MCC complete their overseas touring programme for 2019 later this week when a thirteen-man squad departs for Sierra Leone.
The thirteen-day trip – which will see MCC play both 50-over and T20 cricket on the trip – is the first tour the Club has sent to Sierra Leone since 2003.
The squad of MCC Playing Members has been selected from a variety of areas from across the UK and Ireland. They will travel to the capital Freetown, where they will be met by the President of Sierra Leone, before training ahead of a busy playing programme across the fortnight.
The touring party will play a pair of matches against the Sierra Leone Under-19 team in the T20 and 50-over formats respectively, either side of a visit to the provinces where the squad will undertake a coaching session at the Mokonde Grounds in Njala.
MCC will then face the Sierra Leone national team in a 50-over match and two T20 matches, before ending the tour with a T20 against a Combined XI and another 50-over clash with the national side. All matches will be played at the Prince of Wales Grounds in Freetown.
Sierra Leone became an Affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2002 and an Associate nation in 2017. MCC has a long-standing relationship with the Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA) having toured the West African nation several times prior to the most recent visit in 2003. The Club donated cricket nets and flooring to the SLCA in 2011 which were previously in use within the MCC Cricket Academy at Lord’s.
The squad will be captained by Gus Kennedy, who has represented both Cambridge and Oxford Universities in first-class cricket.
“Our relationships with nations such as Sierra Leone form an important part of developing talent around the globe"
The Tour Manager for the trip is Jamie Clifford, MCC Assistant Secretary (Membership & Operations), who said:
“Overseas tours are extremely important for our club. Using MCC’s global reach, they continue our commitment to developing the game in areas of the world where the sport is less popular.
“Our relationships with nations such as Sierra Leone form an important part of developing talent around the globe and we are keen to ensure the tour is a success, inspiring local and touring cricketers alike.”
MCC has recently returned from Nepal (the first of three “Legacy Tours” to the country) and also visited Costa Rica and Mexico in 2019. The 2020 touring programme will get underway in January with a tour to Argentina.
Follow the Tour
Tour Party
Jamie Clifford – Tour Manager
Gus Kennedy – Captain
Nick Anderson (Didsbury CC)
Sam Arthurton (Great Witchingham CC)
Jordan Bulpitt (Walsall CC)
Andrew Curtis (Weybridge CC)
Toby Drummond (Burton Leonard CC)
Robin Fisher (Chester Boughton Hall CC)
Peter Richer (Thriplow CC)
Fionn Hand (Cricket Leinster)
Edward Jones (MCC)
Ryan Lewis (Belvoir CC)
Adam Soilleux (Hadleigh and Thundersley CC)
Jack Parish (Buckingham Town CC)
Chris Watts – Umpire
Fixtures
Saturday 30th November - MCC v Sierra Leone Under-19s (T20)
Monday 2nd December - MCC v Sierra Leone Under-19s (50 overs)
Tuesday 3rd December - MCC v Sierra Leone (50 overs)
Thursday 5th December - MCC v Sierra Leone (2 x T20 matches)
Saturday 7th December - MCC v Combined XI (T20)
Sunday 8th December - MCC v Sierra Leone (50 overs)