Ekansh's Cricket Tour to South Africa
Ekansh (Y12) was honoured to be part of the tour to South Africa organised jointly by Kent CC and Sussex CC Academy from the 2nd-22nd of December.
During the first week, we stayed at the University of Pretoria, home to the Cricket South Africa High Performance Centre. The first game was against the Titans Academy and after posting 224 from their 39 overs on a tricky wicket, it was my job to face the first ball of the chase and the tour. I was lucky enough to get our team off to a quick start but fell for 31. In the end, we comfortably won. Due to bad weather, the other 3 of our fixtures during the week had to be abandoned, however the mood was quickly lifted with a safari through the Johannesburg wilderness.
The next two weeks were spent in Cape Town, which was truly amazing. Despite more fixtures being abandoned, we played 6 games, winning 5 and personally, I managed a top score of 59* from 49 balls. During our time in Cape Town, we also got to experience the view from Table Mountain, a rugby match at the Cape Town Stadium between the London Irish and the Stormers, as well as spend lots of time at the waterfront. Overall, it was a great experience for my first overseas cricket tour and despite the weather, the cricket was extremely enjoyable.