South Africa Cricket Tour!
20th October 2023
16 of our boys from King Edward’s Witley embarked on a 12 day cricket tour to South Africa on the 13th October. The boys have been having an amazing time playing cricket against local teams, exploring the sights and much more. Here is a round up of everything they have done in the first week!
Day 1 – The boys defeated Somerset Cricket Academy convincingly. Will C hit the first Ton (100 runs) of any pupil representing school in recent memory (certainly within the last 10 years) and in true King Edward’s Witley tradition, it was an honour for our Head of Cricket, Mr Clarke, to award a mini bat to Will. In addition, Myles H took a wicket with the first bowl of the entire tour which sparked huge celebrations.
Day 2 – The boys were magnificent in delivering coaching sessions to children aged 7 – 9 from the Mbekweni Township. They learnt about the poverty in the community and met the Head, Michael, who emphasised that attendance is good because they provide a meal at lunch time, which is sadly the only meal the children are likely to get all day. They then went into the classroom and helped some children with their Maths lesson and made some new friends! They also presented goodie bags to the school for the children and the children sang a beautiful song to the boys. All the boys did amazingly well and should be very proud of themselves!
In the afternoon they played Boland Landbou but suffered a heavy defeat. Afterwards, they were treated to match tea by the lake and some enjoyed a dip in the water with our opponents who hosted them brilliantly!
Day 3 – The boys had an ‘off day’ from cricket matches so they visited the Cape Canopy Tour for a full morning of zip lining in the mountains above Cape Town which looked incredible. Certainly an experience to remember. They then had a springbok pie and headed back to the hotel for a little bit of free time where most of the boys chose to have an afternoon nap!
Day 4 – The boys had another amazing game of cricket surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Paulroos.
Day 5 – The surf lessons were the highlight of this day where all the boys were guided by an instructor and surfed some waves on Muizenberg Beach. It tested their balance skills and was a lot of fun – all the boys really enjoyed it. Later on, the boys had the wonderful opportunity to see the statue of Nelson Mandela where he was released.
Day 6 – Another win for the boys! Lewis from 5th Form completed the game with an excellent figure of 5 for 12 off 4 overs. All hosts throughout the games have been incredible and provided such a great atmosphere for play. We’re looking forward to their last game tomorrow – good luck boys!
It has been hard work but very rewarding and all boys should be very proud of their achievements thus far.
