England Blind Assistant Coach John Cook tells the tale of England’s arrival in South Africa and their early preparations there for the World Cup.
We are finally here! The squad and support staff are congregated in one of the well-appointed conference rooms at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Heathrow, waiting in anticipation to board the team bus and make our way to the airport to check in for our overnight flight to Cape Town.
What awaits?! A tour that will give this squad of players a chance to exhibit their skills on a global scale as they enter a rigorous tournament schedule of six 40-over-a-side fixtures in eight days on the stage of the Blind Cricket World Cup.
The squad have received fantastic support from the ECB over the last 18 months to prepare for this tournament.
Further opportunities to acclimatise prior to the team's first fixture on Thursday have led to striking up a relationship with Bishops College, Cape Town, where current cricket master Neil Carter, formerly of Warwickshire, will host the squad and provide fantastic training facilities.
Talented players such as Herschelle Gibbs, Craig Kieswetter and Peter Kirsten were pupils amongst their ranks of yesteryear.
We've arrived in Cape Town and have been welcomed by delegates of the host nation.
Our hotel based in the suburb of Woodstock offers great views of both the historic dockyards and Robben Island while on the other side the world-famous Table Mountain is there to see in all its splendour on what is a beautiful day with clear bright blue skies.
The Garden Court Hotel staff have already been amazing hosts and the guys have been in the pool for a physio session. The pool doubles up quite nicely as an ice bath, causing oohs and aahs from the players as they slowly tiptoe into the water!
A team meal awaits this evening and spirits are at their very best since the squad assembled at the start of the season.
After a light breakfast and team meeting we're prepared to go on our first training session at Bishops College.
We arrived at truly magnificent facilities, which are a real privilege to train in. The guys got tucked into a three-hour session with high intensity and purpose.
Earlier that day we had been told that we had been invited to Newlands cricket stadium to watch Cape Cobras take on Highveld Lions in a top-of-the-table T20 fixture.
The ground was awesome, the atmosphere was laid back and friendly and the Cobras, who were our adopted team, came up trumps with an emphatic victory.
Training continues tomorrow at Bishops and a real privilege in visiting the British High Commission is next on our social itinerary.