As part of Cricket Wellington’s partnership with India’s St John’s Sports Coaching Foundation (SJSCF), a group of young Wellington cricketers recently spent a fortnight living and breathing cricket and local culture and experiences in Hyderabad.

The tour saw the Wellington School of Cricket (WSC) team play matches against local opposition and receive extensive coaching and cricket mentoring on their days off from playing by the local St. John’s Foundation academy coaches and staff.

The tour was the third reciprocal visit between the WSC and St. John’s since the two signed an exciting joint partnership agreement in July 2009. In January and February of this year, an Indian side toured Wellington, following on from Wellington’s inaugural visit to Hyderabad in April 2010.

In a continuation of the friendly relationships established in these previous two tours, this trip proved highly beneficial for the Wellington players, both on and off the field.

Above: The Wellington tour team resting after practice at St. John’s, together with coach Chris Martin  

As well as the quality of the cricket played and coaching received, the Wellington team experienced excellent facilities, while immersing themselves in the different culture and enjoying their hosts’ generous hospitality.

Over the course of the 15-day tour, Wellington played six games, receiving ongoing coaching throughout. This gave the players the opportunity to immediately put into practice in a match situation the tips and feedback they had been given.

Above: Darren Dingle leads the team out on to the field at the Gymkana Cricket Ground

Below: Tossing the coin with the woman principle of the Hydrabad Public School, distinguished officers and one of the umpires

Below: The WSC team assessing the conditions before the start of one of the matches

As part of the games played, the WSC and St. John’s teams played a three-match series for the Naresh Sharma Trophy, which St. John’s regained off the WSC after Wellington had prevailed in the matches at the start of the year.

Above: Coach Chris Martin talking to the team inside one of the comfortable dressing rooms at Rajiv Ghandi Stadium

Below:  At the end of a hard day’s play, together with some of the Indian friends the Wellington players made during the trip

One of the many highlights of the tour was attending the One Day International between India and England amongst 40,000 passionate and colourful fans at the Rajiv Ghandi International Stadium. The match was won by India by 126 runs after captain MS Dhoni’s 87 off 70 balls saw them make an easily defendable 300. What was especially exciting about watching this game for the Wellington group was that two days later they got to play one of their matches on the same playing strip.

Above: The Wellington players getting ready to enter the Rajiv Ghandi Stadium to watch India take on England in the ODI.

Below: Playing inside the Stadium two days later

Away from cricket, the hospitality was particularly generous. Every night the WSC party was invited out to a dinner or function put on by St. John’s, well wishers or sponsors, and everybody had a great time.

  Above: The team enjoying one of the many dinners and receptions put on for them

They also found time for much sightseeing and shopping.

Above: The team sightseeing.

Below: Shopping at one of the many state of the art shopping malls the team visited in Hyderabad during their visit

Here are some of the comments that the players made about the tour:

This was my first tour to India. From the food, the culture and cricket in a nation that lives and breathes the game, every day there seemed to be something new to discover and experience. A real thrill for me was the opportunity to introduce and run speed and agility sessions, which culminated in 40 plus lads turning up for training at 6.00am. The work ethic really impressed me!

-          Chris Martin (coach)

Meeting [former St. John’s protégé] VVS Laxman, not once but twice, and having my photo taken with him was a special experience for me as he has always been an idol of mine. Also, it was great making friends with people from all walks of life who were all united by cricket.

-          Taylor

One of my favourite parts of the tour was the way that we were treated. We were given the full international cricketer tour experience and you could only get that in India! Being given the opportunity to tour a cricket mad country and play on different surfaces in foreign conditions, using first-class facilities and coaches really helped us develop as cricketers and learn a lot.

-          Darren

A highlight for me was when we played games at Gymkana grounds and facing totally different conditions and bowlers than what I was used to. It was exciting to be in India and playing cricket.

-          ­Munna

The lessons and tips that I learnt in the foreign Indian conditions are things that I will be able to take through my cricket career and help me grow into a better cricketer . I believe the things that I learnt on this trip will help me in New Zealand.

-          Xavier

One of the biggest highlights for me would be the passion shown by Indians towards cricket everywhere we went. Especially when we went to Rajiv Ghandi Stadium and sat with the locals – every run scored or dot ball bowled would invoke a huge cheer around the ground!

-          Nick

Great tour! Great experience for me and lots of learning – really invaluable. Highlights for me were standing on the dirt mound by the exit gates at the India-England ODI and being totally immersed in the atmosphere. I also thought the entire day at Hyderabad Public School was excellent – the hospitality of everyone , the amazing school itself , the attitude, smiles and energy of the students and teachers, the fantastic lunch and the many parents who came up to introduce themselves and chat.

-          Gill (accompanying well wisher)