Monday 6th July

Today is a Poya day which marks the New Moon and is a significant event for Buddhists. As a result, all shops, schools and business are closed for the day making things tricky to do anything on the ground. So all attention turned to the beach cricket match we had arranged with the villagers. Lords may have hosted the recent Twenty-Twenty World Cup but Ratmalana was hosting its very own Ten-ty Ten-ty cricket match. And there was a score to be settled too, as Udaya and his team which included Don, narrowly beat Steve and Gav’s team in the inaugural match on New Year’s Day.




The earlier heavy rain had given way to overcast skies but the pitch (sand) was looking in good condition, as many from the village had cleared the beach of debris. We mustered 9 a-side with a good mix of ages and abilities; Steve and Udaya captained and a crowd began to gather.

To be honest, neither captain delivered an outstanding performance and instead, honours go to Saul on his debut, who made a fantastic catch in the slips, and to Gav who manfully ended his innings “not out” having run like a greyhound, churning up the “pitch” before the opposition batted!


In the end, Steve’s team secured a momentous victory by 40 runs and took the trophy which was officially presented to the winning team by Della. We hope to have a re-match on our next visit.

All in all a lot of fun but also a great lesson in how a simple sports game can bring people together despite their religion, caste and nationality.

After the match two other issues arose; in a similar way that seven-month old Sophie attracts the attentions of all the locals wherever she goes, Della became a beacon for every mosquito in the area and got bitten over 30 times causing much irritation, literally. The other problem concerns the status of the shipment of donated items sent from the UK which now appear to be stuck at Colombo customs. Tony and his team at Macmillan back home have been making numerous calls to try and free the consignment but so far to no avail. Hopefully, we’ll make some progress soon as we’re keen to get the contents to the people who need them as quickly as possible.