Taylorian

Trips

Cricket Tour

U15 Cricket Tour to the UAE

G iven the impact of the pandemic the U15 cricket tour was, for some, the first taste of a trip abroad with the School. An atmosphere of excitement was palpable as the U15s assembled in the coach park for our tour of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in our special new kit, and we only had to wait 24 hours for our first taste of cricket: training in sweltering conditions at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium facility, a former IPL venue, in Abu Dhabi.

An eerily quiet coach journey followed: most slept for the trip down the coast to our hotel in Dubai. While the subsequent days followed a regular pattern of breakfast, cricket and dinner, we still squeezed in some wonderful experiences away from the pitch: a trip to the Atlantis Waterpark on the Palm (famous for its daring slides, some of which lead through a shark tank); a desert safari (which included driving on the dunes and riding camels); an evening at Dubai Mall (where we saw the fountains show and the aquarium); and, for

the B squad, a visit to the ICC Academy. In fact, the A squad had the chance to play a match there, as well as on the oval at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Overall, the tour was a fantastic success and will be the highlight of many pupils’ cricketing journey at Taylors’. Special thanks must be given to all the staff who worked hard to make sure the trip ran smoothly: Mr McGowan, Mr Hughes, Mr

Middleton and Mr Reid. Dylan Lakhani (Divs)

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Taylorian 2023