The ODI’s were mouthwatering matches with Chris Gayle Universe Boss stealing the show…

The ODI’s were mouthwatering matches with Chris Gayle Universe Boss stealing the show…

The ODI series again did not disappoint, neither did it go the way we expected it to.

My friend Chris Gayle the Universe Boss showed us what he is still capable of, and what entertainment we had. Scores of 135, 50, 162 & 77… he was majestic. It was a thrilling series, if the World Cup is anything like the cricket that was served up then we are in for a treat. The series finished 2-2 with one sadly abandoned in Granada.

After Chris Gayle’s 162 I called him and asked if he was going to join me for a beer, he did and to be fair to him he had several photos with some of our party. I don’t always talk about cricket with him but did ask him one cricket question which was… You smashed 162 today…. with our bowling attack do you really think England can win the World Cup? He said if you score 400 you can! Probably not a great question, but it makes your mouth water to what could be!

We had several events during the ODI’s – the first being held at Mount Gay Rum distillery, with a tasting session and a cocktail making competition. This was an extremely popular event with all. It was an opportunity for everyone to meet, after several rum cocktails, and a few neat rums everyone had a fabulous time and made new friends. We invited Gordon Greenidge to be the judge and selected the GMT (Greenidge Mean Time) to be the winner made by a team who will be nameless!

The second of our events was at the West Indies Brewery in Grenada, (there is a bit of a theme here) it was planned, but it isn’t usual for us to have two alcohol events let alone one! It was great just having a ale again, being on tour it’s the one thing I miss. I don’t miss the weather but I do miss a good beer! I was very surprised how many real ale drinkers we have on tour, they are certainly on the up, definitely more than lager drinkers! We had an ex West Indies cricketer Junior Murray as our guest for the afternoon who we try to help by supporting his kids Cricket Academy! The donations made meant a lot to him and will go along way keeping them off the street. Bumble also joined us along with The Saga Louts Peter, Roger and David (below) who have become good friends with everyone they meet on tour. I will say it wasn’t my nickname for them but the photo below gives a clue!

After Granada several of us had an experience of spending over seven hours at St Vincent airport for a delayed flight to St Lucia. We had great fun and all bonded very well, with one client in particular walking up and down the escalators keeping fit! Others slept on the seats including yours truly! By the time we reached St Lucia everyone had made new friends. This is what is great about our tours, we always seem to have enduring relationships made. I love this. I, for one, make so many friends who I keep in touch with through the year and also meet up for a beer at a Cricket ground around the UK. This year with the Cricket World Cup it will be more than ever as I have tickets for many matches so our summer Whats App cricket group will come back into action.

Our last event was in St Lucia – a half day sail from Castries to Soufriere on a catamaran. I loved this trip, rum punches & Piton Beers were flowing, the music & food were great, the scenery was captivating and to top it all the company was as usual cracking. On the way back our captain sought out the dolphins and to our delight we must have seen several hundred racing the boat, jumping and spinning all around our catamaran!

Finally, the curtain came down on yet another brilliant tour!

We are very much gearing up for the forthcoming tours to New Zealand & South Africa, I would love to see some new faces join us on a tour that will not disappoint! I look forward to seeing some of you during the summer and on the next tours!If you are new and a bit hesitant about a cricket tour, please give Richard or Sara a call, they would be very accommodating and look after your every need!

So all that remains from me is to say I have once again had a great time with old friends and met a lot of new ones too, so I hope you all have a great summer of cricket, please keep in touch, and hopefully will see a lot of you during the summer!