When we arrived at Malvern college (which is beautiful) we sat down on the green grass and ate some lunch. We had a few hours to spare before we could go to our rooms to put our belongings away, so the team slowly walked around and watched parts of some cricket matches.
Our rooms were either single rooms or double rooms. I had a single room, with no one to bother me. However, my room was bigger than some of the double rooms, so I had lots of room for myself. :D
Our first match was the day after we arrived and it was the closet match I have ever played. We batted first and I got my highest score of the season: 7! The first ball which I faced, I hit for a four. I have to say, it was one of the proudest moments of my life.
Alas, there had to be a downside to that game for me. My bowling, sadly, was not very good. I got a wicket but I also got some no balls and wides. :(
The food at Malvern was delicious but I did miss the lovely food my mum makes. It satisfied everyone after the long day of cricket and we all managed to eat without a fuss.
After our first game, which we barely lost, we ate and did various activities. Somerset, Suffolk's favourite U13s team, played some hilarious games of 'Mafia' with Suffolk, during which, the two teams bonded. In a common room. At 9pm.
The next day, two T20 games were played. In these games, my bowling was better than the day before, which I was very pleased about, but my batting was, to be honest, appalling.
In the second game, in which we played Surrey, something terrifying happened...
Our captain tore some ligaments in her ankle. During the match.:'( Both teams went off the match for about 15 minutes (but it seemed like years) and on the first ball Surrey faced when we went back on, they got the four they needed, and won the match.
That day, we went swimming, which was funny because lots of people were diving from the side as professional swimmers would, but I did not have the skill to do that and ended up belly-flopping as did 2 other members of the team. It was painful.
The weather was not on our side on the third and final day so we were made to play short indoor matches against the other teams. We lost both of those games as well but we played Somerset which cheered us up because they are such a friendly, funny team.We left soon after we had played Somerset and we were sad to leave such an awesome place.
(I dedicate this blog to the Suffolk U13s captain for being extremely brave and amazing!)
