CENTURIONS AUSTRALIA
VANUATU TOUR REPORT 2003

A party of 23 tourists departed Melbourne on Friday May 30 for Vanuatu on the Centurions first international cricket tour outside of the UK. The party consisted of 10 players and 13 wives, partners, kids, and tourists.

After consultation with the ICC through the initiative of Centurions member Gary Sanders, representatives of the Centurions met initially with Matthew Kennedy from the ICC and subsequently with 3 representatives from Vanuatu who were in Melbourne on a coaching course in December 2002. One of those Vanuatu personnel was Mark Stafford the President of the Vanuatu Cricket Association, an Australian who had set up a successful accounting business in Port Vila.

The tour became a reality in February after much consultation with the ICC and Vanuatu C.A. and much discussion at Centurions committee level.

The ICC could not fund the tour in any way so it was left to Centurions to negotiate with local contacts in Vanuatu to obtain the best pricing for the tour. A decision was made to tender the package to “Poppy’s on The Lagoon”, a 4-star resort in Port Vila. Prices were competitive and seemed well received by potential tourists.

The purpose of the tour was three-fold. Firstly, Centurions needed viable tour alternatives to the costly and time consuming UK Ashes Tour. Secondly, there was a real need from a cricket perspective to assist a fledgling nation in their understanding of the game by playing games, conducting coaching clinics and providing equipment. Last, and certainly not least, was the opportunity for relaxation and tourism between cricket commitments. A relaxed family holiday at reasonable prices was a major incentive for many.

The itinerary for the tour allowed for 3 games of cricket, 3 coaching clinics, and plenty of time to relax and “do your own thing”.
VCA President Mark Stafford organized 3 official functions for the touring party.

A “Welcome BBQ”, “Dinner and Memorabilia Auction”, and a wonderful “Cultural Evening at MeleVillage” were well received by the tourists.
It was imperative to spread the word about cricket to the local school children and subsequently the 3 clinics jointly run by VCA Captain Pierre Chillia and Centurions Gary “Colonel” Sanders were very successful and attracted over 100 kids at each session. All Centurions playing members assisted at the clinics and enjoyed a memorable and rewarding experience with the local children who showed enthusiasm and plenty of skills in the drills provided.

On the playing front, Centurions, with a team comprised mainly of “veterans” somehow managed to win all 3 games . The final margin was tight in every match with the standard of the ni-Vanuatu players more than competent. Two of the games were against the VCA National Team who were assisted before, during, and after the matches with tactical advice and coaching from Gary Sanders who had liaised with the VCA coach Russell Grimson from NSW prior to the tour.
Vast improvement was evident in areas such as running between wickets and catching as the tour progressed. The bowling was tight, all top order batsmen displayed compact techniques and a talented young wicket-keeper batsman was unearthed.

Gary Sanders will provide a more detailed coaching and tactical awareness dossier to Russell Grimson post-tour.
Centurions Australia wishes to thank Gary Brown from Platypus and Leigh Watts from Kookaburra for their generous contributions of balls and equipment to the Vanuatu Cricket Association. The donated equipment was greatly received and much appreciated by all involved with Vanuatu Cricket.

All in all I believe an enjoyable time was had by all Centurions tourists and the tour was a great success on and off the field.
Discussions will now take place with the ICC in order for Centurions to receive the deserved exposure via ICC magazines and other newsletters etc.

The prospect of future tours to the Asia-Pacific Region is now well and truly on the Centurions Australia agenda. Whether those tours are to Vanuatu or other areas such as Japan, Fiji or Malaysia will remain to be seen.

I wish to thank all Centurions personnel who contributed to the coaching clinics, David Cordy who liased with local adventure company Nautilus for great deals on parasailing and island tours etc, Gary “Colonel” Sanders for the organizing of equipment donations and coaching clinics and Rex Bennett for his “harsh but fair” allocation of tour fines.

Contributions from fellow Vice-President Ron Brentnall, media liason BobUtber, and evergreen umpire Richard Parsons were invaluable as were friendships made and camaraderie established throughout the tour amongst all members of the inaugural Centurions Australia Asia-Pacific tour party.

Neil McDonald
Vice-President
Vanuatu Tour Manager