On the 16th of February 15 girls and 3 staff from Durham Cricket Board set off for a week long festival in Dubai organised by Sport Arabia. This was an exciting opportunity to play cricket in new surroundings and to see a different part of the world.
After a long flight the girls checked into their apartments in the Chelsea Towers which proved to be a fantastic base. With time to freshen up the squad were transported to the Dubai 7s ground for a practice session, although tired it was a good opportunity to get use to the wickets in the nets and to have a look at the pitch that was being prepared for the following day.
In the first match Durham played Essex in a day/night game. After losing the toss we were asked to field for 40 over’s in 30 degree heat. Essex got off to a quick start but a spirited fight back from the Durham bowlers restricted the Essex girls to 148 (Rachael Petherick 3/30, Beth Webb 2/29, Laura Ellison 2/10, Amy Patterson 2/12). Under the floodlights Laura Ellison (41) and Rachel Petherick (11) looked like they were going to reach the target. Unfortunately we lost both of their wickets which sparked a collapse leaving us 45 runs short.
In the 2nd match Durham faced the MCC (England under 19s academy) in Adu Dhabi which was a mismatch with the girls going down by 220 runs. To their credit the girls kept going especially fielding for 40 over’s in 35 degrees.
In the final group Durham returned to the Dubai 7s ground to play Devon. The match was similar to the Essex game with Devon getting off to a good start but then the Durham bowlers, backed up by some good catches, kept them to 200 (Beth Webb 2/30)
Rachael Petherick (49) and Amber Hemming (20) batted really well and again just when we pushing to reach the target we lost wickets and fell 55 runs short.
By finishing 4th in the group we played Scotland, who finished 4th in their group, at the Adu Dhabi stadium. Unfortunately the Durham Girls batted first in a sand storm which made batting and calling virtually impossible and we were bowled out for 60. After the tea break the wind and the sand storm dropped and the Scottish knocked off the score for the lost of 1 wicket.
Despite not winning a game the girls bonded really well and can take lots of positive out of the trip ready for the 2013 season.
The coaches and staff would like to thank the girls for the way they conducted themselves during the trip and all of the sponsors and funders who helped support the trip.
For more information about Girls cricket in Durham and about getting involved in womens cricket please contact Darren Brown: darren.brown@durhamccc.co.uk