Condobolin’s Rachel Grimmond’s love of cricket has seen her tour England, Wales, and France.
The handy batswoman and wicket keeper joined the 2023 Wanderers Australia Junior Cricket Tour, and over three weeks she played eight games including a match in Paris. She even fitted in a little sightseeing in between playing cricket.
Rachel has been honing her cricket talent for a number of years, with support from her parents Brent Grimmond and Charmayne Cartwright plus her brother Hudson Cartwright, and her extended family. She was extremely excited to be part of the Girls Junior Team, and to embark on such an adventure.
The object of the tour is to meet new people from all over Australia within your team, meet new people in the countries that you visit, see the world, and of course improve as a player by receiving expert coaching and by playing against different styles of cricket on different wickets you cannot experience at home.
Players are placed in a team according to their age and level and teams are matched against English teams of a similar level.
Rachel departed Sydney Airport on Thursday, 29 June arriving in London on Friday, 30 June. She and her team then settled in prior to beginning their series of matches.
It was a great start to the tour, with the Wanderers Junior Girls team notching up a win against Menston Cricket Club on Monday, 3 July. They started strong and were amazing in the field, keeping the locals to 9/55 at one stage. The team received gifts from the Menston Cricket Club, including a King Charles spoon and a book on the History of the club.
The Junior Girls team took on the Yorkshire County Cricket representative side on Tuesday, 4 July. They kept them to 123 in a 35 over match, however, the Wanderers juniors were all out for 82.
On 5 July the Wanderers Junior Girls team played the U13 Slough girls’ team. They won the toss and batted. The team finished on 163. There was some great running between wickets from the team, but the match was drawn after on only two overs into the bowling innings, as rain stopped play.
The Wanderers junior squads also checked out Portobello Road Markets as part of their London touring on 5 July.
On 6 July, both the Wanderers Junior Girls and Boys cricket teams toured London. They also had the opportunity to watch the Women’s Ashes at the Oval in London. The Australian players made their way over to the junior teams for a chat, which was met with great excitement.
The team headed to Yorkshire on 9 July, where the wind made playing conditions difficult. The Yorkshire team has some great young spinners and on a pitch that had no bounce. Rachel kept quite well over the 35 overs. In Gloucester, they took on the under 13’s county side. After 35 overs of keeping again Rachel finished the game with a caught behind and a run out.
On Tuesday, 10 July the Wanderers Junior Girls team took on Penshurst Park Cricket Club. It was reported to be a fantastic ground with the gorgeous Penshurst Place overlooking the ground. Wanderers finished on 5/252 off their 25 overs. After a strong start by the home team, the Wanderers bowlers ripped through the Penshurst Park innings to keep them to just 70 runs. Rachel also brought up her highest score of the tour with a well compiled 48.
In a spectacular setting the Girls Junior Team took on St Lawrence and Highland Court CC on 11 July. The team kept them to a very competitive 121 off their 20 overs. After losing early wickets, the Wanderers secured a excellent come from behind victory.
On 12 July, the Junior Girls team defeated Kent County Representative Team. They batted first, making 111. They then kept Kent County to 6/82 off their 20 overs.
Rachel finished the tour by visiting the World War I battlefields of Northern France and Paris, where she had the chance to climb the Eiffel Tower and see the sights.