Fabian Cowdrey’s India tour diary: part three
Friday 20th 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 third instalment of Fabian Cowdrey’s tour diary…
Day 4: We left at 8am for a lengthy journey to the Andhra Academy.
They greeted us with handshakes, a cultural shake of the head and lead us to a sheltered area away from the hot sun.
Usually we do our own warm ups, but today we were asked to join in with their fitness coach, for what seemed like the most dynamic stretching session of my career.
When we weren't asked to produce stretches that our bodies weren't previously made for, we were hastily jogging 70 yards and back with many combinations of agility exercises.
In 30 degrees without a strong breeze, this warm up felt like a fitness session!
There were 2 side grass nets, that on initial sight, looked relatively flat and harmless.
Yet I was punished for making this assessment too early, and the pitch was a tough lesson for the batters, as they had a good young left arm seamer Pri who was darting it around better than Phil Taylor!
However, to be able to practice getting through a tough period away from the middle is perfect preparation for the season coming.
We were then offered fresh coconut water after a long morning toiling away, and a selection of Indian curries and naan arrived, restarting the stomach ache that had haunted me so far…
The herbs and spices used are evidently overpowering for the British system! After lunch and a small period watching England lose to Australia, we continued at work, this time in the middle.
The pitch was variable, but a much more sporting wicket, as it didn't favour the ball the way the nets so harshly did.
The left-armer became playable again and it was great to pair up with one of their academy lads, who had perfected the art of playing late, a true technician!
Zak and Marcus faced the spinners and they served a stiff test for the youngsters who were playing out 20 minutes to survive the day.
They both played superbly well in everyone's opinion, which was great to see.
We finished the day with a slip catching session. The "session of death" was Zak Crawley's interpretation.
A local lad asked to throw to Jimmy's bat had us shaking in our boots. He didn't hold back and the lads left the session bruised and battered, as their courage had been put to the test and pushed to its limits, but like Navy Seals we battled on…
We returned after a long trip and after a period of much needed visualization, we fell straight to sleep after the longest day of our tour.
Day 5: Today was our only day off. We drove through the local hills to a stunning beach escaping the mayhem of the big India v Pakistan derby in the ICC World Cup.
The water was warm but tour guide Murali, who has become an integral member of our squad, due to his unique physiotherapy skills, warned us of the dangers of “big fish”.
This was enough to scare me away from deep waters, since the Jaws theme tune was ringing clearly in my head.
The afternoon we had a gym session, shortly followed by an evening meal, whilst the Tonbridge lads Marcus and Zak attentively fitted in their homework.
I feel as if the lads are veering away from the aromatic spices of the local dishes. Pepperoni pizza and shepherds pie have become the most favourable options. Perhaps they're homesick?
A big day awaits with our first match of the tour…
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.