Grey Ashes Level at 1-1 after thriller at Burton

And so the England Seniors 60+ Squad arrived at Burton with a point to prove to both ourselves and our Australian Counterparts. Having Lost the first Test at Thame in the last over we arrived galvanised as a squad to tie up the series at Burton.

After a successful toss Capt Richard elected to put the Aussies in on what looked like a great wicket. The early exchanges seemed to favour the batting side and the blustery conditions probably didn’t help our Opening bowlers from straying a bit in line and length.The Aussie Openers took advantage of these conditions to put on a swift 50 partnership before Captain Higgins was run out after being called for a quick signal and sent back.Other opener Walsh continued to accelerate the scoring but England did create another run out opportunity which was gratefully taken to help knock back the run rate. Another wicket fell and England’s bowlers started exerting more control over the Aussie scoring options. Russell Spiers and Jim Phillips in particular bowled economically on a flat track for batting.However Aussie Pavey joined Walsh at the wicket and their partnership started to flourish. Pavey in particular hit well off the front foot. Opener Walsh finally perished looking for Quick runs bowled off his pads by Phillips for a belligerent 92.

Pavey was joined by Blair who put on a useful 50 run partnership but both fell off the bowling of Butterworth to great catches in the deep to slow down the Aussies momentum towards the back end of their Innings.The 246 the Aussies amassed was slightly below par for the quality of the wicket and despite the long boundaries England felt the total was gettable.

Skipper Merriman and fellow opener Nick Gaywood set about the total positively and played some attractive drives and pulls off the Aussie quicks, Blair and Trafford-Walker.Gaywood fell with the score on 91 but Merriman was joined by Tony Birbeck who also looked to be positive and kept the scored ticking before Merriman was dismissed perhaps unluckily with his score on 67.Hussein fell unfortunately soon after as well with the score on 149-3.Birbeck also fell soon after for 28 whilst Gordon-Lennox was still on nought. Butterworth then joined Lennox needing 84 to win at over 7 an over.However these two started moving the score along with a combination of quick singles and two’s and Lennox hitting the occasional boundary.Butterworth too started to find his range with a couple of swept boundaries of Leg spinner Jackson and a pleasing square cut off of the dangerous Bob McGee.

With 5 overs remaining England still required seven an over but both Gordon-Lennox and Butterworth now looked well set and an over from McGee yielded 12 runs and this turned the tied toward an inevitably successful run chase for England in their quest to tie up the series at 1-1.

Butterworth sadly perished before the total was reached but the writing was now on the wall and Gordon Lennox and the ‘Whippet’ Deakin saw the total passed with 8 balls to spare.

A thoroughly satisfying Win for the English who now have momentum going into the 3rd ODI at Southport on Wednesday the 19th July.

This Grey ashes Series is now well and truly poised for a thrilling 3rd Test and beyond.

You can follow it Live on Youtube and also live score updates here:

englandseniors.play-cricket.com

Players of the Match today:

Australia Walsh (92)

England Merriman(67)

Wales V’s England at Dumbleton CC

England Seniors take on the Welsh dragon in EPIC encounter.

The England Seniors Exciting Summer programme got under way Last Friday when we took on the Wales National over 60’s Side at Dumbleton CC in the beautiful County of Gloucestershire. Our Captain Richard Merriman had promoted our Season to come under the banner of EPIC.The initials from our motivational Categories.With the main objective to beat the Aussies in this Summer’s ‘Grey Ashes’ series of Test matches. Richard was using this preliminary fixture to promote the Importance of everyone in our Squad to support each other in this singular objective.Whilst of course practising the Values in firstly beating Wales on Friday.

The Toss was Won by England and RM elected to bat First. After first presenting England Caps to Two New players. Nick Gaywood, and John Whiting. Richard opened the batting with Nick Gaywood. After a steady Start both batsmen started looking to attack the Welsh bowling.Although at the 30 Over stage the Scoreboard read only 142-1 the stage had been set for 15 overs of batting mayhem! First Nick Gaywood and then Tony Birbeck starting flaying the rather ‘Sheepish’ Welsh bowling to all parts of Dumbleton. All in all the last 15 over’s yielded 228 runs at an Average of over 15 runs per over.An impressive return in any form of Cricket and perhaps more so at Senior level. Vice Captain Chris ‘Noddy’ Dearden who followed the wkts of Nick Gaywood and the unlucky Monte Douglas perhaps exemplified the EPIC nature of the last 15 with a 36 ball 85 not out.Taking our final score to 370-3 off our 45 allocated overs. Whatever the Captain said to the Batsmen at the 30 over drinks mark certainly spurred them on to a great and rather ruthless attacking display. The Bazball era seems to have translated down to the 60+Consciousness as well. Our main Contributors with the Bat were in order of appearance. Merriman 45, Gaywood 80, Birbeck 136 no and Dearden 85 no.

The Welsh lads left the field a bit shell shocked after they had restricted the scoring admirably for the first 30 overs but the Force was definitely with the English batters for the last 15.

After the delights of a Local Tea featuring Scones and cream alongside the savoury Salads and sandwiches. A positive looking England side took to the field. Understandably the Welsh batsmen looked a little jaded after their exertions in the field. Our Opening Bowling attack of John Whiting (Hants) and Tony Rhodes (Herts) bowled containing and attacking spells and Tony Rhodes took 1-10 0ff his opening 6 overs. Chris Deakin (Lancs) and Jim Phillips (Kent) also bowled very tidy and threatening Spells and Jim ended up with figures of 9-0-24-2. Graham Shaw also chipped in with two wickets as well. A good and steady all round bowling performance, which really stifled the Welshmans reply before they really got into their stride. Exceptional knocks by Mike Caden 66 and a Cameo 42no from Richard Harris brought the Wales total to a respectable 204-7 in reply but at no point was it threatening the England total.

So all in all a Good Team building performance from England with some stand out individual performances.What remains now is for the England Squads to take their form into the 5 Test Series with Australia. The First Test is on 12th July at Thame CC in Oxfordshire. In an ‘Ashes’ Summer which promises to be ‘EPIC’ all round. Bring it on! England are Certainly ready.

For more Info for the Australian Tour Itinerary and all ‘Grey Ashes tests’. Go to one of England Seniors Channels.

T: @englandover60s

Insta: @england_cricket_seniors

F: England Over 60s Cricket

Youtube: England 60 seniors

England Cricket Seniors preparing for Grey Ashes Summer Test’s

22 Man Squad has been announced for the ‘Grey Ashes’ defence this July.

The Summer Season has just got more exciting with the Announcement of the Grey Ashes Squad and Fixtures to be held this July.I am sure that all 22 named Squad members are feeling very proud and honoured to have been named to potentially contribute to the defence of the Little Urn.

I certainly feel excited and energised by the prospect of doing further battle with ‘The Auld enemy’ as we like to call each other.The Aussies will be smarting from their recent Carib Cup Final defeat against England back in February, in Barbados. And they will surely be seeking to return down under with the Little urn themselves. So this series promises to be as tough and competitive as any other England Cricket Series.

It’s a great Coincidence that our Series will be being played out at the same time as our ‘Younger representatives’ will be playing for the original Ashes themselves. One of the Fixtures(listed below)at Southport will be on the same day as the 4th Test at Old Trafford starts,19/7 and the Open Golf at Royal Liverpool as well.So quite a Summer of Sport ahead and we all look forward to contributing to a successful defence of the Grey Ashes Trophy.

Hoping for great support around the Country for any and all of the Fixtures Listed and you’ll also be able to follow progress on England Seniors Play Cricket Site and hopefully in play Streaming as well.More news will follow about this.But hopefully live feeds will be available for those unable to travel!

https://englandseniors.play-cricket.com/home

Other Links to England Seniors Cricket :

Tweets by englandover60s

@england_cricket_seniors

Come on England !!

Another ‘Grey Ashes’ Summer Approaches!

And so to most of you who may have read my previous Blogs from the recent Caribbean Cup Success in Barbados.The England Seniors Revolution is moving Swiftly on and turning it’s mind to this Summers ‘GreyAshes’ Series against ‘you know who’! The current focus for the ever increasing number of Squad players.Will no doubt be is to catch the eyes of the Selectors through a series of trial Matches and of course early season form for Club and Counties.

Most significantly too we have all been asked to put our Collective and Individual minds toward the effort to raise funds and sponsorship to cover the imminent Costs of hosting this summers Grey Ashes series. As is the case with any amateur sport we are No different.Despite the fact that we are representing England at Seniors Level. We are entirely self funding.We are very fortunate and grateful to have a terrific Kit Sponsor in StoneHill Sports Clothing Ltd which is very much a part of our presentation as a ‘professional looking squad’.So gratitude to StoneHill for their continued sponsorship of England-Seniors-Cricket.

https://l.instagram.com/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stonehillsports.com%2F&e=AT0afTjsUkilAfYgeU-Ac51PidfGUl4-sZ1hUAiSi3bPJglTz-8XscWP3EJiK4j98Wau–vDBXmPkcNZqdQNAmpfvSZQST2USiAfXg

Regarding opportunities for sponsoring this Summer’s Series of 5 Test Matches and Countless other Fixtures involving the English Counties and the Touring Aussies. Please see the attached Letter and Fixture List. The Aussies will be visiting every Regional Divisons Winning County plus Sussex who reached the County Championship Final last Season.(Yet to be Completed)

Along with Games in Wales and Scotland and a President’s Invitational Eleven as well.So it promises to be a sustained and entertaining Month for the Aussies this July. Essentially all geared around the Series of Five Test Matches V’s England around the Country.

If you would like to pass on the details for Would be Sponsors and supporters to either discuss funding opportunities or indeed following the cricket. I will add the Open Letter and Fixture list to this Blog. Just additionally to say thanks to all of the Squad members and committee who may read this blog.For their hard work in putting proposals together so that we may all do our best in helping make this Summers, England Seniors defence of the ‘Grey Ashes’ another Memorable occasion for all those Involved in England -Seniors-Cricket and beyond!

Come on England!

Best regards, JB(AKA Butters)

Yoga Revolution in Loughborough!(and thinking outside the box)

WOW! Well that was an Experience. England Seniors Cricket Training Went ahead last w/end and it was Something of a Revelation.From my perspective at least!

First of all we must thank the Management of England Cricket Seniors for Creating the opportunity for the Whole of the England Seniors(60+)Squad.To use this state of the art facility at Loughborough Elite training Centre.The University Campus where both the Great and the Good of the English Cricket World have all trained and been put through their paces and training skills development. That, alongside the Elite athletes from Athletics and Hockey and i am sure other sports as well.It truly is a remarkable facility to be invited into for us to use and experience.

Alongside this opportunity we were also to work with one of the country’s foremost Fielding Coaches in Cricket ‘Cookie’ Patel

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiO3N6q6uD9AhUNRkEAHbEkDcoQFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fieldingcoaching.com%2F&usg=AOvVaw37S0M_oHSu2Syij7Mi7D-i

Cookie took on board that we as a group are all in our 60’s and still treated us like sportsmen who have more to learn and improve on. Once ‘on the ice’ Cookies word for the Field of play.We were on it. In other words this work was serious.The objectives for our training was simple.To improve our chances of Winning Next Years World cup in India. We would need to up our game and in particular Work on our Fielding Skills and Fitness in order to deliver those skills and perhaps make the difference between Winning and losing.Fine margins but if we as a squad would up our game by just 1% that would be 30% collectively!

To enhance further and to Introduce the possibility of challenging our fitness levels towards this end. We were also Introduced to the discipline of Yoga.One of the current ‘Squad’ players had suggested the idea of Yoga ‘for all’ In ther feedback after the recent Carib Cup success in Barbados. I think his point, made at the squad meeting and prior to this w/ends training.Was that if there are small margins and percentages to be gained through Individual training and fitness, we should take that opportunity on towards meeting the objectives of England cricket Seniors. ie a World Cup Victory in India.It may sound like sacrifice but is it not actually the idea of still improving and extending our ability’s to play the game we love?

I thought it was brave of the Management to present the twin concepts of fitness and fielding as the critical areas of development needed to meet the Objectives for us as a group going forward.

It would be interesting to know what the other guy’s made of, not only the Intro too Yoga but also the idea that we can still improve our games and in particular our fitness and awareness for fielding.

Personally speaking I have been involved in regular Yoga classes for more than 10 years now and even prior to that I was mindful of doing stretching and keeping the body as supple as possible in order to continue enjoying the sport i love. I have also always prided myself on my mobility in fielding and running between the wickets so this has been significant to me in being able to still enjoy and compete both physically and mentally on the cricket field.

I appreciate that this is a discussion which will have varying perspectives but overall I think that any form of exercise whether physical or mental can only enhance and improve everyones longevity.Be it in Cricket or Life itself.

This w/end has given the lie to the fact that we are still all playing the game at 60+ and may yet be playing for longer than we had ever dared to imagined.Perhaps Yoga is part of the Revolution which may make this possibility a reality! No doubt time will tell.Roll on the Season and see how we all go again.Bring your body’s with you.

Cheers to all JB115

Richard and his Merrymen!

Well Guys and Ladies, here was the Moment when England Seniors were about to receive the 2023 Big Man Carib cup Trophy from Tournament Organisers in the presence of our supporters following us both physically and Virtually!

It may just be a screen shot but it is good to recall just how magical it felt for us all having gone through a two week Competition where each game felt like a Final(after our initial defeat to the Aussies).To come through this together as a Squad and Team was testament to the efforts of all of us to stick together through thick and thin and come out as Trophy Winners!

Richard Merriman our Captain alluded to this during his Winning Capt’s speech. Thanking us all for sticking with the process and coming through it together and hopefully closer for it.Naturally there were teething problems along the way but all things considered we all cracked on with getting along despite any differences of opinions we may have had along the way.And ultimately the Good overcame the bad and as a cricket team and squad we got the job done and the Prize Won!

The reflection process is under way now too and we will surely be able to discuss what can be improved on as well as what we have achieved Collectively.

Ultimately it has been a great journey together as an England Seniors Squad and we will all have memories to savour for the rest of our playing day’s and beyond.This trip and collective experience has been memorable in many ways and perhaps none greater than the Moment that Chris Dearden bowled the final Australian Batsman to Win the Final ay the Kensington Oval,Bridgetown.The moment when the Big Smiles broke out and everyone present had a collective glow amongst us.

Richard was gracious and honouring our opponents Australia in the final Speech and also recognised the Sponsors of the Tournament and all of our supporters who either travelled or were picked up along the way!

Gracious in defeat the Aussie capt Mr Higgins.Awarded Ed Gordon-Lennox the MOM for his fine match Winning Knock of 74.also mentioning KevGrant for his opening 50 and not least John Goldthorp for a great performance with the Gloves (John confided to me that he had even surprised himself on viewing back the You tube highlights!)The Commentators also sung JG’s praises regarding his performance.So big up to John.

The Bowlers all got a mention as well Not just the three main Wicket takes,CD,JP&JB but also Rupert and Jason who set up a difficult afternoon for the Aussie batsmen by bowling tight spells up front.

Neil Brathwaite and Martin Watkin were singled out for their fielding and my personal favourite moment was when Our long(or should it be tall) suffering Sub Tony Rhodes plucked a terrific catch out of thin air to take out the Aussies last great hope of keeping them in the contest. TR then most inexplicably let a couple of balls pass through his legs and then be fooled by the sideways spin of another ball which deviated wickedly on pitching in the outfield.I was greatly amused but Tony seems non plussed by the bounce of the balls.The damage had been done however with that Catch so all was forgiven, if it needed to be!

Finally we need to thanks the Organisers of this wonderful tournament.We as 60+ cricketers are very blessed to be able to play in these Tournaments. Arranged for us both home and away.It is a rare privilege to be asked to play for our country’s and i think to a player, everyone involved from all of the participating teams will have felt honoured to have participated in such a well organised and advertised event.

Some of the Sponsors are mentioned on the screen shot above.Including the Drink sponsors Blue Waters who also provided a great Malt tonic drink.Stonehill our Kit Sponsors should be mentioned too for providing all of our match and training Kit, as well as a rucksack for all of the squad and management plus Extras too.So Big thanks to them.

The England Seniors management team and selection committee should also received a huge thanks from the players for arranging the Tour from our side and making all of this possible too.Thank you Paul Bradley and Richard Merriman in particular.It cannot of been easy to deal with a Squad of 60+year olds on tour together for the first time! You did remarkably to keep that together.

So looking forward to our Summer encounters with the Aussies again.I am sure all members of the current Squad would love to be involved and our journey forward will start Next W/end at Loughborough elite sports centre.For our Next Squad get together.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone involved there and ahead to the summer series.

Cheers everyone, see you there! JB115

The Kent Connection at the Big Man Carib Cup

Well I couldn’t let this go. As naturally I and my other two Kent Seniors Colleagues were delighted to be Contributing to the England Seniors success in The Big Man Caribbean Cup.

Senior Pro’s Rupert Staple and Jim Phillips pictured here along with myself, after our round robin Victory over the Rest of the World eleven.This was a critical Victory and set us up for a head to head knock game with the West Indies for a place in the Final.

Rupert, Jim and I had had a particularly memorable Season with Kent Seniors until losing out to Essex in the County knock out Semi Finals back in September 2022.

All three of us had been invited for England trial’s after nominations from our Kent capt Chris Tarrant back in the summer.After making the Cut for the Squad of 33 we were then selected for the Tour Squad of 16 by the Selectors.

We were Individually contacted to Invite us to join the Carib Cup Tour and the prelude to this was our training camp at Loughborough elite sports centre before Christmas. It was good to know that there would be County Colleagues to share the trip with and indeed we were employed in a similar way for England as we have been for Kent. Especially in a bowling capacity.It helps being familiar with County Colleague’s when fielding and bowling together.It relaxes the process to see a familiar colleague bowling in unison.

As well as being happy with our collective familiarity it also made for good interaction with players from the other counties, which we have played against in recent seasons. Always a bit of banter with our Essex ‘rivals’ naturally and although we haven’t played against Lancashire or Yorkshire in recent times there is always a bit of fun to be had in discussing old encounters! Same with the Midland Counties players like Derbyshire who were represented by Capt Richard Merriman and medium pacer and allrounder Jason Caunt. During the county knock out games we will likely come up against more Midland and Northern Counties in the latter stages.I would like to say that there was total respect amongst all the Squad members attending the training days and it was a great opportunity to get to know the guys off the field in a mutually respectful atmosphere.

The organisation of the training was particularly engaging for us in getting to know each other, in more personal ways to, which created a sense of togetherness and harmony toward the Tour ahead.

Back to The Kent connection.I really wanted to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to our Loyal Travelling Supporter’s from Kent as well!

Keith, Jeff, Kev, Steve, Margie, Cathy and Nick and Jim’s better half,Jill all made the trip for various stages or all of the Tournament and leant great support to us throughout! We also had a ‘Local Kent Supporter’ in Hendy Carrington who had spent 30 Years at Kent Club Lordswood, before retiring back to Barbados approx 20 years ago. Hendy also came to all of our games and also mixed with the Kent Contingent of supporters and players.I am not suggesting that having these supporter’s with us separated allegiance to the Kent players but that it was particularly special to have this core group along with us on our way to the final.It was a particular delight that we managed to get to the Final and that the supporters were there with us to enjoy the occasion.

Whether men or women of Kent or Kentish Men or Women doesn’t matter on this occasion as all were with us and we were all England on this occasion.Thanks all for following us and for all those supporters back home who followed our Games and progress on You tube.Some ball by ball and all with great enthusiasm according to the dispatches which i received from home.During our trip.

Let’s do it all again this Summer when the Aussies come to town again.This time to play a five Match one day series for the ‘Grey Ashes’.This surely will be another Great Summer of Cricket around with some great Cricket grounds to visit too.

Watch this space for the Itinerary details! all Ashes matches will take place in July.

Until then one more BIG thanks to all of you from Kent who came to support the England Seniors Cricket Team in their successful Victory in the Carib Cup this February.

Cheers,JB(Butters)115

A Happy Birthday in Barbados!

You might suggest that each and every day feels like a birthday in Barbados!

But if Celebrating Birthday’s is your thing you could certainly do much much worse than to enjoy it in Barbados! Just ask the three England Seniors who Celebrated their own Birthdays during the recent Carib Cup Tournament here! I am sure each one of them, be it Ed Gordon-Lennox, Jim Phillips or Neil Brathwaite will all have a Story to tell about how enjoyable their own Birthday was to be Celebrating in a hotter climate for one thing.Being on a Great cricket Tour and enjoying the company of mainly mates too! Jim and Jill even had an Anniversary to Celebrate here too.It was indeed a time of Birthday’s in our Squad and i think we all enjoyed the bonding, laughter and atmosphere around the Individual landmarks reached!We have got to the age now where we don’t even have the chance to disguise which birthday we are reaching.Since we all had to declare our Ages for the purpose of playing in The Big Man Carib Cup and being older than 60 was a bit of a giveaway!

So, coming to my own earth strong day, as it is often called in the Caribbean.I was certainly happy to be spending my day in a lovely warm country around great people and as it worked out, half of it was spent at another Cricket Game between a BNOC team and a visiting Touring team from Shropshire back home1

I took myself off to a far corner to get a bit of perspective on proceedings and actually found a device for drawing my eye across the field and connecting up a Image which i could paint.Mt Birthday Painting(another thing!)

As it is I have Included the Birthday painting as it is reflective of enjoying Watching others playing Cricket.And setting about engaging with the Game through my art.As has been observed i have included characters in the painting who may or may/not have been out their! As there are also only four figures on the field and two are umpires questions maybe asked of my integrity when it comes to he Rules of Cricket!

Fair question but also it hasn’t bothered too many folks,I hope I have created enough intrigue so that we can keep the allowance going on.

Just to reiterate that I had a lovely Birthday and would recommend a Caribbean Birthday to anybody any day of the week.

Here are the b/day Cards hand made for the Tourist by JB and Jill Phillips.A rare talent that we didn’t know about!

Cheers JB115

A Week of Reflection.Big Man Carib Cup Win

They Say a Week is a Long time in Politics..Well if there is an opposite to that Statement it maybe coined as..’I don’t want this to end’!

Surely the joy of actually pulling on the three Lions of England and playing against those in Green&Gold and indeed a ‘baggy green’ to boot, is indeed a pinnacle of any English Cricketers dream.In other words, playing a game of cricket against Australia (regardless of ages) is both a motivator and a test of our metal! Just coming up against the Gold and Green has deep psychological and historic connections.I haven’t really spoken with the other players about this but i feel sure that seeing the Aussie Colours will have added and extra layer of motivation and even a slight nervousness to the occasions that we played them.

And of course our first encounter did result in a narrow defeat.I think though that the rearguard batting of Brathers and Deaks actually brought us all into the ‘reality of the competition’.We had after all had very little time to acclimatise (one practise session)before we played our first game.Knowing the Aussies had come directly from their domestic season back home I think showed particularly during their fielding performance.As a team you can tell from the body language when a team is ‘on it’.

In fact we were also on it for the majority of our fielding and bowling performance.Maybe just a bit rusty up top and that was understandable if not desirable.A sharp learning curve for our bowlers in fact.The outfields and runs ups were hard and the slope up and down to the popping crease more exaggerated.I’m sure the faster bowlers would take a bit longer to adjust to these conditions than the slower.We have less distance to run and relay more on work on the ball and less the physicality of bowling.

All in all the defeat made us all realise that we are going to need to Win our remaining Games most likely in order to reach the Final.There was of course the added incentive of potentially playing at The Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.One of the Iconic International Test Grounds with it’s associated History of the great West Indies players.

I have slightly deviated from my Intention of reflecting on the Carib Cup Victory and spoken more of the process of arriving at the Final.it feels prudent to take this Story incrementally though as each stage of the process was as important as the next.First off we needed to get into Winning ways and this would be challenged in our Second Game V’s the USA at the Wanderer’s (see previous Blog’Coming Back Strong V’s USA’ for details).

I’ll leave the Reflections there for now as my host has called me for Breakfast!

Hope you’re enjoying the Blogging Journey with me!

More soon…Match Day and ‘A day at the races’!

Go well JB115

The Maltese Falcon and Other Tour Stories!

So this is Mr Paul Bradley(AKA The Maltese Falcon)Or so i was led to believe by one of our tour party. KG told me that Paul got his nickname during a cricket Tour, i’m not sure where but hasten to add that Paul does have fond connections with Malta. So i went along with the narrative that there is some truth in his association with all things Maltese.Including representing the National team at Cricket!

Paul’s personality in managing our Tour must have been tested fully.Given that our squad has such a diverse set of characters.Given that we were selected from County’s both North,South,West Country and Midlands.The cultures of England were all represented in our Tour Party. From selecting the Squad to managing our training camp at Loughborough and then onto the Tour itself.It would be churlish to imagine any of this would of been possible without Paul’s management and planning skills.

Along with Richard the Capt and ‘noddy’ the vice.It was a team effort to bring us all along with high expectations of feeling a genuine pride of playing for England and pulling on the Three Lions Shirts.The Kit Sponsored by Stonehill Sports.com was of high quality and made playing in the heat of Barbados much cooler than you might imagine.Professional standard clothing plus kit bags and ruck sacks were all part of making us feel like a real England Squad.Also staying at the same Hotel as recent England sides just made everything more real for us as well.Rooming with our Team mates was another aspect that brought us closer as individuals and team players.(although i can’s speak for my ‘Roomy’JP)He may of course beg to differ!(Ha)

So to summarise.It was down to Paul and Richard and galvanising the rest of us to buy into the project to make this England Squad into cup Winners.And buy into it we did.Everyone did their bit with the fundraising and sponsorship deal’s.Investing in our Tour brochure put together admirably by Kevin Grant( Essex seniors).We had a Tour Song Book organised by yours truly with some input on the selection of songs from the Two Kevin’s.Although neither cramped my choices, they certainly fed back what might or might not be enjoyed by the majority of Tourist’s.Including the Lady’s, wives and partners.

Publicity was another thing and it was arranged again by Paul and our original scorer (Keith)to facilitate two Media study Students from Gloucs University to handle the social media side of the operation.All professionally handled by Harrison and Oliver.Great work lads.You can see footage of our two day training camp at Loughborough elite training Centre filmed and Edited by H&O on you tube.

So, we were prepared mentally and to an extent physically with the support of physio Paolo at Loughborough and also Chanelle in Barbados.The whole operation had every detail covered and made us feel special!

Respect and good vibes emanated from the Loughborough get together and stood us in good stead for the Journey to come.From that moment on I personally felt my focus towards the tour escalate and the mental and physical preps started to ramp up.The psychology of sport is something of interest to me and this aspect of our training experience was also provided through the expert interactive management ofSquad member Ed Gordon Lennox.It was a little challenging for us’Grown up’s’ to challenge ourselves as part of this process.But ultimately significant i believe in us learning to trust each other and also to enjoy working together.

I’m rambling a little now but the essential point i wanted to make is that through paul Bradley and Richard Merriman(capt ) especially.We were well prepared and committed to a successful tour ahead.

With this in mind I was asked if i could paint a representation of Paul. To present to him as a gift and momento of our gratitude and thanks for all of his commitment and support during the tour.I hope Paul feels the love that everyone has for him preparing the tour so selflessly.Thanks Paul and Richard and all Tourists for creating such a memorable time in Barbados and for bringing us together to ultimately push through on the field to become triumphant. In Winning the Inaugural ‘Big Man’ Caribbean Cup for Over 60’s Seniors, was a Big Team effort alround.

With thanks to Dave our stand in Scorer,The umpires and other scores provided by the Organisers WI’s Masters Organisation.

Many more thanks beside.

There will no doubt be reflection on how things might work better next time and also player’s feedback will be considered i am sure.But also we are all ‘Big Men’ now and capable of resolving these issues and growing together.Reflection is good and maybe even more so after great Victory’s.There are always casualties as well as winners and those negatives are as valid as positives in improving the experience for all.This is the start of a bigger picture for England Seniors cricket and i hope that we are all capable of seeing the bigger picture as well as enjoying our part in the Success as it happens.

Just to reiterate how the passion, enthusiasm and skills of all involved has made this Carib Cup Tour as memorable as it has been,Culminating in The Final being played at The Kensington Oval,in Bridgetown.An iconic, historic venue for some of history’s best known Cricketers.And we can say we added our little bit to that history with pride and passion for the beloved game of Cricket.

Chapeaux to you everyone who contributed to this happening.

Cheers JB