were excellent. Barker College had probably the most picturesque oval, with an excellent pavilion and view of the school. The wicket looked good but was obviously dug up a little by the wet weather and run ups were soft. Knox Grammar have space problems and their rather narrow field, whilst adequate, did make looking for balls up against a railway embankment in thick undergrowth rather tedious. The wicket looked fine, but again was affected by the rain and run ups extremely soft at the start of the match.

Results and Performance: Whilst not all schools were at full strength, our results were extremely pleasing. The batting was a little frail and we really couldn't get off to a good start. Our top order invariably got themselves out by playing across the line too early. A number of silly run outs at crucial stages also cost us dearly. The lower order often under pressure, saved us on more than one occasion. The opposition bowling was, on the other hand, always tight and all bowlers bowled good line and length. We faced very little spin, but had some difficulty in coping with the ball moving in the air from medium pace bowlers.

Our bowling and fielding however, was extremely good with both openers and spinners getting good results. Our fielding improved with every game, as did the catching. K Bennett captained the team extremely well and was ably supported by P Hildebrand and PJ Smythe. We had great difficulty in winning the toss and in fact only did so twice the whole tour. The greatest achievements were firstly our tremendous win against Millfield (the first game they had lost in four years). The game ended at 1925 hours with A Steynberg and M Vandoros playing superbly in the gloom to see us through to victory. Mark Vandoros's winning four to beat Christchurch by one wicket was another fine performance.

A hat trick against us when we lost Carlisle, Bennett and Smyth in successive balls against Victoria State U17 put paid to any chances we had of saving the game.

Our two wins in Sydney were good. PJ Smyth's huge six to win the game against Knox and end the tour was very well received by all. We undoubtedly learnt a great deal about good swing bowling and about applying ourselves when in trouble and about keeping up the pressure when the opposition looked all but done for.

Thanks to Petreans Jon Swire-Thompson for organising the Perth leg. Richard Hill for the party held for the boys at his house. Chris Wiggins for the braai (barbeque) at his house. Mr P Pascal for the braai and prawning in the bay in front of his house. Oliver Beaumont for organising the Melbourne leg and for transport in Melbourne. Hugh Parkes for dinner. Des Lowe for organising Health Insurance. Ian Buchan for organising the Sydney leg and arranging transport. Willie Singleton for showing us the sights of Sydney and an excellent lunch. Brian Glendinning for hosting the Petreans get-together at his home and meeting us at the airport in Sydney.

Finally on behalf of all who spent 28 glorious days in Australia, I thank most sincerely and express our extreme gratitude to all the hard working parents of Peterhouse, who through their dedication, expertise and concern for Peterhouse cricket, made it all happen.

A L French

TOUR DIARY

The following is an account of the tour extracted from the Tour Diary, written each day by one of the touring party.

The flight to Perth

After a tremendous send off by parents, friends and well wishers at Harare Airport, eighteen very excited tourists received T-shirts from Manica Travel and checked through customs and immigration to get our first glimpse of the huge white Boeing 747 of Qantas Airways which was to take us to Australia. Eventually we were asked to board the aircraft and a "war cry" on the tarmac made us realise that the tour had really started. Soon after take off we were tucking into an excellent dinner and all were amazed by the size and speed of the huge plane. The computer screens at each cabin section kept us glued to all the facts and figures of how fast, how long and how high the plane was travelling. A movie helped to while the time away until the sun came up at 2330 hours! We arrived in Perth at 1205 hours local time.

Perth

Jon Swire-Thompson (Petrean) met us and we were soon very comfortably accommodated at the Y.M.C.A. We were very impressed with Perth's wide open spaces and clean city. Our first evening we spent eating fish and chips on the beach which was thoroughly enjoyed by all, even though the wind was cold and only a few braved the surf. An early night was very welcome after such an exciting flight and first day in Australia.

Checking out the topless sights

Our first practice at Wesley College the next morning went very well and the team looked eager and confident. We then headed for Cottesloe Beach and had a glorious day swimming. Stu Carlisle and Murray Martin were undoubtedly the best surfers and the rest of us had great difficulty in teaching Kelly Bennett how to master the surf. Topless bathers kept most heads turning at acute angles for most of the day. Mr and Mrs Richard Hill invited us to a party that evening at their new home and we were able to have our first real "look" at Aussie girls. "The birds were different and found it hard to understand us at times". Dancing, swimming and fine food helped to make this one of many evenings to remember.

Wesley

The next day we played our first game against Old Collegians at Wesley. The Wesley ground was undoubtedly the finest we played on. After the match the Collegians took us to the very popular Windsor Hotel for a few drinks and snacks. Here we saw some real dinkum Aussies in their "singlets and thongs" for the first time. The next day we were taken to a small bat factory called Millicamp and Hall where we saw Julian Millicamp making the bats by hand. Mr Swire-Thompson very kindly purchased three of the bats to be presented at the end of the tour.

The management get sun burnt all over

After leaving the factory we experienced what was probably the hottest day on tour and another great day was spent on the beach. Some ventured a little further to a beach with some really excellent sights! The management got a little burnt and were a little embarrassed in the showers that evening.

Prawning

Philip Pascal (Petrean) had us all to a very relaxing and entertaining evening on the waterfront at Matilda Bay. Philip's house overlooks the bay and an excellent barbeque was laid on for us. Prawn nets were then produced and we had great fun dragging the shallow water. Most catches yielded more crabs than anything else much to Ross Fuller's delight. About a dozen prawns in all were safely landed.

Millfield

We returned to our hotel fairly early because the next day we were to play Millfield. This was the game we really wanted to win and the winning runs in the gathering gloom brought great shouts of jubilation from us and a few long faces from the opposition. We then had an excellent dinner prepared for us at the ground in a mobile kitchen. The "Poms" were not too happy at having lost their first game in four years.

Guildford

The next day a fairly tired band of tourists drove out to Guildford some 40 minutes drive out of Perth. Peter Hildebrand expertly navigating for ALF, saw us reach the school in good time. The game was played on an attractive oval and a large State School bordering the ground. The game produced a few surprises but we managed to hold out for a draw. The typical Aussie barbeque cooked on gas and a friendly game of touch rugby ended the day.

Wesley again

Our third successive day of cricket was against a Wesley XI. The Wesley XI were unfortunately away at the Australian School Championships, which they subsequently won. The team fielded against us was nevertheless competent, but we won comfortably. Andy Mills having split his second pair of longs was well into sewing lessons by the end of the match. We were back to Macdonald's Hamburgers for supper in the evening.

Christchurch

The next day saw us play a fourth game in a row against the local Catholic School, Christchurch. The game was played at a large sports complex and a hot dry wind persisted all day. The game was rather tighter than it should have been with our top order again struggling to score runs; nevertheless a nail biting finish saw us win by one wicket.

Perth

All the Perth Petreans assembled after the match and we were pleased to hand out the presents we had taken over. We were free for the evening and spent it wandering through the shops in Perth. The next day was a free one but the weather had caught up with us and it rained by midday. This didn't dampen our spirits at Adventure World and all enjoyed the rides. "The long water slide was something else". The management enticed the breakfast waitress (Croc) to accompany us. We left fairly early as the weather didn't improve and an early night was enjoyed by all.

The next day the weather improved and we headed for the beach early. Runs along the beach to see the "sights" were the order of the day. We got involved in a traffic jam on the way home and had to have a quick turn about to be at Mr and Mrs Chris Wiggins (Petrean) house for a braai. Again some local girls had been invited to keep us company. Snooker and computer games kept all amused until we left. Packing up after our first ten days in Perth was a major event and we had to be up early the next morning to fly to Melbourne.

Melbourne

We took off from Perth at about 0710 hours soon to be handed an envelope from Mr Swire-Thompson containing a personal letter and 50 dollars each. This was greatly appreciated by all. PJ Smyth's envelope was surprisingly empty and we all concluded that he was definitely not in favour. A phone message from Mr Swire-Thompson whilst we were still in the air soon assured PJ that his money was left out of his envelope in error, and would be waiting for him in Melbourne, which it was. We were accommodated in the Hostel at Peninsula School and were pleased to be all together again. A swim in the heated pool relaxed tired travel weary bodies. "The management went out to another pub, just for a change" .

Peninsula

Heavy rain and a poorly prepared pitch saw us easily beaten by Peninsula in the morning. A second game in the afternoon however, saw morale restored and the win made us all feel better. 'The Peninsula team were very friendly and another barbeque was enjoyed. The management had dinner with the Housemaster and were treated to fine Port Philip Bay Scallops - a real tasty treat and something very special.

Melbourne

We left the Peninsula early the following morning to return to the city. where Mr Oliver Beaumont (Petrean) arranged a tour around the Stock Exchange and his offices which was eagerly received by the economists amongst us. A visit to the Grey Nichols factory resulted in several team members buying kit at factory prices. We were taken to a Korean restaurant by Mr Beaumont and peri peri calamari was certainly enjoyed by some, but by the management in particular.

Melbourne Cricket Ground and Monash University

A tram ride through Melbourne saw us guests of the Victoria Cricket Association that evening at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A tour through the Museum of Cricket was something not many have experienced. We were now accommodated at Monash University and the transport provided to move us about Melbourne was nothing short of mind boggling - large luxury buses with built in toilets and T.V. and eight back wheels. What an experience for all. Monash and Sydney Universities, as we were to discover in the showers, were totally mixed residences and a few embarrassing moments soon taught us to go to the showers fully dressed!

Victorian State U17 side

Thursday, 22nd December saw us start our two day fixture against Victoria State U17 at Monash University. We did extremely well to bowl them out for 276 and had high hopes of reaching that score. A hat trick the next day soon had us struggling and we were well beaten by a good side. Supper was spent at the local fish and chip shop.

Christmas at Philip Island

The next day we left by bus (another five star luxury liner) for Philip Island and a well deserved break. We arrived at "Cellarwood", the home of Mr and Mrs Brown, who had very kindly let us stay in their house, at about 2100 hours. Some explorers visited the beach before going to bed. The next day - Christmas Eve, saw us visit the Surf Beach and experience real Aussie surf and the beach was "Amazing!" On our return good touch rugby was played on the bay beach near the house as the tide was out and the vast expanse of sand awaited us. A good party was held in the evening and we saw Christmas day in, in fine fettle.

Christmas day. It rained most of the day which was rather unfortunate because most were really eager to get back to the surf. Most of the morning was taken up with watching T.V. and sleeping. We had all taken a small present with us, so ALF played Father Christmas and dished out a small gift to everyone. In the afternoon we drove to Mr and Ms Brown's farm for Christmas dinner. On arrival we were all delighted to see the Zimbabwean and Australian flags flying as a welcome to the farm. We had a great time at the Browns and everybody was very friendly. We were each given a mug and spoon with motifs and lots of fun was had in the jacuzzi and pool. Murray Martin had a good time and he should be writing many letters to Australia in the near future. It rained on the way home and we were all relieved to crawl into bed at about 2am.

Boxing Day was again cold and overcast and a few, led by Stu Carlisle braved the surf but most sat on the beach and watched. In the break in the rain in the afternoon ALF took a bus load of us to a place called the Nobblies and the view of the cliffs and coast from high vantage points was superb. In all, a very quiet boxing day.

Australia and Windies Cricket Test

On Tuesday 27th we travelled the 103km to Melbourne to watch the third day of the Third Test between the Aussies and the West Indies. This was a great experience and all were amazed by the atmosphere in the ground. Unfortunately rain put an early stop to the game and in the confusion we left PJ behind!

The highlight of the next day was a ferry trip to Seal Rock. Because of the unsettled weather the waves were huge and on leaving the bay we experienced some real rough sea. Mark Vandoros was not at all happy and made good use of the paper bags provided. The management had a few anxious moments as to our safety, but in the end MBJ assured us that the Captain knew what he was doing. Max Brown, son of Mr and Mrs Brown arrived in the evening with tickets for us to visit the famous Penguin Parade. We were astounded to see so many tourists in one place. Whilst the penguin spectacle was interesting, many felt the crowd would have been really thrilled to have seen a lion or an elephant. The next day was again spent lazing about, some went shopping, others to the beach and the laundry necessities kept others busy, drying and ironing clothes. In the evening the Philip Island Cricket Team invited us to a practice game of 20 overs each side. A super braai after the game was enjoyed by all. Eating shark for the first time was an experience for some of us. Friday 30th was our last day on Philip Island and we were all hoping for good weather but again this was not to be, although we were able to have a good swim at Smith's Beach. The Browns arrived in the afternoon and we presented them with our gifts in appreciation for all they had done for us and letting us stay in their house in particular. The evening was spent at the local disco and a very good time was had by all, some enjoying skinny dipping until well into the morning.

Sydney

We arrived in Sydney the next day about 1400 hours and were met by Ian Buchan (Petrean) who had organised taxis to take us to Sydney University where we slept for most of the day. At 1930 hours we ventured out to the well known Kings Cross area of Sydney travelling for part of the way by tube, for some of us this was another brand new experience. At Kings Cross our eyes were certainly opened to the wide cross section of humanity and night life teeming about a maze of clubs, strip joints, bars, eating houses and street entertainers. Being New Year's eve the Cross was certainly entertaining and amusing but having seen all we decided to head back for Harbour Bridge to see the New Year in with thousands of other revelling the night away. Most, I think, began to think seriously of home for the first time as the New Year chimed in, Aussie style.

The next day again brought cloudy skies and wet weather. By 1130 hours however, we decided to brave another ferry trip and went across Sydney harbour to Manly where some good bargains were got in many of the small and interesting shops. PJ's umbrellas really kept us amused. In all, an educational and interesting day was enjoyed by all.

Barker College

On Monday 2nd January a fleet of taxis arrived after breakfast and took us to Central Station where we caught a train to Waitara, a station near Barker College. The rain unfortunately followed us and the game scheduled for the same day was abandoned until the next day. The management, Kelly and Graham were picked up by Willie Singleton (Petrean) for the day and were taken for an excellent lunch. Later in the afternoon we dropped our two National School's representatives off at their hotel and wished them luck for their tour of New Zealand. In drizzle and wet conditions the game against Barker finally got underway and we were very pleased with our performance even though the Barker team was a little under strength.

The team being now billeted for the first time, was experiencing real Aussie family life and the parents of the Barker boys were extremely friendly and made us feel really at home.

Knox Grammar

The following day we were taken to Knox Grammar for our last game. Play was delayed due to the wet cold conditions. Some found time to do a little last minute shopping. The sports centre at Knox was really magnificent and made us feel how much better our sport would be, given the same facility. Long will we remember PJ's magnificent six to win the game and complete our second win in two days. We were delighted to see the Knox players fetching the ball from some really thick undergrowth next to the main railway line. Two balls were in fact lost during the day. After the game the management awarded the three bats to Clive Moore-Gordon, Ross Fuller and Mark Vandoros for their excellent performances on the tour.

The flight home

Our last night in Australia was spent with Knox parents and we assembled at the school at 0700 hours to travel by bus to the airport. Flying time to Perth was four hours and we were heavily overloaded with hand luggage having spent our Aussie dollars before taking off. We spent a welcome hour in Perth in transit and finally took offer Harare at 1100 hours Perth time to follow the sun home. The long ten hour flight was punctuated with excellent meals and two films and plenty of in-flight entertainment through headphones. We touched down in Harare at 1720 hours and were met by all the lovely smiling faces who had seen us off.

"We all felt fulfilled and immensely grateful after our amazing, incredible, unbelievable tour and were thankful beyond expression to all those who had made the tour possible".