Taking us back to the club’s first overseas tour in living memory, here is a brief account of the 1993 tour by James Rodgers

We played 15 games (losing only four, I think) in England and Ireland during June and July 1993.

For the first SUCC tour overseas, the team was representative of the whole Club with players from 1st to 5th Grade making up the team. Tom Watkins, who was later to captain 1st Grade, captained the side in the majority of matches. I was the other captain but I was available for only six of the games.

It was a tour sprinkled with fun, enjoyment, conviviality and much success.

Some personal memories of the tour:

I joined the main touring party on 28 June 1993 after they had already played six games for three wins and three losses.

We took the field in bright sunshine at St John’s College, Oxford, where we played the South Oxford side. We chased down 219 after being 6 for 109 but we won by 3 wickets as Paul Grimble (54no) and Andrew Wiles (40no) slammed 50 from the last 7 overs.

I didn’t play again until the tourists reached Swansea where we played the Landore Cricket Club. In our 200 all out, James Dunlop (60) and Dave Butchart (49) were the main contributors but my diary tells me that I was 10 not out. I’ve got no recollection of that! My bowling was treated with unnecessary caution and respect…5-20 from 10.

We took the ferry from Fishguard to Rosscare and then a bus to Dublin. Directions to Malahide’s ground were thoughtfully Irish: ”Go to the post office and then down a lane, through a gate and it’s at the back of the Cobbler’s shop.” How we found it was a miracle. But we had an easy victory (7 for 327 vs 148) and my diary tells me that we enjoyed ”a night of singing, drinking, laughter and merriment that finished at 2am.

On our last day in Ireland we saw the Australian side play at the Clontarf Club Ground. This was a mis-match. Australia 3 for 369 beat Ireland 89. Matthew Hayden was 94 when Alan Border joined him but Border reached his hundred first, hitting 8 sixes and 10 fours in his century from 46 balls. The crowd of 5000 was kept scurrying for cover, especially when during the only over bowled by left arm spinner, Angus Dunlop. Border hit the first five balls for six before top-edging the last one for two. Three of his sixes lost each of those balls which may still be on their way down the streets of Clontarf.

We had to catch the ferry back to England and a bus to Liverpool. We were to play at Chester after three hours sleep but heavy rain made the ground unfit for play, as were most of our team.

We played the final four games in London, losing only the one, against Teddington.

We won the last game (against the University of London) and concluded the playing part of the tour with a final dinner which degenerated remarkably. Most of the players arrived at Heathrow the next morning without sleep but with high concentrations of alcohol in the blood.

The tour ended in farce. We travelled via the US and had a five hour stop-over in Boston. Six of the tourists didn’t quite make the plane to Sydney and we travelled without them! For all I know, they’re still travelling the world.

Would I do it again? Certainly not, at my current age!

Would I recommend a SUCC overseas tour? Without any hesitation!