Friday saw our first day off since we arrived in Pune last Sunday morning. Since meeting in Dublin Airport, Nigel has been raving about a temple, on top of a mountain, which takes 200 steps to reach, with breathtaking views of the city. Bit of Indian culture for the girls. So with this in mind we set about planning our well earned day off.
So after a leisurely lie-in and breakfast we headed for a quick spot of shopping to MG Road. I'm beginning to think there must be other shopping streets in Pune, but none the less this was the choice of the girls so off we headed. Trinkets purchased we headed to the Poona Club to see if we could catch the end of the Ranji Trophy match between Maharashtra and Baroda and to have a quick energy boosting lunch before we headed for our temple trek. The game unfortunately was over but we did once again catch up with our pals, the Pathan brothers!
Well nourished and hydrated we headed for the hills. Well, a 15 minute drive across the city. Backpacks on, we headed up the first lots of steps, steep I'll admit, round the bend, and there we were, arrived! A temple, a lady selling bracelets, a dog, a beggar and views of some half built apartment blocks!! Culture ticked off the list we head back to town for some more shopping!! You tried Nigel!!
Having at one stage looked like we might be heading home early we provisionally booked in an additional drills session for our rest day. The girls decided they would like to go ahead with the session so it was back to the Poona Club for a solid two hours of batting drills. Drop balls, first with top hand only, then two hands. Possibly the most intensive drill session any female Irish cricketer may have experienced, and the girls loved it.
Fully revived from our rest day we headed to Saturdays session raring to go. Aside for ourselves there are also players attending the camp from several English county sides and Rutej Metha who is a member of the Leinster U'17 boys squad. Head coach, Umesh, brought the whole group together to undertake learning and mastering the sweep shot. After hitting, literally hundreds if balls off cones, drop feeds and throw downs, the girls headed to the nets. Without doubt our most productive and positive session to date. The girls fully took on the new shots and even managed to slog sweep a few of the boys who were turning it square!
Sundays session proved to be a trying morning. Umesh had asked the girls to come up with the session plan for the last two days. A test see how their thought process and understanding of what we were doing. Lesson plan one was deconstructed and thrown out with little explanation. A hard pill to swallow after putting some time and effort into it. Another test I'm sure by Umesh to see how our heads and clarity of thought can be effected by others. Our afternoon session however, proved again to be another step up on the ladder. There were long spells of bowling, and batting. The application and improvements were clear for all to see.
Thankfully (touch wood!) all the girls have stayed fit and healthy; a change from last year with the Leinster boys contingent I believe. However, if Shauna will insist on slide tackling people while undertaking serious high ball tennis catching I'm not sure we will all make it home in one piece. As manager, I will be keeping a close eye on these dirty tack ticks!
With one days training left and a trip to Mumbai we head towards the end of our trip. I'll catch up with a final note on Wednesday when we touch down in Dublin. We are all hoping there will still be some snow around!!