To Abu Dhabi and Back to Dubai

People always seem to be intrigued by what is the highest, tallest, deepest, shortest, smallest, longest, oldest, or any other ……est we might find in the world. I share that interest; something unique can have no peer and I think that is special.

Abu Dhabi is the leader in its own category. It is the Richest City in the world.

How one measures this fact I have no idea, but that is what we were told. I do know that on our day of arrival His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan al Nahyan, the Leader of this Emirate, pardoned all personal debts owed by his people and those in jail would be released and would pay back 25% of their monthly earnings until cleared. Those not in jail would have their debts settled by him so they could get on with their now debt free lives, hopefully having learnt a lesson. I hold the view that a benevolent benefactor in charge is the best way to run a country and this confirmed it for me. No committees. A camel is a horse designed by a committee and camels were only visible in the desert far away. I would vote for him.

Our pleasant journey in our luxury coach from one Emirate to another, through the desert on a highway which sometimes had six lanes, took us about one and three quarter hours. It was strange being higher in our coach than anything created by nature, like hills, mountains or tall trees, as there were none. Out 360 degree view of the level desert ended in a distant flat horizon with only some pylons and some isolated town buildings to occasionally interrupt the view. It was different and fascinating. All the while the buzz of conversation on the bus had a happy and expectant ring to it. After all the England team could not possibly make the same mistakes and would win the second test for sure.

The unpredictability of sport is part of the thrill of coming on a cricket tour. Rewind the clock ten years and England supporters were usually greeted by defeats when they followed the team from Brisbane to Barbados and Delhi to Durban. However, recent years have seen more victories celebrated by the travelling faithful, including a magnificent Ashes triumph, than total thrashings. This made the defeat in the first test in Dubai seem merely an aberration, particularly as it was against a Pakistani side who had been soundly beaten in England the summer before last. Surely the batsmen would work out how to play the spinners and start supporting their world class bowlers?

A 3-star hotel in Abu Dhabi is a 4-star, or sometimes a 5-star in other parts of the world, and unfortunately is priced accordingly. Our 3-star Park Inn was very good. From the swimming pool areas to the rooms and good breakfast to the use of the surrounding hotels facilities, it was a pleasure. Our little island of six hotels adjacent to the Grand Prix track and Ferrari World (including a roller coaster ride where your car reaches 240 kph) was to be our home for the duration of the test match. What with shared facilities between the Park Inn and their sister hotel, the Radisson Blue, we had access to two pools, many restaurants and were able to sign expenses directly to our rooms. Our guests staying at the Holiday Inn enjoyed their facilities and some came across to our hotel to be sociable.

In both Abu Dhabi and Dubai our clients were able to watch at close quarters some of the world’s top golfers in action with very few other spectators in attendance. The extra day in Abu Dhabi allowed time for some of our folk to attend the HSBC Classic (free entry with HSBC credit card) and view the world’s best golfers like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald almost within touching distance. This proved to be a treasured golfing experience. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque proved to be a popular destination with its huge chandeliers and the sheer size to amaze the senses.

An absorbing second test was surely England’s for the taking; they won every session. Except the last. When needing just 144 to win they were bowled out for 72 with the batsmen still not able to cope with the Pakistani spinners. Our supporters were dismayed.

It was back to Dubai for the third test where history repeated itself and England lost the test match once again. The short distance between Abu Dhabi and Dubai meant we could undertake the journey by road. Our coach had mirrors that protruded . Margaret commented that she loved our bus as it had ears like Ian. A back handed compliment for the bus?

In the now familiar setting of Dubai the Irish pub was a much inhabited bonus, selling Kilkenny beer at half the price of other beers. The clients undertook the Big Bus tours, as they had done in both cities, and learnt so much; it is amazing how things come alive when you are told facts you do not know. They visited the almost one kilometre tall Burj Khalifa Tower, experienced the fountains dancing to the strains of music, rode in the modern over and underground tube network that didn’t require a driver, visited shopping malls and beaches and the more adventurous (Brian and Vivien) enjoyed High Tea at the Burj Al Arab (built in the shape of a billowing sail) on its own island. There is plenty to see and do and the England team made sure we had enough time for excursions.

Special mention should be made of our Howzat Pub Quiz team consisting of Colin, Neil, Eddie and Dave; they said the expats team were a bit of nuisance but they managed to beat the best in the Emirate of Dubai to bring glory to our name of  Howzat Travel. Maybe we should travel with a Howzat Quiz Floating Trophy with our team wearing our trademark red shirts and have a quiz evening in every city; congratulations to the team for spreading the name and swelling the fame of Howzat Travel. By the way these eggheads also play excellent pool – any challengers?

The Farewell Dinner in an upstairs dining room at Waxy O’Connors was a fitting end to the tour and special guest Scyld Berry of Sunday Telegraph and Wisden fame (arranged by old friends, Ray and Megan) proved to be an excellent speaker and we thank him heartily for his entertaining and informative contribution.

The clients generally discovered what a fascinating place this is. The Arabs don’t seem to work; that is done by foreigners and there are apparently one hundred different nations represented here. Cricket supporters are lucky enough to see many different parts of the world on their travels. The dense population and cultural heritage of India, the beaches of the West Indies and Sri Lanka, the ‘down under’ experience of Australia and New Zealand as well as the natural beauty and diversity of South Africa (and Zimbabwe when it is safe to travel there). The history of the countries of the southern hemisphere is comparatively new to an Englishman who listened at school and knows how long and proud his own country’s past is. However, there is now a new player on the international tourist circuit, one that keen supporters are going to see more and more of. For the centre of the cricketing world is no longer Lords. It is Dubai. The home of the ICC. A country whose modernity makes Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge look like ancient history; it is also the home of money. And money is what modern sport, and increasingly cricket, is all about. And money is most certainly what Dubai and Abu Dhabi are about. For a desert area where oil was only discovered in 1968, it has developed a huge amount in a short space of time; from camel herders to rulers of the richest in the world. An gentleman dressed splendidly in white robes told me with agleam in his eye that blood is thicker than oil.

It is a tour that all cricket fans must experience; it is only an eight hour flight fromLondon, the climate is warm at this time of year without being too hot and the hotels range from comfortable to unbelievable. Some may find the flash of ‘bling’ and new money too ‘blinding’ but it is a privilege to experience it. It does not pretend to be anything else and is proud of its status. Others will love the shopping malls, man-made beaches and general nouveaux riche experience. I mean a ski slope inside a shopping mal when it is 25 degrees outside. It is certainly a chance to see the England team in conditions that they are not comfortable with. Hopefully the crowd size is something that will grow when the locals become accustomed toPakistan’s temporary home.

Was it not wonderful watching the ODIs with a feeling of ownership almost as we knew every inch of the ground? Enjoy the T20s with that smug emotion too. See you in Sri Lanka.

Des

Whether or not we arrived here with pre-conceived ideas of what to expect, most of us have been pleasantly surprised. Someone said that it is a place of contrasts. This is true, but maybe a better description would be to call it a place of extreme contrasts.

From the azure blue of the Arabian Sea to the white waterless sands of the adjacent desert, from the sand dune wastes of this desert sitting cheek by jowl with verdant green golf courses and the lush grass of football and cricket fields, from urban centres flaunting the most wonderful modern architecture in the world to the surrounding emptiness of nothing, this place is captivating.

Upon stepping off the plane one is immediately aware of the feeling that everything is man made and that money is no hindrance in building an oasis of magnificent opulence. Entering the city of Dubai this emotion does not leave you but instead increases as you gaze in wonder at the buildings that could only have been erected if the architects had free rein to use their full imagination and creative artistic talent with an unlimited budget. I experience a strange feeling that it looks like a huge movie set for a sci-fi movie and am enthralled, almost like peeking into the future.

The cricket ground in Dubai- known as The Ring of Fire for the lights light up the tented roofs that cover the seats and shine up in the sky in the shape of a circle when viewed from afar- was very modern and comfortable. Our seats directly behind the bowler’s arm in the main stand were most comfortable even sporting arm rests. Bar and limited food facilities were available. No-one seemed to take advantage of the popcorn counter though. We had shade all day so many clients went to sit in the sun in the cheaper seats to develop a desert tan. The happy holiday experience at the Dubai Sports City complex lasted only three days so I have no comment to offer about the cricket.

This did give us some free time to enjoy the delights of Dubai and our clients took full advantage. The whole group enjoyed a top class buffet on board a large dhow as we cruised up and down the Dubai Creek washing down the superb curries with coke and water. Upon returning to our respective hotels the Irish pub and the Rock City club seemed to be suddenly popular.

Margaret Watton had a brilliant idea of attending a ‘Night at the Races’ so off we went in a 28 seater (all 8 of us) to the fabulous Dubai Race Course for horses (as distinct from camels). What’s more, entry was free and we could roam around most of the facilities. The grandstand looked like a huge luxury cruise liner with its seven stories and a spectacular roof from out of space stretching away into the distance. We could walk to the parade ring to see these top class pedigreed steeds so nearby that it felt like you could touch them and then amble to the railing to see them come racing by with thundering hoofs. There is no betting here, so Howzat Traveller Dave Lowe organised a lucky draw for our group and much fun was had by all. Margaret returned the next morning for a behind the scenes tour of all the Racecourse facilities which makes for some fascinating telling.

Individually, the group has been doing their own thing like visiting the various shopping malls and the big favourite the Burj Khalifa tower. It reaches nearly a kilometre in to the sky and the lifts travel very quickly I am told. I will be experiencing that next week as you have to book ahead. The Desert Safari outing was much more exciting than I anticipated. I certainly have more respect for the four wheel drive vehicles one sees on the city streets than before and some of the dunes we traversed I did not think possible. After much whooping and cries of anguish, we stopped at a camp in the middle of nowhere for our desert buffet which this time could be enjoyed with a glass of wine or beer. After an indigenous dancing show top billed by a very good belly dancer we made our way home.

The journey to Abu Dhabi was seemless and let’s hope for better cricket…

Des

The cricket….

It proves that the cricket itself is actually a very small part of the touring experience as a whole. England lost 5-0 in ODI series but our clients don’t go home unhappy; they have had a wonderful time, sights and sounds of India, bonding as a group and enjoying the magic of a Howzat tour. The victory in the final match, a one off  T20, meant we, like the England team themselves, returned home with a spring in our step.

We may not have seen the ‘little master’ or King of Indian cricket Sachin Tendulkar, as injury robbed him, Sehwag, Broad and Morgan from taking part in this series, but we were privileged enough to have witnessed some magnificent performances from the crown Prince MS Dhoni, a wonderful captain and batsman – only time England got him out in the whole series was run out off the last ball of the T20. From an England perspective those who were there saw Steven Finn mature into a truly international class fast bowler who will surely play in all forms of the game from now on rather than just be a squad member.

The lack of Tendulkar, and possibly too much cricket in general, meant unfortunately for us intrepid English (and SA) tourists the Indian crowds stayed away with small attendances in the grounds. We did get a feel for the atmosphere with English fours and sixes greeted by silence and dot balls with rapturous cheers.  (I felt an important part of the support as Kieswetter, Pietersen, Trott, Dernback and Meaker all hail from my country).

Not that there was too much silence – the English were well and truly outplayed on the park losing the first match in Delhi by 8 wickets with 80 balls remaining, the second in Mohali (much closer but still lost) by 5 wickets with 4 balls remaining, the third in Mumbai by 6 wickets with 59 balls remaining and the fourth by 95 runs.

4-0 down we headed to the world famous Eden Gardens in hope of an England victory. Looked to be on course when having restricted the Indians to 271-8 (the imperious Dhoni scoring a magnificent 75 not out from 69 balls meaning he had scored 212 not out in the series) Cook and Kieswetter took England to 129-0. All too familiar collapse followed as they lost all 10 wickets for 47 runs to lose by 6 wickets with 8 balls remaining.

The T20 provided something of a relief. England the World Champions in this format could take something home from this tour. Magnificent batting from Kevin Pietersen, Finn taking 3-22 and inventive captaincy from Graeme Swann….

 

Until next time,

Des

Kolkata

A local Hindu Goddess – Kali (Kol)- lends her name to this kata (meaning area) hence the name of this vast sprawling metropolis, Kolkata. The Deity Kali is the one that makes us free inside and I think she must be very powerful as that was most definitely the prevailing feeling within our group. The name Calcutta is not used anymore locally.

After a short 15-minute trip from the airport, we arrived at our new Swissotel to enjoy a modern and comfortable residence for the next six nights. Following a free morning which enabled us to unpack properly and explore our surroundings – both within the hotel and the sizeable shopping mall joined onto it (with many cheap eating places and a drinking place called The Blue Nile – now just a mere trickle) – the group set off for the ODI at Eden Gardens.

Kali went to work again and our adventurers were surprisingly buoyant enjoying the call of the Kingfisher beer back at the pool bar and not letting a mere cricket whitewash restrict their freedom. After all there was still the T20 to come.

Our city tour proved to be an informative and very interesting excursion with Asif as our knowledgeable guide. We learned that the city was largely planned by the East India Company trading mostly in cotton, zinc, indigo and spices, that there are three main languages- Bengali, Hindi and English as the official tongue. We were also informed that it was the capital of India until 1911 when New Delhi took over the mantle and that the population consists of 70% Hindu, 20% Moslem, 3% Christian and 7% others including agnostics to make up a total of about 18,000,000 souls. It covers an area of 1,384 square kilometres and the oldest Catholic Church dates back to 1599, a relic of the Portugese occupation.

Our first port of call was a visit to a Jain Hindu Temple. Through narrow streets, one walks via a huge portal into a beautiful garden with the most exquisite temple immediately catching one’s attention. I cannot attempt to describe the detail so please look at a photograph or recall it in your mind’s eye. Jainism consists apparently of the better-off in society and they are vegetarian. This Temple is dedicated to Shitalov (hope I have that correct) who is their 10^th Goddess and the protector of fish.

From there we went to the Kumartuli – meaning the place of clay models. Here we could see the potters and artists making all sizes of various deities for their different festivals throughout the year. We met the full force of the Festival of Diwali (Festival of Lights) as it coincided perfectly with the timing of our visit, so most of the completed statues had been sold to be seen in processions on the streets. We had a good view of these later.

It would be fascinating to attend a talk by the erudite Howzat Traveller Mary Rance who has a degree in the study of religions or customs of the world (correct me Mary) where she could explain what we were looking at. On two occasions she briefly explained things to me and sense then prevailed and things came alive. I felt a bit like an ostrich which has eyes that weigh up to 80 grams each and can see clearly over vast distances but a brain that weighs only 10 grams. It can see very well but cannot understand what it is looking at.

After a coach ride around the city centre, with some of the most beautiful colonial architecture imaginable – including the awesome Governor’s House boldly sitting on 64 acres of gardens and trees in the middle of the city – we stopped at the St. John’sAnglican Church. Even religious architecture must take into consideration the tropical climate, so the building has huge openings on the sides with shutters that can open very wide for ventilation by the overhead fans. In the grounds of the church sits a very significant memorial monument. This pays tribute to the 123 men who died in ‘The Black Hole of Calcutta’. The original site of this 10 foot by 14 foot cell with no air vents is the cornerstone of the present General Post Office a short distance away. The memorial sits peacefully in the gardens of the church bearing the names of those who perished by suffocation. Horrible. Of the 143 men forced into this small space, 20 miraculously survived the overnight ordeal in that fateful year of 1756. It made me sad.

Also in the garden is the grand octagonal Tomb of Governor Job Charnock. Strangley, this tomb made me much happier.

It was time for some retail therapy so we spent 30 minutes fighting the hordes for some street shopping right in front of our original hotel the Peerless Inn. I think it made some of our group happy that we could escape to the Swissotel. The time allotted was too short for serious shopping and bargaining but proved to be a good recce for a later date.

After a very tasty and spicy (not hot) lunch at a local (off the tourist map) restaurant we drove around the Eden Gardens complex viewing the grand buildings of the National Museum, Fort William, The Writers Building and then stopped at the Eden Gardens Cricket Ground. It was swarming with police and security personell but Asif wanted to show us the ground inside the stadium. I held my tongue. We were met with a flat refusal. Armed with the philosophy of ‘ perseverance will win in the end’, Asif  reasoned the hind leg off a donkey disappearing into the offices now and again eventually accusing them of being bad for the nation’s economy and tourism in general until after about 30 minutes we were suddenly allowed in.

It was a lovely moment to be escorted by armed police and security to be able to view the stadium at ground level. Of course our group was very polite shaking hands with everyone in sight and what’s more we could even take pictures. It is something special for any cricket lover to experience one of the most famous and fabled cricket grounds on earth and our Howzat Travel group did just that. Asif had managed to do something in half an hour that had taken me four hours to do on my recce having had to get permission from the department of Internal Security.

In high spirits and amid congratulations for Asif we set off to catch the ferry across the mile-wide HooghlyRiver. It was a very pleasant interlude away from the hustle and bustle of the city moving through the warm air at a leisurely pace.

We docked opposite the railway station of Howrah, where our coach picked us up. This is a huge terminus consisting of 35 platforms, 23 for human transport and 12 for cargo. It handles 700 trains per day. Every thing is big numbers in this city.

Commonly called  The British Taj Mahal, this magnificent edifice formally known as The Victoria Memorial stands as proud as any that I have seen inIndia. It was our last stop of the day and certainly provided a suitable finale. Covered in marble and with its dome and turrets mixed  with columns and courtyards it’s a remarkable smelting of Indian and Victorian design at its best. The surrounding beautiful lakes and gardens certainly add to its palatial status. I’m sure the tax payers of old would have had a fit if they had known what was going on down in Calcutta. It must have cost a fortune to build but a heritage more beautiful I have not seen for love nor money.

Everyone agreed it was a great day’s touring.

Dave and Mary, Gordon and Judith had not had enough of sightseeing so they went again the next day to see different places. Well, it certainly was just that as they went to a temple where they witnessed the sacrificial slaughter of a goat! Nigel, Andy, Ray and Christine did their own thing and Richard, Geoff, Dave C, Paul and Des went bargain hunting. Having come across with 20 kilograms weight of baggage and allowed 30 on the homeward trip, I think it was Geoff when asked how many shirts he wanted to buy said ”10 Kilograms”

We five then caught an old 1958 AustinTaxi home. About five minutes from the hotel we heard an almighty bang from the left front wheel. We immediately ground to a halt riding on the rim to park in the left lane of a freeway. It was a blow-out. There were no buildings nearby and, strangely, hardly any people visible. Our driver got out his jack and proceeded to rotate the handle. These are heavy old cars and soon we could hear him using a tone of voice in Hindu that could only be interpreted as swearing. He had turned the lever with too much pressure and it had snapped or more likely the car was too heavy for modern equipment. I have seen it in the African bush. You think you are in the middle of nowhere but have a breakdown and soon you will be surrounded by dozens of helpers. India proved to be no different. Our helpers were mostly young teenage boys but as soon as the word ‘cricket’ was mentioned they were our friends.

Our driver then proceeded to manually turn the jack to the required height and wriggled under the car to place the jack in the correct position. But first we had to lift the left side of the car up to an angle sharp enough for him to do that. With Paul the strong one among us and the help of  a few of us we tried but could not lift this heavy motor car made from thick metal of bygone times. All hands jumped in and any grip of any kind was secured by many hands and up she went. As we were reaching an angle of 45 degrees I could just imagine the car rolling over onto its hood into the next lane of the freeway. Just in time the driver shouted to lower it gently and all went according to plan and the oldAustinrested on the jack with the left front wheel well clear of the tarmac.

The wheel change went smoothly and as we were about to lift the car again the driver said he did not want to risk that angle again and jumped behind the wheel and with aplomb amazingly and ludicrously  reversed off the jack.

We were cheered off by our new friends and now drove along very slowly as the replacement tyre was a racing car slick. It was totally devoid of any tread. The Blue Nile was the first stop upon arrival.

Paul had the flash of inspiration which led to us having our Farewell Dinner taking place at the poolside on the 6^th floor overlooking a large section of the city. “Why not have a poolside barbecue?” He asked, “I’m sure they could do that for us”. So, after some negotiation, that is what I organised.

It started with a bang. We gathered for a pre-dinner drink and were greeted by a stray rocket from somewhere in the spirit of the Festival of Diwali which managed to accurately narrowly miss Andy’s strong chest and Geoffrey’s drink in his hand and crash into the wall amid us and burst into a spray of colours and sparks and explosions as it should have done in the sky way above us. Any Health and Safety man back home would have done his nut but here the staff just smiled and swept it away. We had to just giggle and know that we were part of India where tolerance is part of one’s character and the only way to survive is to be tolerant.

What I remember of the dinner was the good food and sweets but more than that I recall the spontaneous participation of our group. I have been on many tours and one of my yardsticks of a successful tour is when people sing. You sing at a wake or a party. Sorrow or joy. This was a wake of sorts as the tour was coming to an end but not yet. The party singing was started by that binding ‘spirit’ of the tour, Judith, with her truly beautiful voice –applause all round- I thought no one would dare follow other than Gordon. Dave Rance came to the fore with a powerful rendering of  ‘Unchained Melody ‘ backed up by all singing along to his lead and the party then carried on for longer than normal because Ray Ellwood entertained us with some tremendous cabaret that had him and us bouncing in our chairs. It was a good Howzat Farewell!

Further notes from the evening (courtesy of an email from Des to the Howzat HQ at 22:50, 26/10/11)

“They are mostly still partying at the swimming pool and watching the unbelievable display of fireworks across this huge city as it is Diwali as mentioned before and it sounds like a war is raging with non stop sounds of bombs and machine guns crackling in the darkness and lit up by the searchlights of the exploding rockets. It’s amazing but this has been going on since the sun set five hours ago. The visibility is being affected now by the thick pall of fireworks smoke that makes the streetlights look like they are enveloped in a thick mist on a clear starlit night. Weird. Hope the wind might stir tomorrow as so far on our trip it has gone elsewhere on leave. Not a breath on our tour so far. Richard has just walked into the room and says the chef says this bombardment will last until sunrise. Hence the tight security around this time as if India were attacked tonight they would not tell the difference between real fire and fireworks. Oh well, Good night . Dessingh.”

The next day was spent at leisure except for Dave C having to do more shopping in town for at least 100 people back home.

We went to the final T20 not knowing what to expect. We knew we were the World Champions but….

I thought things might go our way when during ‘God Save The Queen’ the big screen focused on our star Dave R singing passionately with good voice and dressed in the magnificent colours of Howzat Travel red shirt, standing out from the crowd but was not certain.

We left the stadium as a happy lot and then proceeded to take about two hours to get home.

Every street we took was filled with a procession of lorries, preceded by youths of all ages dancing weird steps and gyrations to the beat of drums, carrying the effigies that had been made in the Kumartuli village we had seen before but which had now been brightly painted and mounted in a diorama with lights all around. It was all very cheerful. Procession after procession passed us by until I thought we would never get home. What I found endearing was that each lorry was followed by a cart being pushed along by a fellow carrying a petrol generator rattling away providing electricity for the display of  hundreds of light bulbs illuminating the statues on the lorry. Some of the electric wires were dragging on the ground. No one cared.

I arranged for us to keep our rooms for the day until we were ready to take the bus to the airport which made a huge difference and a big thank you to the hotel management for that. The Swissotel had done us proud. I would recommend it to all and sundry.

Des Newton – our tour leader currently on the ground in India with our ODI group – tells us how it is….

Hyderabad

The hotel Marriott was popular with everyone and from the quality food to the pool area was appreciated by all.

Our Indian style mini-bus (where the driver’s compartment is closed off from the clients by a door) had nice looking reclining seats. The only problem was that the backrests reclined slowly but surely by themselves until you felt the knees of the person behind you in your back. You had to press the release button and with some help the backrests popped up to their original position. 5 minutes later……

The driver’s name was Driver Laxman so in the name of true English cricket lovers the problem was treated with mirth and laughter. Good spirits prevailed.

Our seats at the stadium, because we arrived early, were directly behind the bowler’s arm and one flight up- perfect. We were in the shade all day long with the option of sitting a few rows forward in the sun. As I said, perfect. The cricket was not. We lost hopelessly and took a drubbing especially from fellow Indian spectators.

The noise. The sheer volume of the noise. The Indian version of the Mexican wave- it took 4 to 5 seconds to complete a round of the stadium with a deafening roar the likes of which I have never heard. It was as if the people were so keen to take part that they could not wait their turn and a whole quarter of the compass would stand up and shout or scream at the same time turning the wave into a tsunami of cacophony and joyous participation. It was all over in a second until the next quarter took over immediately. I would like to bat during an Indian wave as the umpire could not possibly hear a nick for caught behind.

Dave keeps his own scorebook and the enquiring minds of our surrounding new friends tested his adept scoring skills to the limit with so many probing questions that threatened to break his rhythm. At one point his scorebook was 2 runs ahead of the official electronic board. Doubt crept in. A while later the board caught up with his book proving what a genius he was amid some hand clapping and awed admiration of the younger computer driven teenagers. Dave’s scorebook was henceforth King with the Indians asking him for the real score.

On the way to our entry gate wearing our beautiful red Howzat shirts we were catcalled loudly by huge queues. It was thrilling to see the challenge offered to us. Our group of a dozen brave souls waved back and smiled. Suddenly TV mobile cameras and crew surrounded us for impromptu interviews with each one of us. We were astounded celebrities. Judith was particularly impressive with her easy and erudite summary of why we were there to wishing victory to the best side which she diplomatically hoped would beEngland. We were a dozen of about a total of 20 English supporters among 48,000 people. We were a phenomenon and were obvious in the lone colours of a faraway island in the midst of anoceanofIndiansupport for the home team.

We were photographed many times with the Indian fans who were always smiling, friendly and spontaneous. It seemed as if they had read aboutEnglandand now here were the English people in real life. We must remember thatHyderabadis but a small, albeit a significant, country city of a mere 7 million people.

The game was lost. The spirit of our Howzat group was not. On the walk back to our coach at least a hundred handshakes were made by each of us. Paul made the apt remark to sum up the uplifting experience saying “It feels like I played in that game”.

The next day we had a short article written about us in the local daily.

Delhi

Half the group chose to go on a City Tour and found particularly the old city enchanting with rickshaw rides and narrow alleyways with shops galore. The following day was to be our highlight tour of the tour – the trip toAgra.

We dreaded waking up at4.30 amfor a5.30amdeparture from the hotel to catch the6.15 amtrain fromDelhistation toAgra. Nevertheless an undertone of excitement bubbled away beneath the veneer of sleepiness which soon vanished upon arrival at the station. People were sleeping everywhere on the cement floor and one had to wend one’s way through them to get to our station platform to await our train.

It rolled in on time and our reserved seats were waiting for us. Our 2 hour trip was speedy and efficient and the breakfast like an Indian Airways meal but the service was called ‘Meals on Wheels’.

We were met atAgrastation and taken to a local hotel for coffee and to meet our excellent tour guide for the day, Sanjay. The girls in the group thought he was good looking so took in every word he said. Not sure that Geoff paid much attention.

Our first stop was the Little Taj followed by The Magnificent Agra Fort. Many say that the view one has of The Taj Mahal from the fort across the broad river is one of the best. From there we went to an obligatory marble goods shop before enjoying a sumptuous lunch building up momentum for the big moment when we would enter the portals of the Taj.

The first view is overwhelming. From a blind entrance suddenly this splendid edifice stands in all its glory gleaming in the sunshine in its white coat of marble. I couldn’t help noticing some wetness on the cheeks of some of our group as we stood there for a moment, riveted.

The wealth of the Moghuls must have been unbounded. It took 20,000 men 70 years to complete. The architecture is timeless as it can look like an ancient temple or with very little imagination it can also look like a modern space station with its domes and towers. What it is in fact is a giant crypt housing only 2 coffin like structuresin the heart of the structure. The rest of the building is made of pure beauty created by many craftsmen over many years and all the outside is pure marble. All the inside is pure marble.

We were there on no special day but there were thousands of people present. The queue to view the crypt inside circled the entire monument two and a half times. I had already covered my shoes with some sort of sackcloth they give you so sauntered up to a well dressed Indian man about number 20 in the queue and told him I was alone and confused as to where the queue started or ended and could he advise me. He just made space for me in front of him and I was ushered inside. It was dark and one could hardly see. Photos were forbidden so I only took a few along with the hundreds of flashes going off. It was all marble again and the walk was over in a minute. I caught a glimpse of the shapes inside the crypt before walking out into the bright sunshine again.

There were lovely lawns to rest one’s toured- out body before the train journey back ‘home’ enjoying a curry supper on board. A satisfied bunch of intrepid travellers returned back to the hotel at about 11.30 pm all bearing Muslim names in honour of the Taj Mahal.

Road to Chandigarh

We boarded the mini-coach in Delhi bound for Chandigarh. The coach was splendidly fitted out with air conditioning and very comfortable reclining seats that only reclined when you pulled the lever and gave us confidence with good signwriting confirming that it was a luxury coach with only one mistake in the spelling of luxury ‘transprot. But then we cant spell in Hindu very well. I suspected that all would not be quite right when upon leaving the hotel the first little bump in the tarred road reverberated around the coach. I then realised that this vehicle was, to quote the Bard, ‘A goodly apple rotten at the core’. It was a luxury seating capsule mounted on a 3 or 5 ton lorry chassis. The suspension was made for a load much heavier than we were.

At one stage Christine turned around to see Geoffrey who had been lying on his back in the back row levitating as he had been lifted a foot off the seats by the bump we had just experienced. He slept through it he said .Seven hours later we arrived at the user friendly Mountview Hotel but not before Andy and Geoff had won my ODI cricket quiz on the bus with 10 correct answers in a row each before they both stumbled on the 11^th. Most only get to 5.They won a free drink each! After some room shuffling we settled down to enjoy the space and the company of our fellow English guests on the bar terrace and met and chatted with the likes of Botham, Lloyd, Ed Smith, Paul Allott, Dermot Reeve, and other pretenders.

The next day I organised 4 Tuk –Tuks  for next to nothing to run us in convoy with the warm wind rushing through one’s hair to the famous Rock Gardens to wander through its nooks and crannies and weird porcelain walls and figurines made of waste materials to the waterfall surrounded by steep walls of coolness. Here again we were obviously different with people wanting photos with us and wanting to communicate in a friendly and inquisitive way. It was difficult to drag everyone away in the allotted time of one and a half hours.

Another tuk tuk ride took us to the Lakelet where Andy and Geoff paddled a boat with a magnificent maidenhead of a dragon’s head while Des and Richard sat in the bow relaxing. Gordon and Judith wandered off up the lake to take some pictures of the bird life while the others chilled out at the restaurant before tuk tuking back to the hotel. A lovely outing.

The Punjabi Mohali ground was well appointed and full of tradition. We sat almost behind the bowler’s arm once more and there were policemen and women in heavy presence. The best public seats we had with a meal included between innings in the huge colonial banquet hall in the pavilion downstairs. It consisted of a tasty buffet Indian cuisine meal. I must say that very few of our group have eaten a meal of various curry dishes standing up holding the plate leaving one hand only with which to eat. There were no tables nor chairs. We watched the locals and realised they had no problem. So we just got on with it too.

The cricket scene proved to be the same with friendly people and photos galore. We all had long chats and even the military security staff paid special attention to us to make sure we were happy.

Watching a cricket game inIndiais different and memorable and pleasant.

Mumbai

We had an easy uneventful transfer to Mumbai. Smooth, like a normal Howzat -organised transfer, to the Taj President which was well received by our clients.

The trip to theElephantaCaveswas very welcoming. As Andy pointed out we were using transport in Mumbai without the noise of incessant hooting. The smooth boat ride and the silence was such a treat The little train ride and the walk up the 124 steps on the mountain took us to this hollowed -out side of themountainTempleguarding its statues of the Hindu Gods which were eloquently explained by our experienced guide. We were all so impressed we wanted to have Hindu names for everyone but they proved to be too difficult to remember.

The afternoon city tour encompassed the wide divide of wealth and poverty in Mumbai. We started out visiting an outdoor slum laundry. Many people were washing all sorts of clothing, sheets, tablecloths etc in open baths or pools and processing them from pool to pool until eventually they were hung on ropes used for drying. The business seemed to be thriving providing a cheap service for many small hotels, restaurants and homes in the area and of course an income for themselves. They even had a school in one of the rooms for the children.

The next port of call was the house that Mahatma Ghandi lived in when he visited Mumbai. It has been converted into a 3 story museum and our supposed half hour visit turned into well over an hour. It was very well presented and we came away with new respect for a man who dedicated his life for his fellow Indians. We also stood on the balcony where he used to address his crowds until they became too numerous and they would go down to the beach. There were numerous famous utterings of his to be read. One that Mary or Judith pointed out to us read “To call women the weaker sex is a label, it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strong is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man’s superior….. If non-violence is the law of our being the future is surely woman”. The argument followed a little later.

After a drive-past tour of theHangingGardens, which were closed, we stopped to view the memorial fountain and the Towers of silence where the Parsees leave their dead to be eaten by carrion as they believe that as they have taken from nature during life so they must give back to nature in death. Can’t really argue the point. A photo stop of the magnificent Victoria Railway Terminus was followed by a visit to the other end of the wealth scale namely The Taj Mahal Hotel. Colonial opulence at its tasteful best.

The evening was enjoyed by some by visiting the Leopards restaurant/ bar. We had a meal at the table next to bullet holes in the smoky mirrored walls left by the Terrorist attack on this restaurant and numerous nearby sites. What a lovely, crazy place filled choc-a-bloc with people from all around the world. We sat at a table between Kenyans and local Indians eating splendid curry and pickles with a glass tower containing 3 litres of ice cold beer with a tap at the bottom to soothe our pallets and stimulate our minds. AnEnglandshirted man added to the party by playing the last post on his bugle.

We made our weary way home in a 1960 Fiat taxi (one of 40,000) for a very modest fee.

The journey to and from the Wankede Stadium was clockwork but the cricket again was disappointing. The seats were good but in the heat of the sun for about 3 hours. This was too hot for some who had to seek shelter at the back of the stand but was fine for Nigel who did not notice he was sitting in the sun in 45 degrees Celsius. He’s tough. Luckily it was a day/night game.

Now we’re on our way to Kolkata and maybe Eden Gardens will be kinder to us. Richard has been singing ‘Blue Moon’ to rile the United supporters and is offering 6 to 1 odds on almost anything. Good banter.

Monday 24^th January

I was undecided what to do with my day today. Speaking with the group at breakfast, it seemed that everyone had very different plans – for most it was their last full day in Australia so they wanted to make the most of it exploring places they had not seen yet. A few went over to Manly on the ferry, whilst others explored places like the Olympic Park or Watsons Bay.

After breakfast, I jumped on the free shuttle bus down to Circular Quay. I’d promised myself that I’d explore a couple of areas of Sydney that I’d not had been to – Observatory Hill and the Botanical Gardens. I jumped off the bus then walked around the quay, through The Rocks and up to the Observatory. It was a really hot and humid day a walking up the hill was harder work than I’d expected as a result! The Observatory, which has free entry, was a fascinating place with lots of interesting information and exhibits. It also has air-con so I was able to cool down a bit!

Upon leaving the Observatory, I made my way back through Circular Quay, round past the Opera House and into the Botanical Gardens. I spent an hour or so walking through the beautiful gardens, then up to the famous ‘Mrs MacQuarie’s Point’, where I enjoyed some amazing views of the harbour, Opera House and bridge. I made my way back through the city to the hotel, calling in a few shops on the way.

In the evening, I met up with Dave, John and the two Geoffs and we went for a few drinks initially to a pub near the hotel, then down to Darling Harbour in search of food. After a very pleasant evening – nice food and good company – we made our way back to the hotel.

 

Tuesday 25^th January

Departure day! For most of the group – me included. Everyone was leaving Sydney today, except Alison who had decided to stay for the rest of the week and Dave who was staying for an extra few days with his son who lived in Sydney. Margaret and Barbara were going to Adelaide for the next ODI tomorrow, Raymond and Joy were off to Brisbane to visit friends and family, and Gordon and Lynn were off to Cairns on the next step of their own self-tailor-made trip.

First off were Margaret and Barbara, who I met in the hotel foyer to wave them off at 10.30am. Everyone else was leaving at 1pm on a coach to the airport for their afternoon flights. After packing my own case and checking out of my room, I caught up with some work and emails on the computer, and then met with the group in the hotel foyer to board the airport transfer coach.  On the coach, I said a few farewell words to the group on the mic, and when we got to the airport, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways – me to catch a train back into the city (my flight was not until later) and everyone else to their check-in desks.

As I made my way back into the city, I reflected on what had been a great trip – thoroughly enjoyable, great company and lots of fun. The only downside had been that we hadn’t seen some more successful cricket, but this is how things go sometimes… you have to be philosophical. Everyone had still thoroughly enjoyed themselves despite the cricket, and it had been a pleasure hosting them for the last two-and-a-half weeks.

I look forward to seeing your all at some point in the future!

Saturday 22^nd January

We had a morning transfer to the airport at 10.15am today – our next and final destination (for most of us) being Sydney. Vicki was leaving the group to head back home to the UK, so after I’d waved her off at 8.45am then finished packing my bags, I met the rest of the Howzat Travellers in the foyer.

Following a smooth transfer and flight, we landed in Sydney in the early afternoon and boarded our coach to the Rydges World Square hotel – back to where I had been staying during the Ashes Sydney Test. It felt strange being back after a couple of weeks away – the time had flown by, but when I thought back to everything we’d done and seen, it seemed longer than two weeks!

After we’d all checked into our rooms, we went off in separate directions to make the most of the rest of the beautiful, sunny day in Sydney. The Rocks, the Botanical Gardens and Darling Harbour were the choice of place to spend the rest of the afternoon for most of the group.

I headed down to Darling Harbour to meet some friends, and spent the evening with a few bottles of wine and some nice food. Being a Forest fan, I even managed to catch some of the match taking place at home on Saturday afternoon – away to Derby. A 1pm kick-off meant that it started at 12am here in Sydney, and I had every intention of listening to the whole match on internet commentary. The drink and tiredness caught up with me and I think I fell asleep about 20 minutes into the first half!

I awoke at 4am, had a quick look at the score (we won 1-0!), then went back to sleep…

Sunday 23^rd January

So, the penultimate full day in Australia for the main tour group and the day of the third Commonwealth Bank Series ODI between Australia and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The news reports were full of injury new to both Australia and England (Bresnan and Pietersen), so we would see some changes to the teams today. Strauss had been bemoaning his lack of seamers but did say that England has simply not been good enough so far in the series – a sentiment very much shared with the travelling supporters. We all hoped for an improvement today.

Some of the group gathered in reception to take the 30-minute walk to the SCG together, whilst others made their own way there after deciding to use the free time in the morning to see more of Sydney. Having made this walk a few times during the Sydney test, there was pleasant familiarity to it, and I hoped that we’d be walking away from the ground at the end of the day with the same feeling of jubilation as I did the last time!

Taking our seats in the ground, some decided to seek some shade before play commenced, but by the time the match started, the sun had moved behind the stand and we were out of the baking sun. England had won the toss and decided to bat… and we suffered the loss of our first wicket in the first over! Prior went for a duck for the second match running… can he retain his place as opening batsman in this ODI team any longer?

Trott managed a pedestrian 84 not out off 119 balls, and managed to run out Strauss in an awful mix up as England were on 38. Bell went for 10 and Collingwood was bowled out for 1. All in all, England never really got going and a score of all out for 214 didn’t fill most of the England supporters with much confidence that we’d start a comeback in this series here in Sydney. As it happened, despite some decent bowling from Collinwood and Tremlett (two wickets each), the home side reached 215-6 and won by 4 wickets.

It did look promising at one point in the evening as we sat under the floodlights of the SCG and the wickets of White and Haddin fell on 92 and 100 respectively, but it was not meant to be. Three matches, three losses. The Aussies had regrouped effectively after the Ashes loss, and in the five matches played between Australia and England since the Sydney Test, they had only lost one – the Twenty20 in Adelaide, and that was by just one ball.

Again, we spilled out of a floodlit stadium to make our walk home to our hotel, bemoaning the negative elements of England’s play. It was fairly late by the time we reached the hotel, so most people headed to bed, whilst a few went for a few drinks and drown their sorrows…

Wednesday 19^th January

Today we leave Melbourne, and after being here for six nights, most of the group have thoroughly enjoyed their time here but are ready for a change. We all had a leisurely morning, taking our time over breakfast, checked out of our rooms and decided how to spend our last morning here.

I went for a walk in the city, then enjoyed a coffee whilst doing some work. Some of the group spent the morning looking around the shops or walking along the river, whilst others had saved a trip up the Eureka Skydeck until their last morning. Vicki – who was following us to Hobart on a later flight – had an extra day at the tennis…

Our mid-afternoon  flight was fine, and we landed in Hobart immediately noticing the drop in temperature, which is unsurprising as we’d flown further south. “Much more British” was the way that a couple of guys described the climate! Having been to Hobart back in June, I was very happy to be back here – it is a beautiful, picturesque place with striking scenery – a world away from the hustle and bustle of Melbourne.

We checked into the lovely, historic Hadleys Hotel  – the oldest in Hobart and built by early convicts shipped to Tasmania. It was ideally situated in the centre of Hobart and most of the group dropped their bags off and went to explore the small and quaint city.

Hobart was lively tonight, with the ‘MONA FONA’ festival seeming to take over the dock and Salamanca Square area. Apparently, a ‘Museum of Old and New Art’ was opening in Hobart this weekend and there were celebrations leading up to it. The city certainly had a festival feel to it and the pubs and restaurants were filled with revellers old and young! Some of the group enjoyed food and drinks at the Barcelona Bar in Salamanca Square, followed by a few night caps at a pub conveniently located two doors along from the hotel – the Victoria Tavern – which was also showing the final throes of the Federer match from the Australian Open Tennis.

We all made our way to the hotel fairly late, in good spirits after an enjoyable night and looking forward to a couple of days in Tasmania.

 

Thursday 20^th January

Today was our free full day in Hobart and I’d organised for the group to go on a boat cruise, so I was very happy when I woke up and saw that the weather was gloriously warm and sunny. A leisurely breakfast (with poached eggs instead of the now-all-too-familiar scrambled – much to the delight of some of the guys!) was in order, and then we all met in the foyer later that evening to walk down to the harbour together.

We were booked on to the delightful Peppermint Bay Cruise – a five and a half hour trip aboard a luxurious 23-metre catamaran. It took us from Hobart’s ‘Sullivan’s Cove’, through the harbour, the River Derwent, the d’Entrecasteaux Channel, on to Peppermint Bay. We had booked ‘Captain’s Upper Deck’ seats, which meant that we were treated to prime position leather seats a the top of the boat behind the captain, and took in the spectacular views whilst enjoying tea, coffee, biscuits, wine, fresh local lunch, wine, cheeseboard and some more wine… What a day! The weather was beautiful, the company was good and the crew of the catamaran treated us like royalty. It was so relaxing that Raymond even found time for a few zzzzz’s – much to our amusement. After Dave had taken up waiter duties on the journey home – dishing out the delicious Tasmanian wine much to everyone’s amusement – we passed under the Tasman Bridge and back into the harbour.

On the short walk back up to the hotel, we all remarked how enjoyable the day had been, and that it was perfectly timed at this stage in the tour. We just hoped that we would be as lucky tomorrow with the weather for the cricket – but the forecast was not looking good at all.

I had an early night tonight, but some of the group did reconvene in the hotel bar for a few happy hour drinks, all still on a high after what had been an excellent day!

 

Friday 21^st January

The first thing everyone did this morning was open their curtains and check the weather. The forecast all week had said that today was going to be a wet day, although the locals in Hobart we’d talked to yesterday had told us not to worry and that any showers would blow over pretty quickly. There were some clouds in the sky but it was dry, and I even remarked to Alison at breakfast that it looked like we might be OK. I’d spoken too soon – by the time I’d finished breakfast the rain was coming down and the clouds looked full of rain. Nevertheless, we all got ready to meet in reception a little later, most donning rain jackets and wearing hats to keep the rain off.

I had organised for the group to transfer to the second ODI at the Bellerive Oval by boat taxi. We made the short walk down to the harbour, sheltering for the rain under awnings as went, and then boarded the boat to make the short trip across the River Derwent to the Bellerive Oval – a ground in one of the most attractive settings in the world. Again, our boat driver said that the weather would clear up and we’d get to see some cricket. Let’s hope so…

Once we got off the boat at Bellerive, most headed to the bar on the dock for a few pre-match drinks, whilst others had a stroll around the port. After a short while, we walked up to the Oval, and unbelievably, the skies began to clear. As it happened, that was all the rain we were to see that day; the sun came out and it ended up being a fine day. Clouds still blew overhead from time to time, but no more rain… we had yet again been lucky with the weather – just like in Adelaide and Melbourne! It was shaping up to be a good day….

The cricket started promisingly too, with at one point the Aussies at 142-8 – Shahzad the pick of the bowlers taking the wickets of Watson, Haddin & Smith.  I was contemplating calling out boat taxi to get them to pick us earlier than our scheduled 10.30pm slot! Good job I didn’t bother… Shaun Marsh’s superb century rescued the hosts to 230 all out. Even still, it was a reachable score and we were all hopeful that England would win. However, England’s batsmen soon dispelled those ideas and we were all greeted to a dull, slow, unadventurous batting performance – one more suited to a tense Test Match rather than an ODI. England were poor and as the sun went in, the floodlights came on and the temperature cooled, the excitement had been sucked out of the match and our enthusiasm waned. Shahzad’s run out on 184 seemed to sum up the match, and we all spilled out of the Oval feeling disappointed and let down. We walked back down to the harbour to catch our return boat taxi crossing – back over the river to Hobart.

What a shame…  As Jim said to me as we walked back up to the hotel; “Steve, I’ve had a lovely day… apart from the cricket!”

Let’s hope for a better performance in Sydney.

Sunday 9^th January

With my new tour group departing for Canberra at 9.00am this morning, plus some of the group heading to the airport for their onward travels or journeys home, we were up fairly early so I could finish packing my bags. I had some breakfast, said ‘goodbye’ to Jenn, then headed over to the Four Points to meet the group, who had hopefully enjoyed a good first nights’ sleep in Australia. On arrival at the hotel, I did find out that new Howzat Traveller Jim – whilst trying to find the toilet in the night – had found himself locked out of his hotel room wandering the hotel corridors in his underwear! It reminded me of an old Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes TV advert!

The ‘Wombat Tour’ group initially consisted of 15 people, although more were to join us as we made our way around Australia following the cricket. The coached departed on time – on our way to Canberra, via Bowral. The reason we were going to stop at Bowral – a small town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales – was to visit the world famous Bradman Museum and to catch a charity cricket match being played there, due to feature many celebrities and ex-England and ex-Australia cricketers. However, as we left Sydney on the coach, the weather deteriorated and be soon had huge doubts that the match would go ahead.

As we had feared, the weather in Bowral was miserable and wet, with little sign of things improving in the few hours we were due to spend there. The cricket match – featuring Mark Nicholas’ ‘Chance to Shine’ XI vs the Australian’s ‘Bradman Foundation’ XI – unfortunately fell victim to the weather. It was to be a star-studded affair (more details here:  www.internationalcrickethall.com/chance-to-shine-celebrity-cricket-match-bradman-oval) with the coin toss conducted by Sir Michael Parkinson and it was a real shame that the match did not take place. We did however get a good look around the extremely impressive Bradman Museum. Sir Donald Bradman is a cricket legend, not just in Australia but around the world, with a career that clearly places him as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman grew up in Bowral, and the museum – which features lots of artefacts, imagery and information about him and the history of Australian and world cricket, is a must-see for any cricket fan. As the match did not go ahead, we were also treated to an entertaining Q&A session with some of the stars who were due to play.

So, with a little disappointment, we boarded the coach at made the second half of our wet journey to Canberra. On arrival in Canberra, the rain had slowed but we all had to admit that the weather and general blandness of the city (we all remarked that it reminded us of Milton Keynes back home) made for a grey start to our two-night stay in Australia’s capital city. We all checked into the very pleasant Rydges Capital Hill hotel and soon discovered that the England team were staying there. A few were to be found strolling around the hotel.

That evening, we had organised our tour group welcome meal at the restaurant in the hotel. We all enjoyed some delicious food and nice wine, and it was a good chance for those people who had not yet had the chance to meet to do so. It was also a good opportunity for me to hand out tickets for tomorrow’s PM’s XI v England match. For most, the meal was followed by a few drinks in the bar – a very enjoyable night and a great way to start the tour, despite the disappointment of the cancelled cricket match earlier that day.

 

Monday 10^th January

We awoke to a fairly bright morning, but weather reports were claiming that showers would come and go over the course of the day. After breakfast at the hotel, everyone made the short walk to the nearby Manuka Oval to watch the PM’s XI v England, unsure if it would start at the schedule time of 9.45am as rain had come already.

The ground was delightful and we took up our seats. England fielded a team that would look very much like the team due to play the Twenty20 matches in Adelaide and Melbourne in the coming week. Today’s match was supposed to be a 50-over, but it was eventually shortened to 33 overs and the score determined by D/L  as a result of a couple of rain delays. We all enjoyed the match and the atmosphere in the stadium was great.

England won thanks to a superb 124 off 102 balls, and Trott scoring 48, to take England to a 225-3 score (33.3 overs), beating the PM’s XI score of 254-9 (43 overs). Yardy and Shazhad were the pick of the England bowlers, taking three wickets each.

After the match, we all headed back to the hotel to freshen up, then some us headed back toward to the ground to the nearby Kingston Hotel, which had been recommended by Peter our bus driver the day before. The pub was busy and full of cricket fans. We all had something to eat – some of the group choosing the ‘cook your own steak’ option. We all had to laugh as John T spent much longer at the grill than everyone else, and we thought he was cremating his dinner! He claimed he had to cook it longer as it was larger than everyone else’s…

After a couple of bottles of $10 wine (very cheap for Australia!) and a jokes and trivia session, we made our way back to the hotel, bypassing the hotel bar and heading straight to our rooms.

 

Tuesday 11^th January

Today, we were departing the hotel at 4.45pm, so the group had the opportunity to explore the city before we left. However, the miserable, wet weather we awoke to today meant that most people’s plans had to be modified.

Although Canberra has a reputation for not being the most exciting of cities, it does boast some very reputable and impressive museums – the National Museum of Australia and the Australian War Memorial Museum. The poor weather made a visit to the museums the ideal way to spend the day, and those who did so came back to the hotel with glowing reviews.

Personally, I was planning to go into Canberra, but instead decided to stay in the dry of the hotel and catch up with some work, including re-scheduling the plans of one of our customers – Pete – who was currently in Queensland experiencing the awful weather. We managed to re-arrange his itinerary and get him to Melbourne two days earlier.

At 4.45pm, we boarded our coach and headed to the airport for our (very bumpy!) flight to Adelaide.

On arrival in Adelaide, we checked in at the Grand Chancellor on Hindley and headed straight to the hotel bar for a drink, after which I joined Gordon, Lynn, Raymond and Joy to go to the Stag pub at the other end of Rundle Mall. We rounded the night off with a kebab! How very civilised…

 

Wednesday 12^th January

After breakfast at the hotel (alongside the England women’s team, who were also staying at the hotel), my first task was to head to the nearby Intercontinental Hotel to pick up a few more tickets. After I had returned back to the hotel, a group of us headed to the coastal resort of Glenelg, taking the tram. We enjoyed a relaxing morning and lunch strolling around the marina, sea front and promenade. We also bumped into some more of the group, some of whom had relatives and were meeting them for the day before going off to the cricket later. We enjoyed a few lunchtime beers and a spot of lunch, before heading back into Adelaide on the tram, and on to the Adelaide Oval to catch the second half of the Australia v England Women’s Twenty20 match, which England won.

The Adelaide Oval – now even more impressive than ever with the addition of the new Western Grandstand – filled up over the course of the afternoon, and by the time the men’s match was due to start, the stadium had filled and the atmosphere was superb.

The match itself was amazing, as I’m sure I don’t need to tell you. To witness England winning with the last ball was truly magical and we all left the stadium absolutely buzzing! A world record Twenty20 win – against the Aussies – in a beautiful stadium under floodlights… you couldn’t script it!

Celebratory drinks were in order, and most of the group made a beeline to a nearby bar where we enjoyed some beers and banter with some locals into the wee hours…

 

Thursday 13^th January

Just as what had happened in Canberra, we awoke on our second morning in a city to rain – and it didn’t stop! Most people’s plans to explore the city and walk along with the river were dashed and they had to make do with exploring the shops or simply relaxing with a book in the hotel after they had checked out. Again, I took the opportunity to catch up with some work and set myself up in the business centre at the hotel for a few hours.

We departed the hotel at 2.30pm for the airport. The flight was straightforward and we when we landed, we found Melbourne to be even wetter than Adelaide! We jumped on our coach and made our way into the city to check into the Mantra on Russell hotel. I immediately met up with a few more customers who had already made their way to Melbourne – Pete, Nigel and Lynn – to let them have their tickets for the two cricket matches taking place here in Melbourne.

Despite the awful weather, some of the group still ventured out to explore and find somewhere to have a drink. I personally had a relaxing evening and popped downstairs, out of the hotel and into nearby Chinatown – to pick up a takeaway.

The rain came down throughout the warm and humid evening, and we all hoped that it would dry up in time for tomorrow’s Twenty20 match at the MCG.

 

Friday 14^th January

Well, the weather we were faced with when we awoke on our first morning in Melbourne was dreadful; torrential rain that looked like it would never end! It was not much fun going out as you got drenched immediately, so I personally decided to catch up with a few jobs, including some laundry at the nearby launderette. Amazingly, the rain cleared by 2pm and even the preceding women’s match at the MCG was able to be played, albeit in shortened overs. England women won again!

I made my way down to the MCG later in the afternoon, to soak up the atmosphere for a couple of hours before the second KFC Twenty20 match commenced. The awful weather earlier in the day had clearly put quite a few Australians off coming to the MCG, so the stadium was a long way off full at the time the match started. However, it did fill up over the course of the evening and the official attendance was 58,000-odd. The MCG is a truly remarkable sporting arena, and watching a match under the giant floodlights made the experience even more enchanting.

In terms of the match, the wet weather had clearly affected the playing surface and the pitch was very slow. Australia won the toss and chose to bat, knocking up a seemingly-reachable score of 147-7. We were all confident that England would win again, and in more comfortable fashion than in Adelaide. However, it was not to be and England pulled up short on 143-6. Another close match that came down to the last ball again!

On the way back to the hotel, a few of us stopped at the James Squires pub on Russell Street to enjoy a couple of ales. This was a watering hole discovered by some of the boys who had highly-recommended the selection of locally-brewed beers available. It was a Friday night in Melbourne and the pubs were busy, and after two or three drinks, I made my excuses and took the short walk back to the hotel to hit the hay. The guys stopped out for another one, and headed back not too long after me.

 

Saturday 15^th January

After breakfast this morning, we had a few more customers joining the tour – I met Margaret and Barbara who had just flown into Melbourne from the UK, and let them freshen up in my room as theirs was not quite ready yet. An hour or so after that, I popped downstairs again to meet Vicki –  who had been with us in Sydney for the fifth Test Match, and since then had been doing her own tailor-made itinerary in New Zealand. After welcoming all three new tour group additions to Melbourne, handing them their tickets and some useful information, I got myself ready.

My friend from home who now lived in Sydney – Ben – was joining me in Melbourne for the weekend, and he arrived mid-morning. We enjoyed a day in the sun, catching up with some food and drinks on the South Bank, and a trip up the ever impressive Eureka Skydeck – the highest viewing platform in the southern hemisphere.

The rest of the Howzat Travellers spent the day in various ways – either exploring the city, or heading down to St. Kilda. Some of the boys even walked the 4.5 miles to St. Kilda, enjoying a well-deserved few drinks in a pub on their arrival. It was a gorgeous day to spend outside enjoying what Melbourne and the surrounding area has to offer.

Ben and I met up with my friends Jules and Kate later on, and enjoyed drinks in some bars we never would have found ourselves, including a couple of rooftop bars. Our night was finished off by a Chinese meal in Chinatown then a drink in the nearby German pub…

 

Sunday 16^th January

Today was a beautiful day and I woke fairly early in preparation for my morning jobs. After breakfast, I headed down to Melbourne Park to pick up some extra Australian Open tennis tickets, then made the very pleasant walk along the south bank of the Yarra River to the Crowne Plaza hotel to greet a new customer – Gerry – who had flown in to Melbourne for a nine-night stay specifically to watch the tennis. After having a good chat and providing him with his tickets, I made my way back up to the Mantra on Russell to meet Ben. After a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for the day, we then met Vicki back at the hotel and three of us walked down to the MCG and took our positions for the first ODI between Australia and England. The rest of the group made their own way down and joined us in our sun-drenched seats.

When the match started, the MCG was again far from full, with just 36,000 people in attendance, but the atmosphere was still good. It was a very hot day – one of the hottest we’d experienced yet on tour – and we all made sure we had out sun cream and hats on. Today was exactly 40 years since the first One Day International was played – and coincidentally at the MCG – so there was a retro theme to the game, with many of the crowd and even the players at the start, sporting retro clothes, wigs and moustaches. It was a very funny sight!

The shock news today was that Collingwood had been dropped as a result of his recent form batting form, with Trott coming in. The match started with England winning the toss and electing to bat. They amassed a score of 294 –their highest total against Australia on their turf. Pietersen struck 78, Strauss 63 and Davies 42, but it was not enough to go up against awesome performance of Shane Watson who put in what was described by Strauss as “one of the great one-day innings” after he scored a superb 161 not out, leading Australia to 297 for 4.

We all walked out of the MCG disappointed with the result but acknowledging that when faced with such a performance as Watson has given us, it seems only right that he was on the winning team. Some of the group popped into the James Squires on the way home – while most continued back to the hotel with the aim of getting a good nights sleep in preparation for the tennis tomorrow.

 

Monday 17^th January

After breakfast, we all took the walk down to Melbourne Park to attend the first day of the Australian Open Tennis. It was a slightly overcast and cooler day, so no repeat of the intense heat we had experienced the day before.

We all had Rod Laver Arena tickets and excellent seats, and were treated to matches between Maria Sharapova and Tamarine Tanasugar (Sharpova won easily 6-1 6-3), women’s world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Gisela Dul (Wozniaki won 6-3 6-4, despite a spirited [performance by Dul), and then the mighty Roger Federer against Lukas Lacko, in which Federer put on a masterclass performance to win 6-1 6-1 6-3, despite Lacko playing very well himself. Everyone enjoyed the day at the tennis, which was a nice variation from the cricket we had primarily come to Australia to watch.

After the day session in the Rod Laver Arena was over, some of the group went back into the city, whilst others headed out into the grounds of Melbourne Park to take in some of the other matches. A few of us witnessed some of the Tomas Berdych v Marco Crugnola match, which Berdych won 6-4 6-0 6-2. Alison and Joy had tickets for the Rod Laver Arena night session, so they had that to look forward to. After the Berdych match, Ben and I then headed back to the hotel for a quick turnaround, then back into the city along Collins Street looking for some bars that had been highly recommended to us by some of the group, who had found this highly-recommended mini pub crawl a couple of days previous… so, we went in search of The Charles Dickens Tavern, The Sherlock Holmes Inn and The MitreTavern. We found them all, and although we were too late to order food, we enjoyed a few ales then headed back toward the hotel and enjoyed some Thai food, washed down with some BYO wine.

 

Tuesday 18^th January

With nothing in the diary today, I took the opportunity to stay at the hotel and spend the day catching up with work. Seven of the group had taken up the option of a second day session at the cricket, and as I chatted to some of them over breakfast I discovered that today they would get to see Rafael Nadal play Marcus Daniel. In fact, as it turned out, the three matches scheduled for the Rod Laver Arena were very one-sided and over very quickly, so the organisers moved one of the other matches originally due to play in one of the outer courts, into the Rod Laver, and everyone was thoroughly entertained by a gripping three-set match between Molik & Vinci.

Back at the hotel, I saw off one of our group, John E, at 2.30pm. He was heading back home after being out in Australia since the start of the Sydney Test. We both had to laugh when his airport transfer turned up – a stretched white limousine! We were only expecting something like an executive saloon, so were surprised to see that the chauffeur company had sent such a vehicle. John did ask the driver if there was any champagne in the car, but alas, there was not.

Some of the group had used the free day to explore the city and also do the MCG tour, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Mark and Jo did the Penguins, Koalas and Devonshire Tea tour, which they also said was excellent…

Hello everyone. Steve here… I hope you’ve all enjoyed Ian’s tour diary to date – as he said, I’m now taking over covering the rest of the time in Sydney, then moving on to the ‘Wombat Tour’, where I will be leading a group onwards to Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney, watching the T20 matches and some of the ODI series between Australia and England. Let’s roll…

Saturday 1^st January

New Year’s Eve in Sydney is apparently one of those ‘things you must do before you die’ and most of the 180-odd Howzat Travel contingent now in Sydney had decided to make the most of it, picking their preferred way to watch the legendary fireworks and soak up the special atmosphere. As Ian has already said, Jenn, Leanne, Ian and I headed over to a nice quiet grassy bank on the side of the harbour in Pyrmont with some friends, and enjoyed some food and drinks away from the crowds. We still had a great view of the fireworks in the harbour from the bridge, in North Sydney and also those being launched from Darling Harbour around the corner.

The next morning, we were still pretty tired as we had only arrived into Australia on the 29^th, so hadn’t quite shaken off the jet lag. The first few days in Sydney had been pretty hectic, and when we did find time to sleep we found ourselves waking in the early hours and not able to drop off again. The hectic schedule continued on New Year’s Day, with us arranging to hand out the tickets at our respective hotels at 11am. We spent a couple of hours after breakfast sorting through them all – making sure people were sat together who wanted to be – then handed them out to the keen customers, some of whom were nursing hangovers, sore heads or simply needing more sleep after the late night before.

Once that job was out of the way, Ian and I had a couple of meetings, then both opted to spend the rest of the day and evening relaxing. In the evening, Jenn and I we went for dinner with two of my mother and father’s best friends from back home, who also happened to be in Sydney for New Year’s Eve. After a pleasant evening, we had an early night to try and catch-up with some much-needed sleep.

I did hear about some Howzat Travellers, who despite also having late nights on NYE, did venture into the lively Sydney bars to sink a few more drinks and chat about the highly-anticipated forthcoming fifth test at the SCG – now just a day away…

Sunday 2^nd January

Today was a free day and Jenn and I had planned to go to Manly on the ferry. Speaking to a few of the Howzat Travellers at breakfast, it appeared that quite a few other people had a similar idea. After packing our bags, we headed on the free shuttle bus to the other end of the city centre to catch the ferry. We knew it was going to be a busy day, but the swarms of people in the ferry terminal made us change our plans immediately. As lovely as Manly is, it was not worth enduring an hour of bustling queues to get there. It would be manic at Manly and even more chaos trying to get the ferry back over… not really the relaxing day we had planned!

We headed out of the terminal and jumped on the first bus we saw, which was heading to Coogee – a delightful coastal resort a couple of beaches south of Bondi Beach. Incidentally, Jenn lived in Coogee when she was travelling some eight years earlier, so it was nice for her to have a bit of a trip down memory lane and for us both to relax and enjoy some sun. We spent a couple of hours on the beach, had some lunch, a few drinks and a games of cards. Although I had a couple of work related phone calls, it was still great to get away from the city and clear our heads for a while.

The weather turned in the evening and we experienced some heavy rain and thunderstorms. We went for a drink at the Lord Nelson pub in The Rocks and had fully intended to walk the length of the city CBD to get there. However, as soon as we saw the rain we decided that a taxi would be a much better option. After a nice evening, we jumped in another cab back to the hotel…

Monday 3^rd January

Today was the eagerly-anticipated first day of the fifth Ashes Test match at the SCG. Most of our customers staying at the Rydges World Square decided to make the 30-minute walk to the ground, although some did utilise the shuttle bus service that ran from the nearby Central Station.

The cricket itself was a good start, albeit interrupted by rain. Australia opted to bat and slid from 105-1 to 134-4 as England ended day one of the final Ashes Test on top. Tim Bresnan took 2-47 as England made the most of the conditions. Rain took the players off for 90 minutes in the middle of the day and England picked up two late wickets before a second and final stoppage. Michael Clarke made just four in his first Test as Australia’s captain.

In the evening, Jenn and I had full intentions of heading out to have a few drinks but ended up staying in the hotel and having an early night.

Tuesday 4^th January

Play started slightly earlier today as a result of the rain stoppages yesterday, and it was an engrossing and fascinating day at the SCG, with England ending on 167-3 in reply to Australia’s 280 all out, with Alastair Cook still there on 61. Cook thought he was out on 46, but the umpire checked with the TV official as he suspected a possible no-ball, and Cook was reprieved. Australia began the day on 134-4 and were indebted to Mitchell Johnson, who hit 53 in a lower-order recovery. Johnson also picked up the wickets of Trott and Pietersen. Strauss had earlier smashed 60 from only 58 balls in an aggressive start to England’s reply.

The evening was spent tonight in the hotel bar – Carl, Nick, Jenn and I had a bite to eat in the excellent restaurant in the Rydges hotel, catching up with some of the Howzat Travellers and reflecting on the day’s play.

Wednesday 5^th January

The third day of the fifth test and England were looking good. The smell of victory was in the air and the Howzat Travellers – and all of the England fans in the SCG – were in good spirits. The day ended up with Cook making 189 (making an aggregate of 766 series runs) and Bell hit 115 – his first Ashes ton – as England ran riot. To avoid losing the series, Australia needed to win this test and their hopes were looking bleak when England reached 488-7, giving a lead of 208 at stumps. It was looking like England would be finishing the series off in style, giving their loyal, vocal travelling contingent even more to celebrate!

Today was also a momentous day as Paul Collingwood announced his retirement from Test cricket. To be honest, he’s not had the greatest time with the bat in recent matches, so maybe the announcement was timely, but he has contributed hugely in his time as an England Test player and he was rightly warmly applauded by the England fans in the ground.

After the cricket, Jenn and I spent the evening with some friends, going to theirs for some delicious food and several bottles of wine.

Thursday 6^th January

Another sunny day at the SCG – Prior scored 118 from 130 balls as England reached 644, their highest Test total on Australian soil. The Aussies slumped from 161-4 to 171-7, allowing England to take the extra half-hour as they pressed for the win. England finished the day on the verge of a crushing 3-1 Ashes victory and first series win down under in 24 years! At stumps, Australia were 213-7, 151 runs behind and staring down the barrel of defeat.

A highlight of the day was Tremlett’s destruction of Mitchell Johnson; the Barmy Army – and indeed all of the England fans in the stadium – were singing the now-famous Mitchell Johnson song as he came out to bat. The psychological pressure must have got to him and was out for a first ball duck, bowled out by Tremlett! One of the greatest few minutes of sport I have ever witnessed, and one that all England fans were talking about that evening.

Tonight was the Howzat Travel Ashes farewell party with Jonathan Agnew at the Cargo Bar on King Street Wharf, Darling Harbour. We had hired the first floor of this ideally-located bar, and despite the evening weather being wet and windy, the bar and balcony still offered attractive views across Darling Harbour. Aggers – although suffering with a very sore throat and mindful of his BBC duties the following day – was on excellent, absorbing form and entertained the 180-odd Howzat Travellers present with his take on the series and answers their questions.  Some of the group carried on the party into the night, already celebrating the inevitable England Ashes win. However, some made it an early night in preparation for getting down to the SCG to early to grab a good seat to witness what would be a historic and magical day tomorrow.

Friday 7^th January

The majority of the fans making their way to the SCG today were those dressed in England shirts, St George’s flags and Barmy Army t-shirts – we outnumbered the gold and green significantly. In fact, based on the Aussie fans reactions across the series, it was surprising to see any at all, showing up to witness what was merely a formality, as England looked to finish off the job they stated with the excellent comeback back in the Gabba six weeks earlier.

Most of the fans occupied the area of the ground where the Barmy Army had been situated all week, keen to take part in the singing, dancing and ecstatic celebrations that the day would bring. England won the final Ashes by an innings and 83 runs to wrap up the series 3-1 and secure their first win down under in 24 years! Oh, how the England fans would celebrate…

All of the bars and pubs around the SCG and stretching into town were full of noisy England fans. Numerous jokes about the Aussies were filtering through the crowds and it was clear that everyone was going to savour this well-deserved victory and celebrate hard! After a few drinks ourselves, Jenn and I made the walk back into the city – Sydney was quiet, with most Aussies clearly very disappointed by the result. Quiet – that is until we walked past another pub full of England fans and the usual array of red and white (including the occasional sunburned Brit) was there to see.

Late into the evening I spoke to Ian who was still out enjoying the victory celebrations in the Sydney bars, it appeared a decent number of the Walkabout & Flinders crew had descended on the Captain Cook pub, where I believe Michael Vaughan had joined them in the victory celebrations.

Ian – slightly worse for were was telling tales of Andy, Duncan, Heather and Jon doing the Sprinkler Dance along with Harmy the donkey and their new found Kangaroo…

We both agreed that today had been the best day in the history of Howzat Travel, and that the seven-week tour had finished perfectly. Watching England overseas really doesn’t get any better than this!

As Jenn was leaving Australia after the Sydney Test, we spent some quality time together this evening in Hyde Park, before heading out in the evening for some tapas in the city’s Spanish Quarter.

Saturday 8^th January

No rest for the wicked! The Ashes series had finished just yesterday, but today was another busy day for the Howzat Travel team. We had our first batch of customers departing Sydney to go back home from 6.30am today. I headed down to the Mantra hotel to see off a group, whilst Jenn made sure that some people departing the Rydges at the same time got off OK.

After a bit of breakfast, we both then jumped in a cab to the airport to collect a group of customer on our ‘Wombat Tour’, who had arrived in Australia to witness the Twenty20 and ODI series, which commenced in a few days’ time. As we had done about 10 days earlier, the group arrived into Sydney tired after a long flight, and we bussed them over to the Four Points hotel, so they could check in and sleep/explore the city as they saw fit.

Over the course of the day, the Howzat Travel team shared the responsibilities of seeing off our customers from the hotels and airport. Once things had calmed down in the afternoon and our responsibilities were over for a few hours, we met up with some friends in one of Sydney’s parks – The Domain – for a picnic. The city preparing for the music festival taking place in the parks and streets up until the end of the month, and we enjoyed the afternoon in the sun to the sound of the nearby stage sound checks!

Early in the evening, we headed back to the Four Points for a few drinks with the Wombat Tour party – who had spent the day either sleeping or exploring. We also had the opportunity to say goodbye to Ian and Leanne, who were heading back to England.

Later on, Jenn, Carl and I headed to Hyde Park to join the Sydney Festival partygoers and have a few drinks. The park was very busy – the evening was pleasant and music could be heard from several directions. Stages had been assembled in the parks and streets and the Sydney people were in good spirits. We had heard that a band – Arrested Development – was playing on St Martin’s place, so we went in that direction to have a look. The band were apparently very popular as we could not get anywhere near the stage and had to watch on the large screens set up around the area. As we walked back to the hotel later on, all of the roads in the city were shut and the streets were filled with revellers. A marvellous spectacle and a fitting end to a great week in Sydney.

(The Ashes may be over but the diary continues into the Twenty20 and ODIs….)