2020 Rwanda Tour
Captain: David Proctor
The tour to Rwanda was truly an epic experience, and was our first to Africa. We played 6, lost 5, won 1, with one lost to rain. 11 of us made it out there, and Clinton played for us again, continuing his Strongroom association from two years ago when he toured with us in Nepal. Ujjal and Gwyn sadly could not quite make it. The Gahanga stadium was a magnificent setting, featuring lovely architecture, good cricket wickets, an excellent outfield, tasty food and extensive views. The Rwandan cricketers we came up against were very talented and disciplined, featuring good quick bowlers and excellent fielders. They train on a daily basis, under the expert guidance of former Kenyan international Martin Suji. Eric Dusingizimana started our tour with an excellent speech which provided the national context, and our first match was live streamed on YouTube, for the first time in Rwanda.
Overall, we were mostly outplayed, but three matches went to the final over with the game against the U19s eventually lost in the deciding super over. Joe Rahman stood out among us with 20 wickets, and our batting really struggled, especially against the pace bowlers. As always, the tour was rich in terms of social activity, with the Mamba Club providing plenty of opportunities.
Date |
Opposition |
Venue |
Result |
Card |
Report |
Video |
Sun Feb 23 |
Rwanda XI |
Gahanga Stadium |
LOST |
LINK |
LINK |
LINK |
Mon Feb 24 |
Rwanda Emerging Side |
Gahanga Stadium |
LOST |
LINK |
LINK |
|
Tue Feb 25 |
Rwanda A |
Gahanga Stadium |
WON |
LINK |
LINK |
|
Thu Feb 27 |
Rwanda U19 |
Gahanga Stadium |
LOST |
LINK |
LINK |
|
Thu Feb 27 |
Rwanda U19 |
Gahanga Stadium |
LOST |
LINK |
LINK |
|
Sat Feb 29 |
Rwanda XI |
Gahanga Stadium |
LOST |
LINK |
LINK |
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End of Term Report:
David Proctor
David Proctor led from the front throughout, exhibiting good captaincy nouse and strong-minded batting, including an accomplished 25 against Rwanda A. David led an excellent coaching session on the rest day, and as always took Strongroom through our rigorous pre-match warm-ups. He carried the usual hamstring and groin injuries.
Clinton Rubagumya
Clinton played an invaluable Kigali-side role in the planning of the tour, and in meeting our party as we arrived at the airport at all hours of day and night. Clinton even took a week off work to play for us, and he batted with composure in several key innings. He bowled particularly fast in one game, but his Rwandan team mates also enjoyed taking on his short ball. Clinton was clearly our best fielder, along with Mitch.
Jon Gower
Jon's batting never quite got going, and too often paid a price for aggressive shots too early in his innings. He bowled okay and made mid-off his fielding position of the tour. Jon's tour highlight was a memorable and frantic night of table tennis domination at club mamba.
David Gower
The highlight of David's tour was an excellent 27 against Rwanda A, where he demonstrated the virtues of playing late and absorbing pressure. Throughout the tour he prized his wicket, and was hard to dislodge. He bowled pretty well, and fielded with his usual keen tenacity.
Pat Dunne
As an occasional cricketer, Pat bowled well and applied himself in his batting, but it should be noted this was a tough challenge for those of us who play more than occasionally. As well as playing cricket, Pat lugged his frame up two Virungas with Tim, and was a calm and positive character to have on tour throughout.
Joe Rahman
Joe started his tour in an ambulance and a short stay in Kigali's military hospital, due to Coronavirus protocol (he flew in from Hong Kong). However, after this brief setback things only got better for Joe, who again bowled superbly, amassing a record 20 wickets in total, including a club best 8-16. The younger Rwandan batsmen in particular struggled to contend with his restrictive accuracy. Aside from one mushroom incident in a Kigali pizzeria, his dietary regime was manageable.
Tim Moore
Tim displayed serious commitment by flying in from Australia, and played a very accomplished rearguard innings (34) against Rwanda A that took us to within a whisker of an unlikely victory. Like all our pace bowlers, Tim's bowling didn't reap big rewards, but he bowled with good intent throughout. Ever adventurous, Tim bagged a pair of Virunga mountains.
Mohmed Godhi
Arif bowled his heart out, and beat the bat probably around 50 times in total - yet only took one wicket on the whole tour. To be fair, other than Joe, no other pace bowlers took more than two in total. Sadly Arif's batting never quite came off, however, he remained innately positive and brewed excellent Masala tea every morning. It was good to have him on tour.
Vinay Venkateshan
Vinay had a nightmare start to the tour with the bat, but showed considerable resilience and character by scoring a couple of 20s in the latter fixtures. Vinay fielded and bowled well throughout, and with two wickets was our second highest wicket taker! He also wore funky pyjamas at breakfast, and somehow, mystifyingly, was always the last person to appear at various key points of the day (AKA "where's Vinay?").
Mitch Nicholson
Mitch demonstrated great loyalty to the Room by flying in from Melbourne, and was our highest run-scorer on tour. However, 112 runs at an average of 18 reflects how challenging batting was for all of us. Frustratingly, he was mistakenly given out in his final innings when he was finally exhibiting his characteristic, supreme dominance. Mitch fielded superbly throughout, and won a crate of beer in the distance-hitting competition after our last game.
Jimmy Hall
Jimmy kept wicket and batted very calmly throughout, even by his own very calm standards. Like all of us, occupation at the crease did not convert into high scores, but he demonstrated how letting the ball come to you was the way to approach batting. In one innings he took a nasty blow on the back of his jaw, but did not let this affect his game. Jimmy led strongly on card games throughout.
Andy Orme
...and last, but definitely not least, Andy Orme. This was Andy's first overseas tour since Delhi '13, and his immense enthusiasm remained strong throughout. He got himself into good shape for the tour, and he bowled okay, taking one wicket. His fielding was not so strong, however, his characteristically massive off-the-field performance more than made up for such trivialities. He had an astonishing suit made by a local tailor, which he wore back to Heathrow, via Istanbul.
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