Update 23/02/2009

Friday was spent playing our fourth match of the tour against the Lester Vaughan School where again we were beaten in the batting stakes. Winning the toss the home side made 267-3 from their 35 overs and in reply the league were 141-9 with Tom Day unable to bat due to injury. Rhys Clayton with 30, Josh Simmons with 41 and Iwan Bunstan 28 scored the bulk of the league's runs.

Saturday was spent on the beach and lazing around the hotel pool with the boys playing cricket in the pool with a frying pan as a bat!!

Sunday we travelled to the picturesque Meadow Road cricket ground where we took on the Phoenix Academy. Again we lost the toss and had to bowl first in the heat of the day. The home side posted a total of 204-5 with the wickets shared out among the bowlers. The league slumped to 22-5, 49-6 and 56-7 before a 8th wicket partnership of 116 between Rhys Clayton 46 and Tomos Ellis-WIlliams 63 gave the league an outside chance of victory but with both wickets falling the league closed on 180-9.

Scorecards from all the matches are now online at www.swjcl.org.uk and photos from the tour will be posted online as soon as possible on our return.

Kraig Braithwaite and Jason Holder who both scored hundreds against the league for the Wanderers Academy last week, were both selected to play for the Barbados Cricket Association Presidents XI against the England touring team yesterday. Holder claimed 2 wickets, while Braithwaite was dismissed for 2.

Today we woke up to heavy rain on our final full day, but as the sun rose it burnt away the clouds to leave lovely blue skies and one of the hottest days of our stay. Some of the boys went off to watch England playing nearby while the rest went on a five hour catamaran cruise up the West Coast of Barbados where they could swim with the turtles and go snorkling over a coral reef.

As I write this update we are having yet another Caribbean rain storm which will clear away as quickly as it came.

Tomorrow we have to have our luggage ready for departure by 11am, and will have the rest of the day to ourselves before leaving the hotel mid-afternoon for our 6.30pm flight back to the UK. We are due to arrive back in Gatwick at around 7am on Wednesday morning. After going through customs the bus should be waiting to drive us back to Wales.

I am sure that everyone will be in agreement that the tour has been a great success. Barbados is a lovely island, the people very friendly, food excellent and good beer and drink. I can vouch for the coconut rum!!