For the final day of cricket, the group split into 2. Group Captain Green, Steve And Ben had the dubious pleasure of heading back to Dol Dol to run a Continuous Cricket Tournament. They had 2 newly ordained coaches in tow, with Aliya and TTP looking to help out wherever possible.
Ghazi, Ed, Simon and Phil headed back to Braeburn where the Nanyuki session of this Continuous Cricket Festival took place. 8 teams turned up, including 2 from the orphanage. The games got underway at 10am and the sound of over 80 kids having an absolute blast could be heard a good distance away. It was a pleasure to be there. Once again the teachers, most of whom had been ordained yesterday, were massively enthusiastic. They were running the runs with their charges, stopping the balls, taking diving catches….all from a technical area behind the Keeper. The will to win was a tad too obvious, but we spoke to them afterwards and impressed on them the need to encourage rather than win at all costs. For good orders sake, one of the teams from St Christophers won the festival and were presented with a signed bat. a young lad named Michael from the orphanage won an Incrediball for being the Best Fielder and the previously mention Brian won one as the Best Batsmen.There was one slight hiccup to report as a bus load of kids from Ol Jogi turned up at 12.30. They had been on their bus for the best part of 2 hours, and should have gone to Dol Dol, which would have meant a 30 min drive but a slight cock up on the communication front sent them in the wrong direction. It was too late for them to join in the festival, but the peerless Ed whipped up another pitch, got the kids into 2 teams
and started a 2 innings match amongst themselves. We then invited them to another extra coaching session in the afternoon in order to make their journey worthwhile.
Needless to say Braeburn laid on a fine lunch for the coaches and it was with a lump in the throat that we said farewell to the HeadMistress Eva, and the 2 members of their games staff, Evans and Millicent. What a fantastically generous and pleasant place.
We worked our way back to the Sportsmans Arms field to coach the Ol Jogi Massive. I say coach, but to be honest they just wanted to crack on with more games . This time we got half the group playing pairs cricket whilst the other half did some catching and throwing drills. The session was working itself to a finish just in time as the heavens opened around 3.45 pm. This seemed an opportune time for us to get the kids back on their bus and wish them a safe trip back to Ol Jogi. Great kids.
Meanwhile, the other coaches, mentioned above had set off on their bumpy, muscle twisting, bouncy trip to Dol Dol. When we left the 4 coaches plus TTP had lots of space on the minibus for the first time everbut this was soon to change. Aliya spent most of the journey checking that teams had remembered they were due to turn up in Dol Dol, or indeed at the tournament in Nanyuki. One of the teams needed a lift so we agreed to pick them up on route. This resulted in a full team of 8 kids hopping on the minibus and they were seeon joined by 2 teachers (coaches). Very shortly we came across 2 Maasai in full costume who also joined the bus trip so that by the time we arrived in Dol Dol, 2 hours after setting off, 17 people were on board the 11 seater!
As other teams started to arrive the two Maasai (brothers Jonathan and Francis) were taken through their Coaching assessment by Group Captain Green and both passed – nothing to do with the way they looked in full Maasai hunting regalia! The tournament then got under way with 8 teams from 4 schools with two groups of 4 teams. Each played each other and then 4th in each played each other, with 3rd in each and 2nd in each following suite. We then had a final to be played with all other players watching with 1st from each group playing each other – Dol Dol primary (all boys) against St Francis secondary (all girls). The boys expected to win, the girls got in a huddle and worked out tactics. in a low scoring game the final players for St Francis (with Girl power across her top) came to bat with 3 needed. No nerves as she firmly hit a straight drive passed all of the fielders and got the runs required. Great excitement for the team and a thrilling finale.
A signed bat was presented to the team and one young girl from the other St Francis team received a ball for her fantastic fielding during the tournament which included taking 4 catches in one game. CWB tee shirts (“Bowling Aids out of Africa”) were handed out and then all of the kit was split among the teams. We bid farewell but ensured we visited the Hotel Popular for a final exciting lunch extravaganza.
We headed off you a coaching session with the Maasai Warriors which was to be hard ball with a number of members of the Warriors team. This turned out to be great session with 8 Warriors turning out in full regalia with lots of other school kids watching the session. The two Steves plus Ben took them through Fielding, batting, wicket keeping and bowling sessions and enlisted Aliya for some help. Part way through Group Captain Green was asked for more media work by having to conduct another interview for KTN (Kenyan Television network) covering why we were in Kenya, the Aids/HIV message, and also how the work with the Maasai was going. This was to be aired over the weekend across Kenya. hard ball gear was then handed out to the Maasai and following a number of photos the Coaches finally bid farewell and headed back to Nanyuki to meet the rest of the team for a final meal and Tuskers together.
