October 24th 2010
Coaching teachers and children
Ramotswa Return gives CWB a first in Bots,
We returned to the Magopane School in Ramotswa, a school we visited last year. It was a relief to see teachers actually waiting for us as last year the coaching candidates turned up at 10.30am rather than the 9am start time.
Will’s confidence in the day was justifiably cut short as a large coach load of children arrived just after we had begun our introduction. Luckily Will’s plan B was a lot better than Allan’s plan B of the previous day.
Deaf children
We broke into two groups, those who would assist Mike “Cant catch a cold” Griggs (the nick name will become apparent later) and those who would coach the children.
The session begun well and all seemed to be enjoying themselves but the traditional late comers arrived just after the start, which proved to a Botswana first for CWB as these children were deaf. Unlike the UK where a child hard of hearing would be given first rate treatment and hearing aids these students relied solely on sign language. Not a problem for us as we rely on silent demo’s rather than the use of speech and high fives for encouragement which allowed a very inclusive and enjoyable session.
Lunch time
Following a hearty bean lunch we kicked off the afternoon session with the coaching of 120 of the local school children. Bondy and I were on wicket keeping in preparation for tonight’s game at the Gaborone Oval. Bondy leapt in and was superb.Bearing in mind he has no experience of cricket, he has stepped up and been a real asset to the whole group.
Cricket With Lots of Boundaries.
Veronika and new friend
Despite being let down again by the combi driver, we managed to get to the Gabs Oval in true, but in true Will style, he managed to lose the toss and we were put in to bat.
The batting got off to an exiting start with Vanesh and Griggs scoring early boundaries before Griggs fell.Our star man Adrian Shankar fell early run out after an easy single was turned down by Arjun leaving Shanks stranded.
Chris Bond’s first time in the middle earned him 3 good runs, before Meerkat Parker-Read came out slashing around for the remaining 12 overs and with Will hitting a quick fire 14, the Bandits finished on 120 after 20 overs.
CWB Bandits
1. Vanesh bowled 16
2. Mike Griggs Cauaght 7
3. Arjun Menon 30 Retired not out
4. Adrian Shanks run out 1 not his fault – Botswana manager would not run
5. Chris Bond 3 Caught
6. Allan Meerkat Parker-Read 30 not out
7. Will McLaren-Clark 14
120 after 20 overs
The team leader is the one wearing the cap
Mike Stratford and Shanks opened the bowing with Meerkat taking an early slip catch to get the Bandits off to a good start. Unfortunately Will’s only mistake so far was to let Mike Griggs bowl. His first over went for 7 with a great wicket bowling Saad , but his second over was not out of the manual being smashed for 18. Surely the game for Griggs could not get any worse. You guessed wrong, dropping two easy catches, Griggs was to face a heavy fine after the game, his only saving grace was the Botswana national coach dropped an even worse dolly catch. The biggest plus of the fielding was Bondy’s wicket keeping, never done it before, but a natural.
The alleged scorers and Umpires saw themselves home with 6 balls to spare, a great night had by all despite the loss.
1. Mike Stratford 3 overs for 16 runs
2. Shanks 4 overs 2 wickets for 24 runs
3. Mike Griggs 2 overs 1 wicket for 23 runs – taken off for being tonked
4. Will 3 overs for 17 runs
5. Fez 3 overs 1 wicket for 12 runs
6. Arjun Pie Thrower 2 overs 17 runs
7. Mike Reeves 2 overs 2 wickets 13 runs Super Star!
Saturday 23rd October
CWB Bandits and guests
Representatives from the camp went to Gaps Oval to see the Saturday morning coaching session. it was fantastic to see how far they had come since last year. After his success in the previous evening, Mike Reeves decided to bowl against some 13 year olds in the nets – a chastening experience! The most impressive thing was not just the organisation but the fact the BCA provide the children with a drink and a meal at no cost to the students.
We ended the day with a meal at the Motel’s restaurant and the fines master Mike Griggs handed out all the fines for the previous week, raising around 300 pula which will be spent on something for all those children who come to the Gabs Oval next Saturday.
Allan ‘meerkat’ Parker-Read