Woodridge a bridge too far.

Day 10:

A warm sunny sky greeted us as we arose for breakfast on Friday morning. The boys had a good night sleep as the coaches heard our opponents for the coming game into the the wee hours. Beans, bacon and eggs, and then a quick shuttle bus ride to Knight Oval within Kingswood College led us to our opponents for the day; Woodridge College from Port Elizabeth.

Captain Bruce lost the toss and the Red Caps were sent in. Woodridge were full of confidence after bowling out Muir College for 72 and chasing them before the rain yesterday. The Reds batting failed to fire, perhaps too much biltong was the reason. With the score at 8/51, Brendan mounted a one man rescue mission, as he struck numerous boundaries in making the third half century of the tour. Brendan was well supported by Jeremy (who batted for a full 20 min to almost get us to morning tea) and Max (who showed amazing poise to get Brendan to his milestone). The Reds were able to post a respectable 107 when drinks were taken.

Woodridge looked to take the initiative early by playing an expansive game. Enter Lachie the Outfielder. After his heroics at Parktown (obviously Woodridge hadn't watched the footage) he fielded a ball three metres in from the boundary, threw across his body and hit the stumps at the bowler's end to have the batsmen out by two metres. James had the opener caught at slip by Adam and the PE school went to lunch at 2/48. Unfortunately, we let a couple of chances slip in the field and Jez's friends from Woodridge passed us just 2 wickets down. A funny moment in the game was when Lachie was given an English and grammer lesson by the official umpire when he asked "How much balls left in the over?"

After some jovial negotiations between the coaches, it was decided that the teams would play an international T20 - South Africa vs Australia - in a lead up to the February series. The hosts won the toss and decided to bat. Cameron was the hero with the ball, taking three wickets and bowling with some serious heat. The Aussies were set 8 per over to win, and looked a real shot to take the chocolates with Michael looking busy during his 20 and Todd hitting an impressive 64 off 42. The boundaries were coming thick and fast until Todd was run out on a hit straight back to the bowler. The Reds innings closed at 7/142 - just a bit short of our target. There are no pictures of the second game due to the fact that the team photographer / blogger / physio had to take over the scoring due to a couple of indiscretions in our innings. Todd volunteered to talk through his innings with those interested in absence of photographic evidence.

Tomorrow, we have the Albany Rural Invitational team, who like Barker are yet to register a victory. With a lot at stake, there is talk of Coach Thomlinson to open the batting and Coach Toth to open the bowling - only time (and rules of the festival) will tell.

Overlooking the main grounds at St. Andrew's College.

A very proud young man after his first half century since his time in the Under 10's.

Coach Thomlinson in the process of making another fantastic decision.

JMT

Kingswood College saved by a downpour.

Day 9:

In the first match of the Grahamstown cricket festival, Captain Liam won the toss and had no hesitation in taking first use of the Kingswood College strip. After losing George early to a seaming yorker, Ben and Liam settled into a solid partnership. Ben was unluckily out LBW for a well complied 19, while Liam continued to dominate the bowling making a majestic 68 off 99 balls under difficult conditions. The highlight of his well-compiled knock being a cracking hook shot for 6. Mark and Todd made strong starts, but failed to capitalise on the conditions. Thomas was unfortunately dismissed first ball and Bruce failed to reproduce the heroics from the Parktown match. James made a classy 13 not out to see the Reds finish on 136. Just as the players were about to take the field the skies opened and ruined any chance of a result. After the brilliant bowling and fielding performance against Parktown, the Reds were supremely confident of their chances for victory; Kingswood College escaping with a draw. One of the plays of the day was the scoring prowess of Brad and Jez despite a number of distractions.

The boys have settled into the Espin boarding house at St Andrews College and are enjoying meeting many of the fellow players from the other 15 teams that are participating at the festival. After dinner tonight, the boys took the opportunity of the clearing skies to take a guided tour around the multitude of grounds and facilities that the boys at SAC have at their disposal. Then it was back to the boarding house to talk tactics for the Woodridge game, who just happen to be staying in the same boarding house as us. Jez volunteered to do some recognisance work in preparation, but it was decided that playing the game straight up was preferred by the masses. 

SMT

Gane Oval. Kingswood College's main oval and the home to their 'great escape'.

Some of the girls from DSG came down to see the 'Red juggernaut' continue.

Three generations of Thompsons watch to see if the youngest can continue his good form.

The Barker Touring Squad at the St. Andrew's College Cricket Festival 2014.

A slightly waterlogged Gane Oval.

Captain Liam scoring the squad's second half century on tour.

A day of travel, but one of the best days yet...

Day 8:

An early rise and we were back on the bus. But this time Mike took us to O R Tambo Airport. We don't think we left anyone or anything behind, but Lachie, Max and Brendan were asked on numerous  occasions to check their rooms. A bit of spare time at the airport meant that the boys could acquire some 'reasonably' priced presents for parents (Jane and Nigel, I can feel a few wood items coming your way).

A quick flight to Port Elizabeth with an even quicker kip by some of the touring party saw us arrive to some very windy conditions. We were greeted by our bus driver Mike (which we decided couldn't be a coincidence) and we travelled the 100km to Kwantu Elephant Sanctuary. The impressive thing about the tour has been while he have seen some amazing sights and done some fantastic things, some of us are continually surprised that the day's activity seems to surpass the previous one; today was definitely such a day. At first the boys thought, oh well, more lion cubs. But when our guide, Innocent said that we could pat them and let them gnaw away at our hands (Coach Toth stressed that it must be each person's non-bowling hand) the boys went ga-ga.

We then ventured into other parts of the reserve and saw a number of lions, cheetahs and amazingly, Bengal tigers. The reserve has four of them which they've bred and will return them back to India next year. Three immature highlights in this part - Coach Thomlinson trying to stare down a female lion through the electric fence after if roared at him - Brendan reaching through an electric fence tot try and get a better look at the tigers despite being pre-warned (don't worry, no ill effects resulted) - and a lion passing wind in front of us, or at least that's who our guide blamed.

And as if the day couldn't get any better, we went on an hour long game drive in two groups. Kwantu game park is privately owned and operated and is over 6000 hectares in size. They have amazing bungalows that you can stay in overnight and in the central part of the park, there is a five star lodge and restaurant. Both land cruisers saw an absolute plethora of wildlife but there were two things that the boys wanted to see. A hippo and an elephant outside of the sanctuary. The guide for the older boys, Cool Man, didn't disappoint. A hippo was spotted early on in the piece, and with the help of Lachie, he spotted an elephant in a dam from almost a kilometre away. As we drove with haste to try and get a closer look, I must admit, I didn't think we get to see him up close. How wrong I was...
We were no more than 40m from a very large bull elephant in the wild. While extremely cautious, you couldn't help but be amazed by yet aura of such a magnificent beast. On the way back to the admin building, we saw some blue wildebeest, cranes and gnu to add to the animals we saw in Pilanesburg.

Then it was on the bus to the sanctuary part of the game park. Below you will see some pictures of the four trained female elephants. However, there is no way on this earth that they do the experience that the boys had any justice. To look into the eyes of this gentle giant, made you think how anyone could hurt these animals and how well that Steve and his staff have done to train an animal so large and previously thought to be untrainable. The elephants could be fed in two different ways: by putting the food pellets on her trunk and she could feed herself, or you could say "trunk up" and place some pellets on her tongue and overcome your fear of losing your hand in the largest mammal walking the earth. Everyone partook in both methods without incident - thank goodness!

The time seemed to pass too quickly and we were back on the bus and on our way to Grahamstown. We checked into the boarding house and got an early night before having to play our strongest opposition in the tournament.

Both men doing their best impersonation of Zoolander.

The boys eagerly awaiting what's to come in Port Elizabeth.

Coach Thomlinson giving the 24 year old Majula a quick pat on the tongue.

Some of the boys were a bit anxious with their backs towards the big girls.

One of the groups in the new Land Cruisers at Kwantu Elephant Sanctuary.

The King of the African jungle. 

The Queen of the Asian jungle (in Africa). 

Some of the younger boys flirted with the warnings provided, but ultimately sanity prevailed.

This was definitely my highlight of the tour thus far. The chance to pat Amala the white lion cub and Survivor the brown lion cub was absolutely amazing.

Victory at Parktown

Day 7:

There's nothing like starting the morning than with a 6:23am swim, or at least that's Coach Thomlinson's motto. The boys have started to adjust to the 6:45am breakfasts and when you keep getting the immaculate spread like we have at the City Lodge, it does make it easy. A short bus ride to the Old Parktonian's oval and the boys were rearing to go for our last game in Joburg. Unfortunately, with a bit of rain the night before, the same couldn't be said for the pitch. Our 9am scheduled start turned into 10:15 and Captain Liam showed supreme confidence in his batsmen to win the toss and chose to post a total despite the stickiness of the wicket.

Adam and George ensured another steady start with some quality batting, after the loss of Adam , Todd hit a huge straight six and kept up a solid run rate. Captain courageous Liam commenced his innings with a beautiful cover drive for 4. The Reds kept the runs coming, after the dismissal of  Todd and Liam , Bruce arrived at the crease and commenced a dominating performance hitting a swashbuckling 59 off 54 for the first half century of the tour, James lent great support with 28 and Jeremy and Luke scored some useful runs in the closing overs. The Reds posted a highly competitive score of 8-199.

The Parktown boys looked in trouble from the outset after some great bowling from Brendan who took an early wicket and James who also troubled the batsman. Bruce ensured the wickets kept tumbling withs screaming yorker. Liam the bowled a blistering spell taking 4 quick wickets. The field from the boys was spectacular especially the out fielding of Lachie who made a number of brilliant diving saves on the boundary. The boys played tremendous cricket to win by 65 runs.

This match ends part one of our journey. The boys have enjoyed the game parks, Sun City and the matches in Joburg, we look forward with great expectation to the Cricket festival in Grahamstown.

The Red Caps had plenty of local support with Todd and Brendan's SA family coming out to watch us hit our straps. 

Yes, we got off to a slightly slow start, but I promise that we make up for it at the end. 

"Who would have thought we would find a better scoreboard than Aloys all the way out here?"

Tomorrow will see us in Port Elizabeth - Bring on the SAC Festival!

Go Reds!!!

Blog by Michael.

Game #2 vs St. Alban's College

Day 6:

An overcast morning greeted us as we had an early breakfast in preparation for our trip to Pretoria to take on the might of St. Alban's College. Bruce and Tom led the team stretch in the corridors while the coaches took a cardio session in the hotel gym - although it was a bit early and strenuous for most of the boys.

We bid farewell to our good friend Andy, who was presented a much sort after Barker Cricket training shirt. On the trip west to Pretoria, the number of Vodacom stores was ridiculous. With no opportunity to stop and purchase one it seemed to mock us as we continue to rely on the hotel's minimal download limits.

Skipper Adam won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first in a sound looking deck. George and Adam saw off the new ball, and when they were dismissed, Ben kept the scoreboard ticking over. Brad came to the crease and hit a couple of sparkling boundaries. Wickets then fell at regular intervals. Cameron and James scored some quick runs in the last couple of overs and at then end of our allotted overs the Reds had made 7-129.

In replay Tom had then St. Albans opener caught brilliantly by Luke diving down the leg side in the first over. Thomas bowled his offies with great skill but had 3 chances put down. Cameron bowled superbly taking 3 quick wickets to have the hosts on shaky ground. The Reds put down another hot chance which resulted in St. Albans scrapping home by 6 wickets.  A much improved performance from boys which alludes to a confident Red squad leading into the Parktown game.

Enthusiastic support by the visiting Reds while the openers batted out the first session.

Openers Adam and George batted solidly to be none down at the first drinks break.

While some good bowling helped the cause, the Reds were a little short of runs in the end.

Despite the result, the Reds squad are showing signs of improvement and with a couple of big inclusions, a great after game recovery session in the pool, and some fantastic seafood at the Fisherman's basket, our fortunes should turn around tomorrow.

SMT

Day trip to Soweto and the Lion Park

Day 5:

Day 5 on tour was truly a once in a life time experience and one we will cherish forever. Today we were lucky enough to visit a number of remarkable places in both Soweto and Johannesburg. These places included The Apatheid Museum, Nelson Mandela's House, a lion sanctuary as well as a tiny village in the heart of Soweto.

The Apartheid Museum was first up in the morning. The museum is located in Johannesburg and was built in 2001 to illustrate the 20th Century History of South Africa with a grand focus on Apartheid. Personally, I only had a small extent of knowledge about Apartheid prior to the exhibition. While walking through the museum, I was shocked when reading and watching some extracts from those times. For example, I watched hundreds of African citizens gunned down by white armed forces in Soweto. For me the footage really highlighted the savagery existing within humanity. These people wee shot simply because they wanted freedom and a united society. Was that really worth killing many innocents? Overall,I think many of the boys really enjoyed the exhibition and gained a valuable insight of the horrific nature of this oppressive regime.

Next we were off to a small village in Soweto. What came next was not anticipated. We arrived at the village and were warmly welcomed by the locals and introduced to our tour guide. He took us down the main alleyway and showed us various aspects of township life. I think all the boys were shocked by the difference in quality of life between where we live on the North Shore and this small village in the middle of Soweto. "It was such an eye opener thank God we live in Australia" Todd.

After a short drive through the township of Soweto we got out of the bus and visited Nelson Mandela's House. This was yet another amazing experience for everyone. Most of the boys just couldn't believe that we were  standing in the house of such a great historical figure and a father figure for many.

The final part of the day was a visit to the Lion Sanctuary just outside of Johannesburg. I think I can say this on behalf of everyone that this was the most popular event of the day. We got to see a number of African animals up close, such as cheetahs, giraffes and hyenas and also got the amazing opportunity to pat small lion cubs. On top of this we drove through various lion prides to finish off the visit.

Overall day 5 was yet again another memorable day for everyone. It was an amazing opportunity to learn more About the 20th century of South Africa, get close to more African animals and travel through and visit a small village in Soweto. 

Blog entry by Adam.

The entry point to the Apartheid Museum. 

A one room preschool in the informal settlement we visited in Soweto.

 The only sign that welcomes you to the township.

Outside the Hector Pieterson Museum. 

 Some of the younger members of the team with one young cub who was just excited to meet the Reds.

A tribute to the great man; Nelson Mandela.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Day 3:

Watching Smith and Haddin save Australia's bacon again seemed to pump the boys up for fun at Sun City and in anticipation of our first game against Soweto CC tomorrow. After another hearty breakfast at the campsite, the boys packed and left the Pilanesberg game park behind.

A short drive had the group at Sun City, but not before seeing one of the more memorable sites of our lives:  a herd of at least 50 elephants, mums, bulls and babies walking along the edge of the game park. Unfortunately, it happened so quickly as we were travelling on the bus, no pictures were captured but I'm sure it will be firmly imprinted in the boys' memories.

Sun City upon approach had the appearance of an oasis in the desert. For the parents old enough to remember, I did expect to hear the theme music to the show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" as we were in the shadows of the Palace Hotel. Boardies on and towel in hand,  the group (even Uncle Thommo) headed for the Valley of the Waves. Thomas, Cam and Max led the charge in lathering up on sunscreen on a day where a guy in orange robes complained to me how hot it was. It was amazing! Activities for everyone. Waves pools for the younguns, whirl pools for the others and the couples pool for the coaches... Parents would be impressed that even while on tour, the older boys were taking their studies seriously with much effort put into maths and language while interacting with the locals. The highlight for many of the boys (particurly Jez who is still talking it up) was the Slide of Courage (picture attached). Not for the feint of heart, it was a 25m drop from top to bottom, but a gentleman holding a bogey board at the end of the slide ensured you didn't fall off the end - OHS hasn't hit South Africa yet.

Entering the Valley of the Waves.

The Slide of Courage tested some in the group and even left some marks on Brad's back.

After lunch and some biltong snacks (which included almost every game park animal from 24 hours previous was an option - I highly recommend the Springbok) to tide us over until dinner, we left Sun City and headed to Bryanston. Luke and James entertained the front of the bus with movie quotes while others took the opportunity for another kip. The three star hotel, City Lodge, greeted us and the boys paired up in some very comfy rooms. The gym, ice machine and restaurant made it a perfect home away from home over the next five nights. Dinner at Spur and a team talk ended the day pleasantly - now it was onto our first game versus Soweto CC.

The world famous wave pool at Sun City. If you look closely, you can see the boys.

JMT