UK Cricket Tour 2023

34 BGS cricketers from Years 10-12 and five staff spent the entirety of the three week holiday in the UK, France and Belgium as part of the 2023 Cricket Tour.

Playing cricket was certainly the focus of the tour, and there were 9 match days against English schools and one against the Warwickshire Emerging Players Program. Twenty games of cricket were played in total, with an even split of wins and losses. In all circumstances, we were shown unbelievable hospitality and played in terrific conditions.

As well as playing cricket, we were fortunate to witness Mitch Marsh’s century at Headingley in the 3rd Ashes Test, as well as Vitality Blast T20 matches at The Oval and Old Trafford.

Outside of cricket, there was plenty of time for sightseeing and shopping in London at the beginning of the tour, and in Paris where we concluded.

Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the three weeks was the day of Battlefields Touring outside of Ypres, on the Flanders Fields in Belgium. We were able to visit the graves of two BGS old boys; Ned Toynbee Stevens at Tyne Cot and Walter Harold Reynell at the Berks Extension Cemetery. At both sites we left an Old Boys tie as a mark of respect and remembrance and a current student spoke about each soldier. As well as this, we laid a wreath to recognise BGS soldiers with unknown graves at the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony in the evening. It was a very special day.

It was terrific to be back touring the UK, considering the last tour was in 2018, and particularly special that we could do it in an Ashes year.

Thanks to Luke Stewart, Hugh Hamilton, Brenton Murphy and Ali Wigg for their tireless work on tour and in the months preceding it. Thanks too to the large group of travelling BGS parents; it was terrific to have your support abroad.

Hopefully, the tour will prepare us well for a successful APS Cricket season with record numbers of cricketers across the senior year levels.

James Harrod
TiC Cricket and Head Cricket Coach