Extracts from a letter written by Brian Davenport to Chris Terry 2 September 1996.
'Dear Christopher
We all returned from British Columbia on Saturday morning (less Jon Stonebridge and Jane Hughes staying on for a holiday, and George Adams - working in Canada) , from a marvellous tour. I still feel jet-lagged - or maybe it is just the playing and social rigours of the tour!
The party duly gathered at Gatwick (on time, and all with passports!) to begin what was a long and tiring journey - two stops en route at Goose Bay and at Calgary, before landing at Vancouver, and then on by ferry for nearly 2 hours to Victoria, where we were met by David Billingham with a 15 seat minivan (which we then used for the duration of the tour). Then an hour's drive into Victoria from the ferry terminal to our accommodation at the Union Club - from which we were then taken immediately to the local pub for a beer (about 1am local time). The Union Club is a private one; very traditional and much like a London club or an old style Officers' Mess, and looked after us extremely well at very reasonable rates. The second day was mainly travel recovery and sightseeing in Victoria - which is a lovely place, very British in many ways. On the Friday we played our first match against the Beacon Hill Pavilion Society (40 overs-a-side as were all the matches), with a splendid sit-down lunch between innings, and serious and lengthy drinking after the game (including mutual presentations and our 'fines'). We lost by about 30 runs, chasing, but perhaps in retrospect might have performed better. Jeremy Parr made a very good 98 before being run-out. We discovered that the opposition captain, Paul Homewood, had played for the Ramblers with Jeremy, when both were much younger - an extraordinary coincidence.
Saturday and Sunday were taken up with non-cricketing activities, including whale watching - the party dressed in orange wet suits in a high speed boat all to ourselves, when we saw killer whales, sea lions and seals, and then 1 hour flights in a light plane, 2 at a time, piloted by one of the opposition players, over Vancouver Island. Both events absolutely memorable (and a step up from dolphins in Gibraltar!). Around them meals out and more sightseeing. On the Saturday evening we all went up to Bluechart Gardens, to see the magnificent displays of flowers, trees and shrubs, and for the fireworks display as dusk fell - again memorable. On the Monday, we drove 'up island' to play Cawichan CC, who have a tiny ground in what appeared to be the middle of the pine forests; another wonderful day, this time successfully on the field after batting first (John Hamilton scoring 100*). Afterwards we were given a superb barbecue and looked after in the friendliest way possible - again including presentations and our 'fines', all of which went down very well. I met an old Army chum playing for Cawichan, now settled in BC, who I hadn't seen for years - another happy coincidence.
Early on Tuesday (about 7am - more or less conscious) it was off from the Union Club in the mini-van to the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay to catch the 8am ferry to Vancouver, where we then moved to our hotel in the centre of the city, prior to the third match that afternoon against Richmond CC at Stanley Park - a beautiful ground surrounded on 3 sides by Vancouver harbour, with ships and sea-planes constantly coming and going during the day. This match we lost after again batting first; 170 proved not enough. The opposition were mainly Indian or West Indian, and a very nice crowd, again entertaining us most hospitably afterwards. We were a bit down after the loss, especially as our opponents retired a couple of their batsmen as they drew closer to their target (not particularly well received by us, but there were no hard feelings, and very determined to win the last match. Touring party spirits were however reinforced by a team curry later that evening.
On Wednesday we arrived at the last match, against Meroloma CC, on a ground just outside the city centre. The opposition wee mainly ex-pat Australians, with a leavening of South Africans and locals. We batted first again and got about 170, and got the opposition out for about 155 - a nail-biting finish as they looked like winning comfortably, but good bowling from Jon Stonebridge and Steve Andow did the business. Everyone was elated to finish with a win, which increased our enjoyment of another excellent barbecue and large amounts of beer. We also, in the form of Jane and Sue, beat them at darts! George Adams drank a yard of ale in response to a challenge, and Trevor tried to emulate him - with more limited success; much of the contents failing to reach their intended destination.
Thursday was the last full free day and so we all went in the min-van up to Whistler - about 2 hours away to the north, and had another glorious day. After lunch we took the ski-lift up to the top of the mountain (6000') where there were dramatic views of the surrounding landscape - and enough snow to throw snowballs at each other. That evening we returned for the Tour Dinner at an Italian restaurant called Il Giardinos, quite close to the hotel, where we ate and drank heroically (again!). We entertained David and Vivian Billingham to thank them both for all their help in setting the tour up. Trevor gave a very good speech to wrap things up, and we eventually moved back to the hotel bar and closed it at about 1.30am. Friday morning was last minute shopping, prior to moving to the airport for the return journey, which we duly completed, landing at Gatwick at 9.30am on Saturday morning. Three of us then went on to play cricket for Brook in the afternoon - John H, Jeremy and myself; we must be crazy, but scored 49, 41* and 54 respectively.
I 've taken rather long to describe the tour, but thought you would like to know how it all went; it was the most tremendous fun, and enjoyed by all greatly; we managed to cram an enormous number of things in. The weather throughout, with the exception of one overcast day (27th), was glorious - 70/80 degrees. The touring party, as always, gelled together very well and got on with each other famously. The late additions to the party - James Ransome, Bob O'Dwyer and Wally Graham were excellent tourists, although didn't doing particularly well on the field. Trevor, however captained excellently, ensuring that they felt that they had contributed to the team effort.
It's all rather an anti-climax coming back to work after having had such a good time; I must get my tour films in to be developed in order to raise my morale!
Yours
Brian'