It has taken twenty-four years for The Willows to tour and it was fitting that out first match was against our long term friends I Zingari Australia at their home ground at Camden Park.
The tour began with a briefing and dinner at the Lord Nelson in Sydney with the younger males each consuming a 550 gram steak. Saturday, 8am saw us all bright and shiny for the coach trip to Camden Park, a beautiful country ground which was owned by the MacArthur-Stanham Family who, over 100 years ago, first introduced merino sheep into Australia. The players took care to avoid biting ants and also checked toilet seats for any snakes. We were pleased that there were no incidents or injuries.
The Willows captain, who had exchanged money with his I Zingari colleague, decided to bat first. We were soon in trouble with three down for 8 runs. Then a fighting partnership from Justin Murray and Graham Inglis steadied the ship and aggressive innings from Adrian McFedries and Hugo Davison enabled The Willows to scrape our way through to 139. In reply, I Zingari struggled against tight bowling. Hamish Bayliss, the I Zingari captain, produced an outstanding knock of 53 not out but this was not enough and his team were bowled out for 114. Chief destroyer was Graham Inglis 4 for 31 despite going for fifteen off his first over.
At the end of the game we enjoyed fantastic I Zingari hospitality and camaraderie and The Willows captain was presented with his I Zingari cap.
Match 1: The Willows won by 25 runs
The Willows 139
H. Davison 33*
I Zingari 114
H. Bayliss 53*, H. Davison 2/14, A. Nuttall 2/16, G. Inglis 4/31
Following a short coach trip into Campbelltown we gathered for another enjoyable dining occasion and watched the All Blacks lose to the Wallabies. Sam Davis was impressive in devouring a huge pork knuckle.
On the second morning we again assembled at 8am for the coach trip to Bowral, noticeably cooler than Camden being 600 metres above sea level. Our match against a Bradman XI was well captained by Dave Kelly who elected to bat and spectators given the treat of watching Jonathan Davidson and Michael Singleton combine with an opening partnership of 63. Singleton retired on 40 as did Glynn Howell after playing some glorious shots including the best cover drive ever seen on the Bowral oval by the opposition’s captain.
Noteworthy events were the huge six from the bat of Tim McConnell which nearly took out Ben Dormer who was receiving ice treatment in the stands. In addition, another lusty blow by Dave Kelly, off the bowling of Andrew Nuttall was very well caught by Paul Rutledge while scoring high up in the grandstand. The Willows scored 244 for six from their allotted 40 overs and in reply the Bradman XI struggled against some tight bowling and were dismissed in the 39th over for 125. We saw some accurate bowling from all The Willows bowlers.
Match 2: The Willows won by 119 runs
The Willows 244/6
J. Davidson 33, M. Singleton 40, G. Howell 40, D. Kelly 27*, A. Nuttall 3/45
The Bradman XI 125
S. Davis 4/19, D. Kelly 3/19, G. Howell 2/1, H. Wright 2/24
The after-match was held in the library of the Bradman Pavilion where it was nice to see displayed a print of The Willows ground signed by the late Walter Hadlee.
All players and supporters had a most enjoyable time in Bowral and Camden and I am sure the success of this tour will be a motivation for future tours. Finally, a big thank you to Sam Davis for his energy, initiative and administrative skills in getting this tour off the ground.