A rich history of St Peter’s College cricket tours to England.

St Peter’s College has a wonderful tradition of successful cricket tours of England. The 2023 tour will be the 14th tour of England and the first since 2019; the proposed 2022 tour was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first record of a St Peter’s College overseas cricket tour was to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1928. 14 boys and two teachers travelled by boat across 14 days to reach their destination. The team played three schools and one club in mostly two-innings games.

The first cricket tour of England was taken by 17 boys and three teachers in 1981. It was led by then 1st XI coach Mr JW Curtis. The idea of touring the UK first came about after a visit by Tonbridge School to St Peter’s College at Easter in 1980. In the 1980s it was common for many English schools to tour Australia and play cricket against us – usually in December or January.

The four-week tour was a success with the 1981 School magazine recording that the team “won the majority of their matches, but they also won a great deal of esteem for the School for the excellence of their sportsmanship and general demeanour”.

In 1984 we once again toured Sri Lanka and won five matches, lost three and drew one. We toured England for a second time in 1986 and played sixteen matches over four weeks with five wins, two losses and seven draws. Wins were recorded over Dulwich, Eton, Marlborough, Malvern and a St Peter’s College old scholars team.

Since 1986 there have been cricket tours of England roughly every three years – 1989, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019.

All tours have been memorable for the students and staff involved. The English schools provide a warm welcome and generous hospitality on their beautiful grounds with wonderful cricketing facilities. Our boys improve their game by playing in the different English conditions. There is far more to these tours than the program of cricket matches. There is the opportunity to visit historical and interesting buildings in one of the biggest cities of the world – London.

I feel certain the 2023 tour will provide an amazing experience for our boys.

David Docwra
David Docwra, a former SPSC Teacher of 37 years, remains connected to the School and regularly provides historical articles.

2023 England Cricket Touring Party