When plans were being laid for the trip to Sri Lanka almost everything was allowed for...except for the arrival of an unseasonal tropical storm which lashed the island for over a week and washed out four of our matches.

The tour had started well with all eighteen tourists surviving both the airport and the flight to Colombo...the short drive to the hotel proved to be an altogether different proposition!

Nets on the first two days preceded the opening fixture against Walkers at the Nondescripts ground. The biggest problem was the heat and humidity which left players dripping wet within minutes - water breaks occurred almost every over. Batting first, the OCs began slowly before Ed Copleston (36) and Nick Read (39) upped the tempo. A mini-collapse was overcome and Rod Moore (45*) and Abeed Janmohamad (52*) then punished the flagging bowling to see the OCs to 228-5. The Walkers batsmen were good strokemakers but they lacked the discipline to play a long innings. Chetwode and Watkinson ripped through the top order, Stephens took three wickets and the OCs bowled out the home side for 121 in 23 overs. The celebrations were fuelled by local beer and an evil coconut spirit (arrack) which left inbibers with all the side-effects associated with having been mugged.

The tour party then moved up to Kandy where the second match against Old Trinitians took place at the Agasirya Stadium, the city's Test venue. On all three days in Kandy it had rained at almost exactly three o'clock every day so the omens for finishing the game were not good.

Again batting first, the OCs found the going hard and only some late hitting by Steve Bailey (31) and Nick Read (43) enabled us to post a defendable total of 175. When the OTs batted everything that could go wrong did. Watkinson and Chetwode had very confident lbw shouts turned down (well, a tour to the Asian subcontinent wouldn't be right without complaints about umpiring), three catches were spilled and a run out was missed when the 'keeper demolished the stumps without waiting for the ball to arrive. The third drop saw Steve Bailey split the webbing on his hand, an injury which required a visit to hospital for stitches. After 15 overs with the score 88-0 the rain arrived and within minutes the ground was underwater and the match abandoned.

A grueling six-hour coach trip to the coast followed, necessitating a 5.30am start for all the tourists except Watkinson and Dunnett. The fragile duo had become the first to succumb to local cuisine, and their recovery was hardly helped by a four-hour taxi ride from hell back to Colombo the next day.

As rain hit the beach little did the squad realise that they had seen their last meaningful sight of the Sri Lankan sunshine. The journey back to Colombo was made in surreal circumstances; leaden skies, occasional lightning and a swarm of people fleeing the capital to vote in local elections. As a result of the poll a two-day curfew had been declared by the government which was a bad omen...the weather forecast was another.

A massive storm hit the island and, with brief interludes, stayed for the next week washing out the final three matches as well as an extra one arranged at the last minute. With fixtures scheduled for Colombo CC and Sinhalese CC, both Test venues, the frustration of the team was understandable and only endless table-tennis competitions and sending McDermott out to the swimming pool during the frequent bouts of lightning passed the hours. By the end of the week even the hardiest tourists had tired of the bar and it was with overwhelming relief that the tour party boarded their return flight.

Fortunately bad memories fade and clothing does eventually dry out. The plans for the next trip are already being laid and the 2001 tour is set to visit either Kenya or Zimbabwe - subject to close scrutiny of the long-term weather forecast.

OC Squad Michael Chetwode (captain), Henry Watkinson (vice-captain), Steve Bailey, Graham Brown, Ed Copleston, Simon Copleston, Nick Dunnett, Tom Hufton, Abeed Jamohammed, Nick Read, Stu Steele, Will Stephens, Martin Williamson, John McDermott, Andy Wright, Louise Chetwode.