- About Arnold
- Curriculum
- Extra Curricular
- Achievements
- Admissions
Grenada 2008 - Tour Blog
Well, it took 24 hours to reach Grenada but it was more than worth it as the boys were welcomed by fantastic weather and an even warmer reception from the locals. A short journey from the airport to our hotel followed with the boys and staff all equally stunned by the setting - a beautiful hotel perched right on the beach with one of the best views you can possibly imagine!
The first evening was enjoyed on the beach with a few games of beach football and something that resembled American Football. An early start the next morning saw some very jetlagged staff and boys take to the Carriacou Osprey ferry for the 90 minute journey to the stunning island of Carriacou.
The ferry certainly did not mess around as it hurtled towards Carriacou at aproximately 25 knots!
The first day on Carriacou saw the boys and staff enjoy a tranquil day on the beach which was next to the hotel. Again, the welcome from the locals was wonderful with the boys made to feel at home at all times.
Saturday was the day of the first match, with the U15s taking centre stage. The ground was in probably one of the most picturesque settings you could wish for but the wicket itself looked a difficult one to bat on - and so it proved!
Sadly, Ben Perkins lost the toss and not surprisingly the Carriacou Combined Secondary School XI sent the Arnold boys in. It was amazingly difficult to judge the pitch with it keeping low at one end and popping up at the other. Runs were difficult to come by as the Carriacou boys bowled a disciplined line and length.
Disappointingly our shot selection was poor and after only 24 overs we had been skittled for a lowly 32. This was hugely disappointing for the boys but it soon became clear when we had a chance to bowl that if we had only scoed 30 or 40 more runs it would and could have been different.
Tom Hessey and Ben Perkins bowled a very impressive opening spell but with only 33 to chase the opposition were in no great rush or under any real pressure. The spin kings, Josh Emmett and Joe Matthews, then took centre stage and it was clear that the locals did not like or fancy the spin.
Joe Matthews took the first wicket of the tour with Josh Emmett then striking twice. However, the Combined Secondary School XI had little trouble chasing such a low score to win the match by 7 wickets.
Rest assured the U15s will have leant their lessons for tomorrow's rematch and the U14s, who were watching with interest, will hopefully have been given an insight to the difficulties awaiting them.
The day ended with yet another evening at the beach (this could become a common theme!!) and a Caribbean style Bar-B-Q.
All of the parents will be glad to know that the boys are enjoying themselves and that their behaviour has been superb - and more importantly, Mr Evans's tan is coming on leaps and bounds!
A surprise was in store for the boys and staff as it transpired that just a stone's throw from our hotel was a Grenadian Amateur Boxing Exhibition featuring a number of fighters from past Commonwealth Games and some who will compete in the forthcoming Olympics and the Caribbean Games in the US Virgin Islands.
Nine fights were watched by the boys and staff with the boys taking front row seats in a very surreal setting. Mr Evans also appeared to have the only camera at the event and become the official sports photographer for all the fights! Mr Bell eat your heart out!
The next two matches in Carriacou were once again very tough. The U14s bowled well as Carriacou hit 108-8 in their 20 overs. Nanthesh Kiruparan was the pick of the bowlers with 3-16 but James Wilson, James Haythornthwaite, Luke Sherwin and Elliott Swallow (2-13) more than ably backed him up. Sadly, a slow start and some very poor calling resulted in disaster in the batting line up. Four run outs effectively ended all hope of chasing the score and with the pressure mounting as the run rate grew the U14s were all out for 49.
The U15 match was disappointingly lost to the rain. Even more disappointing was that the U15s were looking very good after the heavy beating to the same opposition the previous day. Carriacou batted first and were soon in trouble as Tom Hessey and Ben Perkins both took early wickets. A tropical storm then put paid to any hope of finishing the match.
After leaving Carriacou it was then onto our own chartered ferry to the smaller Union Island. Sadly, before we departed a harmless game of beach volleyball saw our pink volleyball dispatched into the sea. It could not be retrieved and has apparently been sighted somewhere north of Venezuela.
Captain Kattanga took us on the short journey but there was a special driver for the day – birthday boy, Tom Wright! Tom was supposed to drive the boat for just two minutes but 30 minutes later he was still aimlessly cruising through the Caribbean Sea!
Union Island was, to put it mildly, stunning! A short tour of the island was arranged and yet another beach was visited for some down time in the afternoon before a sumptuous meal at the beautiful Bourgavaille Restaurant.
The day of the matches at Union Island will probably live with both the staff and the boys for a very long time. Firstly, the setting was stunning! Truly beautiful! The welcome from the opposition and the locals was even better and the atmosphere at the ground was something completely unexpected. Over 500 locals came to watch the matches, with loudspeakers, a steel band and a match commentator bellowing out all sorts of sounds. Surreal does not even come close to describing it……..
Before the start of the U14 match, the locals and a choir sang the Union Island National anthem and our boys followed with ‘God Save the Queen.’ It would be an understatement to say that the opposition was very, very good. They were amazing and contained a number of older boys in their team which is the norm for these small islands in the Caribbean. That aside, the U14s bowled exceptionally well as Union were skittled for 160 in their 25 overs. James Kidner opened the bowling with the man over the loudspeakers announcing, “and opening the bowling for England is James Kidner…….”
James Wilson continued his good form taking 3-24 and Callum Whiteside was in wonderful form as he bowled his 5 overs for 1-27. Will Fairhead, James Kidner and Lewis Ashcorft were all very impressive in the field. Sadly, the older bowlers of Union Island were simply too strong and even our best batsmen found it difficult to score runs.
In the second match, the U15s restricted Union to 141-5 in their 20 overs. It could have been far less but 5 dropped catches and 37 extras did not help. Adam Naylor was in great nick with the ball as he went for 1-14 in his four overs. Nathan Bolus also bowled a nice line and length. The U15s were now set for a good run chase but the Union opening bowlers had other ideas as they ripped the heart out of the top order with only Nathan Bolus (29) causing them a problem. The tail end tried valiantly to push the score along but they were all out for 57.
The presentations saw a speech by Mr Evans to the townsfolk of Union Island but the main after match highlights were the dancing exploits of Messers Sherwin, Ashcroft and Swallow who decided to join in with the local dancing that was displayed to us as part of the after match festivities.
The following day saw us all enjoy a very calm and relaxing ferry back to Carriacou and then Grenada, with the sight of a huge cruise ship something to behold. How do they float????
Thursday started with a net session at the National Stadium and then a very enjoyable hike into the rain forests in the centre of the island. A brief dip was had by everyone in the Seven Sisters Waterfall before we returned for more down time on our very own beach back at the Gem Beach Resort as it did appear that the boys were becoming a little tired!!
Thursday saw the staff win the first trophy of the tour in a quite unexpected way. A Grenadian Quiz Night was to be found in our hotel. Most of the locals were of American origin and with 99% of the questions about America in some way the staff team were not expecting too much. 20 rounds of questions later saw the invincible staff team wallop the opposition by over 15 points in the most one sided quiz night ever seen in the Caribbean! The trophy was ours as Mr McKeown answered the last extra question without even breaking sweat.
Friday’s matches were extremely enjoyable. The U15s had their first win of the tour against St Andrew’s School at Victoria Park. The locals were all out for 132 as Adam Naylor (4-17) and Joe Matthews (4-29) were in sensational form. Eight bowlers were used with Josh Emmett and Stephen Hurst contributing well. In reply, the U15s looked good with Hessey and Calvert opening. Sadly, some silly shots saw quick wickets fall at 17-2. Perkins and Bolus then added 31 before a similar set of poor decisions saw them go at 48-3 and 54-4. This soon became 66-6 but the U15s still had 15 overs left. Enter Tom Armfield!
Armfield was joined by Tom Wright and together they added 44 to pass 100 with both playing intelligently and correctly. Tom left after a swashbuckling 17 from 16 balls and when another wicket fell next ball it was clear this match could go either way with Arnold on 100-8, still needing 34 to win but with plenty of overs to spare. Stephen Hurst now partnered Armfield as they rebuilt again. With the scores tied but with 3 overs still to bat, Armfield was bowled for a fine 33 but Stephen Hurst sealed the 1 wicket win!
The U14s had the unbelievable experience of playing at the National Stadium. They were fortunate to use the West Indies home dressing room with the boys wondering which great players had changed in their exact spot…? The U14s were put into bat after losing the toss and they were not over awed as they made a solid start. Unfortunately, the batsmen played themselves in but no one could really build on this good platform. John Kenyon and James Haythornthwaite enjoyed a very memorable 40 run partnership as they guided us to 70-3 but 3 quick wickets later and we were 70-6! Tom Jepson hit a nice quick fire 11 in an attempt to set a competitive total but the U14s were all out for 106 in 29 overs.
The U14s bowling was mostly very impressive. James Wilson was near unplayable as he took 3-10 in 7 overs. Sam Crowther was also in the wickets taking 2-8 in 3 overs and there were good contributions by Ben Mortimer (1-17), Callum Whiteside (1-19), James Haythornthwaite (1-8) and Luke Sherwin. In a close match, the opposition reached their target with 8 wickets down as Arnold lost by only 2 wickets in a match that could have been very different if more runs were scored.
Saturday saw all the tour party enjoy a full day Island Treasures Tour. The morning started with a refreshing dip in the beautiful Concord Falls with Will Hesketh winning the tour ‘bombing’ competition!
After this, we travelled up the west coast of Grenada to visit a nutmeg plantation and processing station. With spices accounting for 90% of all of Grenada’s exports and totalling one third of the world’s supply, this was a fascinating and informative morning. With the boys raiding the nutmeg gift shop, it is safe to say that their mother’s dinners over the coming months will be spicy!
Next came the Rum Distillery where Mr Bedford displayed amazing bravery to sample their strongest and most potent rum!
Lunch was had at the beautiful Helvellyn House after a brief visit to the Carib’s Leap Museum. The day finished with a beautiful drive back down the east coast of Grenada with the Atlantic Ocean as a back drop.
Sunday was another match day with the U15s this time enjoying the experience of the National Stadium and the U14s travelling to the very picturesque ground at Morne Jaloux.
The U14s made a wonderful start taking 4 very quick wickets to leave their hosts reeling at 33-4. After 20 overs the opposition had recovered to 79-4 but with 10 overs left things looked very rosy. Unfortunately, the Grenadians lashed out in the final 10 overs to post 151-6 with dropped catches and extras costing the boys dear. Wilson and Whiteside again looked very good with the ball and Will Fairhead enjoyed his chance to open the bowling as he nearly took a wicket in his very first over. In reply, the U14s were all out for 75 as they found it difficult to get runs against some tight bowling.
At the National Stadium the U15s made a breathtaking start as St Mark’s School were in all sorts of trouble at 26-6! Hessey (2-15) and Naylor (3-28) were awesome with the ball and Ben Perkins took a stunning catch. St Mark’s recovered well despite continued good bowling from Perkins, Emmett, Matthews, Hurst, Bolus and Goodier but they were eventually all out for 119.
In reply, Tom Hessey was bowled by the Grenada National U15 opening bowler but Joe Calvert and Nathan Bolus then repaired this damage with a fantastic stand of 61 before Calvert departed LBW on 29. Armfield went at 75-3 but Robbie Goodier then scored 11 not out and Nathan Bolus 39 not out as the U15s eased to a 7 wicket win and their second in succession in Grenada.
Monday was the boys first real rest day. The morning was spent in St Georges shopping for presents and visiting Fort George and learning about some of its history. In the afternoon there was a surprise waiting as the staff had organised a fantastic 4 hours of watersports involving banana boats and aero floats. The staff performed the necessary risk assessments by going on each of the rides first (!?) whilst displaying some subtle skills at the same time. Mr Evans and Mr McKeown were clocked at 48mph on the aero float and they never once fell off………….unlike Adam Naylor who set a new record for falling off in Morne Rouge Bay!
The last round of matches had the U14s playing up at Victoria Park in Grenville and the U15s down in Morne Jaloux. The U14s played a Grenville Select XI and batting first made an impressive start. Elliott Swallow and Luke Sherwin opened in impressive fashion with Swallow scoring 20. Sherwin departed but Nanthesh Kiruparan joined Swallow to push the score past 50. Sadly, Nanthesh and Elliott fell in quick succession and suddenly the score was 70-3 after only 15 overs. The middle order then crumbled as batsman after batsman decided to hit the ball in the air to the fielders, rather than into gaps. 70-3 soon became 79-7 and eventually the U14s were all out for 99.
The U14s then bowled in fine fashion with Callum Whiteside demonstrating just how far he has progressed in such a short time to bowl 7 overs and taking 3-15 in a quite superb display. The U14s continued to take wickets as Grenville struggled to score runs. With 2 overs to go Grenville needed 10 runs to win and then Nanthesh took two quick wickets as Grenville found themselves battling for the win at 94-7 with only 6 balls left. Unluckily for Arnold they managed to score the required runs off the penultimate ball in a very exciting match.
The U15s were looking to make it 3 wins out of 3 on Grenada to leave the island undefeated. The St Georges Combined XI made a solid start as Tom Armfield and Harry McNulty opened the bowling. Then with the score on 45, two quick wickets fell with Adam Naylor and Nathan Bolus the bowlers. Our opponents recovered with wickets falling intermittently until at 130-5 the lower order was removed for only 26 runs as Stephen Hurst took 2-2. Adam Naylor took his 10th wicket during the tour as our hosts were all out for 156 in 34.3 overs.
Mr Hayden’s new opening partnership of Joe Calvert and Ben Blake made a terrific start with the best partnership in any match on tour. Calvert was the first wicket to fall in the 20th over on 93 with Blake falling soon after on a fantastic 46 – the top score of any batsmen during the tour. As is often the case, the loss of the openers after such a good start led to a collapse as all but Tom Hessey (27) could trouble the bowlers and the scorebook. Poor calling and some truly dreadful shots saw the U15s reduced to 135-4, 144-6 and then 152-7 with just 6 balls remaining and 6 needed to win. A flurry of swings and crazy calls in this last exciting over meant that with one ball left Arnold needed 3 to win. A wide was bowled AND a run out!! Still one ball was left but they only had 1 wicket now left. Amazingly, another wide was bowled but the Arnold boys ran and with the scores tied our batsman was run out and they were all out for 156 – the game was tied!!
Our last full day on the island started in splendid fashion as our catamaran sailed into Morne Rouge Bay to collect us for our full day cruise along the southern coast.
After some wonderful snorkelling, Hog Island would be our destination as we relaxed on board for a delightful trip in wonderful conditions – although there was the odd downpour to remind us of home! This was the perfect ending to what has been a wonderful experience for all of the boys and staff. The sun was shining hard as we sailed back to the hotel for our final evening in Grenada.
Our last tour meal was a sumptuous buffet with a local Grenadian band providing the entertainment. The band had a few additions as the evening progressed with Mr Evans and Mr Jones making some very impressive contributions.
The evening was concluded with a dance off between some of the boys with Elliott Swallow looking the favourite to take the title until Mr McKeown took the honours with a tremendous display of break-dancing not seen since the early 1980s!
A tour limbo dance competition then followed with Callum Whiteside winning the plaudits!
To view all of the scorecards from each of the fixtures please click here for the U14A and click here for the U15a.
The Arnold Times
Junior News is here.
Arnold Monthly Draw
Your chance to win
Free rice
Improve your vocabulary and help others.
School rules
A breach of common sense is likely to be a breach of school rules. Find out what they are here.
National Year of Reading
Year 7 book reviews