Fabian Cowdrey’s India tour diary: part four
Monday 23rd February 2015
Kent head coach Jimmy Adams took all-rounder Fabian Cowdrey and four academy scholars to India for a ten-day tour of Andhra Pradesh in India to hone their skills.
The 22-year-old and teenagers Zak Crawley, Marcus O’Riordan and Ben Stock visited Visakhapatnam, the state’s largest city on the east coast of the cricket-mad nation.
Here’s the fourth instalment of Fabian Cowdrey’s tour diary…
Day 7: our last training day of the tour. We left early for the Academy for a white ball one-day practice, which served the perfect opportunity to invent some expansive stroke play as seen in the IPL.
The session was a stern test for the bowlers who were being targeted by batsman without consequence for their errors… Even Ben, the bowler of the group demonstrated the perfect maximum over extra cover…"Goweresque" apparently!
Day 8: A very early alarm was set for our first match of the tour! The first ball was scheduled to be bowled just after 9am. I was made the captain of one of the sides, whilst the opposing skipper had also squared up in First Class cricket before.
Having won the most important toss of my life, I enjoyably stuck the opposition in the field under the extreme heat of sun. Zac Crawley bowled a brilliant spell, occasionally a little wayward but great to watch him when he gets it right.
Marcus bowled tidily and also nearly clung on to what would have been a magnificent slip catch. It would have been special. That was before he was struck in the hand by a rocket cover drive and chipped the bone in his index finger. Nightmare!
Having seen the doctor, his hand is now fastened in a brace on the back of the results of his X-ray.
We finished with 266 and that left a stern chase on a flattish pitch, despite the support it have for the new ball bowlers. Ben opened the bowling and delivered the goods making an early breakthrough, despite a short 3 over spell had him panting like an English marathon runner! He wasn't the only one since the conditions were extreme.
The fast bowlers adapted to shorter spells throughout the day.. Zac got bowled by a ball that didn't bounce and at that stage they were 40-3, in a substantial spot of bother!
They pegged us back and in the final over they needed just 15 to win, with 3 wickets remaining. 2,2,6! The first three balls brought ten, leaving 6 off 3 balls! Swing and a miss, 4 balls gone.
A huge swing and a jammy under edge brought them a quick single. 4 for a tie, with a maximum to complete the job beckoned, and you couldn't hear a pindrop. A brilliant Yorker produced mayhem around the ground! Shouts of shabbash, the Indian's chosen word of encouragement, exploded around me!
The atmosphere amongst these incredibly enthusiastic, emotional young Indian players made the whole hot toil in the field worth it.
See Fabian Cowdrey in action this summer with a Kent Cricket Membership.
Tickets to Kent v Australiaon June 25-28, the first game of the Ashes Tour, are free for all Kent All Rounder and Championship Plus Members and an option for Six Pack package holders.
Members can also buy up to six guest tickets before the fixture goes on general sale next month.