Page 22 - QARANC Vol 14 No 6 2013

Sri Lankans elected to bat and were soon off to a good start, clearly very well practiced and talented. Therefore, despite losing 7 wickets they knocked up a score of 253 by the end of the 40 overs. The best CS bowling figures came from Lt (RN) Hazelle Garton with 2 for 32 and Sgt Jenny Walker with 2 for 54.
Sadly the highlight of the second innings was the 30-minute break in play to allow a helicopter carrying the Minister of Economics to land on the pitch. As for the cricket, well, the top quality bowling and fielding made it difficult for CS to score runs.
As we got closer to our destination we saw some of the accommodation that was being built for those who lost their homes in the tsunami. It was quite a humbling fact that these houses were still unfinished but locals were still able to adapt and move on with their lives.
The venue for our fourth game was built by the local community project
The Foundation of Goodness. This charity has had a huge impact upon the local community in particular helping to educate those children whose lives were torn apart by the tsunami. The ground, Sri Sumangala MCC Lords is named after the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) who have close connections with the project, in regards to the future development of cricket and the community.
This was the first match in which we won the toss. The CS innings never really got off and we only posted a very small target, which was overhauled by the opposition, Seenigama Ladies C.C, fairly quickly. The opposition bowled and fielded extremely well and we were simply outplayed in this game.
The next two days of tour saw us excitedly delivering our gifts and donations to The Foundation of Goodness. The majority of the volunteers involved in the charity were affected by the devastation in one way
or another yet they found the strength to help others in their community. The foundation also supports the area in the north of the country that was ravished by the civil war.
The facilities in Hikkaduwa include various sport Centre’s as well as a pre- school, IT suites, workshops, various classrooms and a medical centre. These all serve the local community and helping to make the future a little brighter for many.
On behalf of Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity I was able to donate a large number of T-shirts, pens and colouring in pencils. Representatives from 6 CS BN REME were able to donate a lot of sports kit.
The CS squad as a whole volunteered to repaint the Aviva community centre and between 18 of us, with limited resources, we finished the job in less than a day (not even deterred by a monsoon). The biggest reward we could wish for was the delight in people’s