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lying to Sydney was a great experience for our boys this year. It was with much excitement and expectation that we landed in Sydney on a fine Thursday. That afternoon we took the traditional team photo at Mrs Macquaries Chair, before making our way around to the Opera House and Circular Quay. We then caught a ferry to Darling Harbour and the Monorail to Centrepoint Tower. The next morning we toured through the Sydney Cricket Ground and Museum before meeting up with Glenn McGrath, Jacks famous cricketing uncle. He joined us for a tour and spent an hour in the indoor nets bowling to the boys. What an incredible time! Glenn signed all the boys touring shirts, richly significant because they were in fact McGrath Foundation shirts and then he accepted our donations on behalf of the Foundation. If that wasnt enough excitement, we met none other than the Australian Cricket Captain, Michael Clark, on our way out. In the afternoon we bused up to Knox Grammar Preparatory School

at Wahroonga. It is a beautiful school in an area not unlike East Toowoomba. We even saw the original Tooheys stag on the wall of the old building. We were on a high after the mornings excitement, so met our challenge head on. The Firsts batted and scored 9 for 177. We bowled well at the start and had them 4 for 20 and then 8 for 72, before letting them go on to 129 all out. A most enjoyable game, and the first of many against Knox we hope. We played for the Armstrong-Wigan Shield, which was first contested in 2011, at the Armidale Rugby Carnival. The Saturday morning game against Barker was washed out. This was most unfortunate as they probably would have pushed us all the way in the match. Although they were keen, the drizzle did not let up, so a BBQ was held and stumps were drawn early.The day was not over, as we had tickets to the Super 15 rugby where the Waratahs played the Western Force. We were mostly adopted Blues supporters for the night. Sunday saw fine weather as we made our way out to Parramatta to play Kings for the Ashes. It was 30

years since we started playing them on a regular basis. The pitch was only moist but the ground was sodden from the persistent rain Sydney had had for weeks. The Firsts batted and crafted out the fairly modest total of 7 for 118. Tight bowling and good fielding saw them under pressure throughout their innings. They were finally dismissed for 48, top score being the 15 sundries we gave them. A quick change and we were back on the plane heading home. This was a most memorable four days for the boys where we played some excellent cricket, visited three magnificent schools, saw the sights of the big smoke and learnt some valuable life lessons. The staff, Ian Basset, David Wigan and Don MacKay, would like to congratulate the boys on their conduct throughout the trip. They also say thank you to the parents for allowing their children to participate, to Mr Shayne Morris for scoring and accompanying the tour and to Mr Durell Hammond for organising the Rugby tickets.

Mr Don MacKay