Solent cricket captain Tom Morton claims that the January tour to Jamaica was he perfect preparation for the upcoming domestic season.
A 16-man squad travelled to the Caribbean island for a tournament organised by UTech University in the capital, Kingston. Solent played two Twenty20 matches, unfortunately slipping to defeat in both. But Morton feels the experience the squad gained the tour will be invaluable.
"We lost both games, the second game only by one ball. We all felt like we should have won the second game, it was a really close finish. It was difficult as we were in the middle of our off season and none of us had properly trained. In comparison, the sides we faced had alot of time to prepare and had played alot of competitive cricket in the process."
Morton insisted that the gulf in class between Solent and the opposition wasn't as great as the results suggest. "The league we played in last season would have been as good, if not better, than the standard of what we faced in Jamaica. But the sides out there were still very good. Each team had two fast bowlers which is different to what we face in the UK where there are more medium pace bowlers. These differences provided excellent practice for our batsmen and I feel the whole team handled the conditions and circumstances really well."
After the success of the event the previous year, the tournament was opened up to teams from around the world this year, although Solent were the only side from outside the Caribbean. Former West Indies Test bowler Courtney Walsh was an ambassador for the tournament and was present at the opening ceremony.
In their first game, Solent batted first and made 108-8 form their allotted 20 overs. Their opponents, GC Foster College, chased down the total winning with 6 overs to spare and a total of 8 wickets remaining. In the second match, Solent posted 111-9 and made opponents MICO University College work hard chasing the win but, despite taking the match to the last over, they were unable to stop the Jamaicans scoring the single they needed for victory.
Morton feels the trip provided a good opportunity for the team to play some competitive cricket before the season. "It was a fantastic experience. A lot of people hadn't played in conditions like that before because the surface was different. The wicket was literally rolled mud and it was good learning how to bat and bowl in different conditions, playing against different types of cricketers. Being in Jamaica and experiencing the culture out there was fantastic."
(Solent Speaker, 2010)
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