By Neto Baptiste
Exciting and life-changing is how Director of Cricket and Assistant Head of the Merchant Taylors’ School out of Northwood England, Ian McGowan, has described the team’s experiences in Antigua thus far, after their arrival on July 6 for a sports and cultural experience.
Speaking on the Observer Am show, McGowan revealed that a total of 28 players — two teams of 14 — are currently on island.
“It’s an exciting and sometimes, a life changing experience for our young men. We were fortunate post the Covid 19 pandemic to be able to do this, but really we see this as an opportunity to give our young people a taste of the wider world, new cultures and hopefully make lifelong memories playing the sport that we all love. It’s really served us well in the past and we know that our experiences in Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados will provide the boys with those lifelong memories,” he said.
The official — who revealed that the trip was a collaboration between the school and High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda to the United Kingdom, Karen-Mae Hill OBE — said one of the highlights of the trip thus far is having met a number of the country’s cricket legends on a visit to Government House.
“We spent the afternoon with Sir Andy Roberts, Sir Richie Richardson [and] Ridley Jacobs himself. We just had the best afternoon ever listening to your proper legends of the game speak to our boys on a genuine human level where they could ask questions, and no questions were off limits; they answered in a really genuine and honest way.
“In that afternoon, we were able to make a small donation to the Halo Foundation where we handed across some laptops, a projector screen and some sports equipment as well, and we hope to do more. We hope this relationship isn’t just a one-off relationship,” he said.
One player, Daniel Steven-Jennings, welcomes both the competitive nature of the local teams on the field and the warmth and welcome off the pitch. The fast bowler was also in awe of a specific area of our culture.
“On the pitch has been fiercely competitive and we are learning so quickly with so many different challenges. Off the pitch as well, just meeting so many people who are so genuine and I can’t leave without speaking about the amazing food I’ve had, which is some of the best I’ve had in my life; the jerk chicken is good,” he said.
The team is scheduled to leave this weekend for Barbados where they will play a series of matches against teams in that country.
