Last week, the Boys’ Senior Cricket team set off on their tour to South Africa. Struben S (Upper Sixth) reflects on the activity-filled tour below.
“On Wednesday 8th February, the 1st XI Cricket squad embarked on a 25-hour journey to Cape Town, South Africa, where we played five matches over the course of ten days. When we arrived, we had a quiet afternoon at our hotel before a brief net session the next morning as we got used to the South African heat.

Unfortunately, we had a slow start to the tour and despite being a very close game that came down to the last over, we ended our first match of the tour with a defeat. We then had a day of activities, including a thought-provoking trip to Robben Island, followed by a lovely drive around Chapman’s Peak, finishing with a visit to Boulder’s Beach to see the penguin colony.

The next day we were once again in action as we travelled to Langa township to play against their development club, where we were met by a strong side that meant the match once again resulted in a close defeat for us. On Monday, we had another day of rest including a cable car trip up to the top of Table Mountain, where we witnessed beautiful views all around us, before spending the afternoon preparing to move inwards from Cape Town to Franschhoek.

Before our journey inland, we were lucky enough to enjoy a ferry journey around Seal Island and even an up-close meeting with a seal at Hout Bay. When we did arrive in Franschhoek afterwards, we were straight into a 20-over match against Bridge House School, in which the boys worked hard to secure our first win of the tour in strong fashion.

We were then up early again the day after as we travelled to Paarl where we had an incredible experience at the Cheetah Sanctuary, where a number of us were given the opportunity to have a hands-on meeting with one of the cheetahs. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was then followed by another Cricket match, this time against the impressive Paarl Boys High School, but once again we came up short, despite another very close game.

We then ended a busy three days with a to visit the Eagle Encounters at the Spier Wine Estate, an activity that once again gave the boys hands-on experience with a number of exotic animals. That afternoon, we played our final match against Reddam House Constantia, where the boys faced difficult playing conditions in the wind and, despite the match going to the last over, we, unfortunately, finished our tour with another close defeat.

Finally, on Saturday 18th, we had the opportunity for some last-minute souvenir shopping, before we began the long journey back home after an amazing experience and incredible tour, with a massive thank you to Mr Head, Mr Howell and Mr Wells for arranging and looking after us all tour.”