In July, 34 students from Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby embarked on cricket tour of a lifetime to Dubai and Sri Lanka with MSG Tours. Led by the experienced tourist and school cricket specialist, Mr Gregory, a total of 8 matches were played at iconic venues in Colombo, Kandy, Dambulla, Galle and Hikkaduwa, offering the pupils the ultimate cricketing challenge. Mixing T20 with one-day fixtures, the boys spent 10 days in Sri Lanka ahead of a 3-day stopover in the UAE on the return leg, during which a number of sporting theatres were visited in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

This was a wonderful opportunity to provide real-life experiences for these lads who are passionate about the game, and very knowledgeable about many of the Sri Lankan national players thanks to the media available to them.

Several fundraising events were available to help make this tour achievable for all 34 players.  MSG supported the school’s campaign by providing our Ambassador – ex-British & Irish Lion and England Rugby full-back, Tim Stimpson – for a fundraising dinner as well as entering a team into a Golf Day in May.

Through their enrichment programme, all 34 students are carried out a separate fundraising campaign to help collect and deliver to a Sri Lankan charity whilst on tour.  The latter end of the cricket tour saw all participants visiting the Foundation of Goodness near Hikkaduwa for a day to work on projects including sports coaching, teaching and engagement with local children.

Away from the cricket, the boys were able to immerse themselves in Sri Lankan culture and witness some truly incredible sights and experiences including visits to Yas Island, the Grand Mosque and the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage as well as the key sights in Dubai including the world cricket academy on their way home.