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‘STREETCHANCE GIANTS’ MAKE AN IMPACT ON FIRST TOUR
Jul 27, 2011
On Sunday 24th July 2011, a group of teenagers from North East London left for the first ‘StreetChance’ Development Squad tour to the North West of England or Bolton to be precise.
The group of 13 young lads plus 2 coaches (Ravi Chand, Rifat Mahmud, Qasim Patel, Yesin Arafat, Sameer Kassam, Abubaher Ahmed, Zain Saqiam, Mohammad Syar, Bradley Dew, Sajid Jaji, Joshua Cole, Pravin Perera and Tahir Patel plus Donovan Miller and Alasdair Ramsay) left the Peter May Centre in Walthamstow in a mini-bus early in the morning for the journey up to Bolton and their hotel, The De Vere Whites in the Reebok Stadium. The idea of staying in the Reebok stadium provided an added excitement for the group on the trip. It offered something different rather than a run of mill hotel that most touring teams stay in.
The group coped well with the long and sometimes slow journey up the M1 but this did give them a bit more time to ‘bond’ as a team. It has to be said, however, there was a lot of good natured and natural ‘bravado’ going on as well.
As we got closer to Manchester, the signs for Bolton started to appear and when we eventually saw the way to the ‘Reebok Stadium’, the levels of excitement rose dramatically. The stadium and hotel upon arrival was very impressive. Still buzzing, the group tumbled out of the mini-bus, checked into their rooms and then had the chance to relax or visit the hotel’s swimming pool and gym. After then, it was back in the mini-bus for the 10 minute journey to West Hougton Cricket Club, the opposition for the next 2 days, for some light training.
Upon arrival at The St.George's Oval at West Houghton Cricket Club (WHCC), the bright evening sunshine revealed WHCC in its wonderful setting. WHCC is a club of excellent reputation and with facilities to match. WHCC have over 80 talented junior cricketers and regularly play host to Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) U11’s and 15’s as well as their over 50’s sides. There were plans in place for WHCC to the temporary 1st class home for LCCC for the 2011 season but nevertheless, the lads from North East London were suitably impressed.
The touring team worked hard and with real purpose in their training for about an hour or so and then headed back to the hotel in search of some well earned dinner. There was one final team meeting where pre-match tactics and details were discussed before heading off to bed.
Training on Day One at Westhoughton CC
Training on Day One at Westhoughton CC
The day of the first match had arrived. The team left mid morning for pre-match training with Donovan Miller, Cricket for Change and ‘StreetChance Coach of the Year 2011, who left it until an hour before the match to reveal would be playing in the first match. This was a tough decision, as with only places, 2 had to be left out. Despite the assurance of playing in the next match, there was naturally disappointment for the 2 who missed out.
However, the whole team was reminded that even if they were playing or not they were still ONE team and were all in it together. They all had the important task of encouraging and supporting each other both on and off the field. It was felt this would be a hard but valuable lesson for some to learn but also an opportunity to spur them on and continue to train hard.
'StreetChance' Giants take a WHCC wicket!
For the two fixtures, the squad played would play as the ‘StreetChance Giants’, in green coloured clothing and for some these were their first ever hard ball matches.
In the first match, a 40 over side game, it is fair to say that the team struggled as they were bowled out for just 93 in around 29 overs. For the ‘Giants’ there was some notable batting from Ravi Chand and Bradley Dew, both scoring 14 and Rifat Mahmud to with 12. The WHCC bowling was tight and disciplined and this is what the ‘Giants’ struggled with. Looking for big shots instead of building an innings as 6 of the side were bowled. The pick of the WHCC bowling was M.Fanning with 4-17. It was hard to defend 93 and but the ‘Giants’ did make WHCC work hard for their victory by 7wkts. The ‘Giants’ bowled and fielded with a lot of heart and enthusiasm, from which they can take a lot of encouragement.
The following and last day of the trip started with a tour of The ‘Reebok Stadium’. It was important that the lads on the trip got the opportunity to experience something other than cricket and think it was well received and appreciated. Bolton’s home dressing room had some inspirational words on the walls, such as, ‘teamwork, attitude, commitment, belief, ambition, leadership, work rate, courage and victory’, that perhaps subconsciously filtered into the minds of the ‘Giants’.
Tour of the Reebok Stadium
After checking out of the hotel and piling into the mini-bus with all the bags, it was time to go and play the final match of the tour. This was a T20 game and perhaps better suited to the fast style of tapeball cricket that most of the team play. It proved to be the case as they batted a lot better, posting 122-5 off their 20 overs, with some fantastic batting again from Bradley Dew, 44 and Ravi Chand, 26.
The ‘Giants’ were right in the game throughout the WHCC innings with some quality, tight and disciplined bowling and fielding which led them close to winning this one. But, WHCC managed to get over the line but only by 3 wkts this time. Notable efforts from the ‘Giants’ in the field were, Qasim Patel with a great catch in the deep, a direct hit run out from with a throw from Tahir Patel (just 13yrs of age) on the boundary and 3wkts for Rifat Mahmud; 2wkts for Bradley Dew and 1wkt but tight bowling from Pravin Perera.
The team, despite losing both games, were really upbeat and excited about the time they had on the trip. This stayed with them even until they arrived back at the Peter May Centre late on Tuesday (26th July) evening. The trip had been a fun and enjoyable experience for them all (including the coaches!).
A huge thank you must be given to WHCC, who gave the ‘Giants’ team and coaches a very warm welcome and were wonderful hosts for the short trip (the after match food at the first game was fantastic!). A good relationship was formed for the future with WHCC to perhaps make this trip a more regular occurrence. The ‘Giants’ certainly hope so anyway, as they want to come back and win!
A final thank you must go to everyone at ‘StreetChance’, Ricardo Garnder and those at Bolton Wanderers for arranging the stadium tour, Laura Thompson at De Vere Hotels, Helen Slee and Sharon Brokenshire for the minibus hire and Irene Smith.
Alasdair Ramsay – Cricket for Change - 2011
