For the budding cricket players of Merryland International School- it was a sweet dream come true. Their joy knew no bounds when they were chosen as part of a special cricket tour to the UK from the Zayed Cricket Academy representing Maxtalent and Merryland School.

They narrate their experience…

On 10 August, the Gulf Air flight carrying us took off from Dubai International airport. As the flight soared into the clouds we all felt we were in cloud nine as our dreams and hopes were also soaring for the exciting days ahead.

We had a four-hour stopover in Baharin and from there it was a non-stop flight to London. The flight touched down at the Heathrow airport at around 9 am. The weather was quite nippy outside and the cold wind was snarling savagely and bit into our bones. Huddled together, we walked to the bus waiting for us with our teeth chattering. The bus dropped us at Ardingly College to the comfort of the cosy, warm dormitory where we stayed till the end of our tour.

Next day, fighting hard the irresistible warmth of the blanket and the inextricable embrace of the cot, we somehow got up to have an early breakfast so that we could be on time for our practice at nets before the match. Luckily, the notorious and depressing weather of English islands and its ‘nagging sister’- the never ending drizzle -kept aloof during the day so we were able to enjoy our matches thoroughly. As fickle as it’s ever been, the weather changed in the evening. Rain came back with a vengeance like a bear with a sore head with her twin sister- the biting wind- close on her heels. They raged and howled all through the night but we slept blissfully quite oblivious to the ‘savaging sisters’ outside.

The routine of our day repeated almost in the same way throughout. We enjoyed some great cricketing moments there. Though there was some teething troubles at the outset mainly due to the change of weather and surroundings, we got over them soon and got into the thick of things. Each of us played well both with the ‘willow’ and the ‘cherry’. We were quite surprised to see the ball swinging a lot more than we ever thought of. We all scripted some fine innings. We won many matches but lost a few too. Having enjoyed our time to the hilt both in the rooms and on the grass we started packing for our return journey. We spent one whole day going shopping and sightseeing and made a beeline to the famous tourist attractions such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Oxford Street, Madame Tussauds’ and above all to the iconic Colossium of cricket: the Lords Cricket Ground which has been blessed by the footfalls of the Gods of cricket- the Titans of runs and Warhorses of wickets.

The last day of our stay came as a tear-jerker. We felt so sad as the days flew past so fast. Finally after spending five days in the UK we reunited with our family and friends back in the UAE with enough memories to cherish throughout our life.