Expedition Meeting; Captaincy

We had our second full expedition meeting yesterday.

My day started badly, waking as I did to a combination of a nasty flu and stinging hangover. On my taxi ride to the meeting it got immediately worse, with my driver ultimately succumbing to my demands to use the bus lane and hitting the car in front of us. Having arrived at the meeting in a replacement taxi, somewhat late, a little shaken and feeling like death, the day soon got a lot, lot better.

The meeting was bubbling with enthusiasm and passion and the talks reflected just what an enormous effort Wes and Kirt have put in to get the project to where it is today. They have really covered all the bases and the expedition plans are hugely impressive.

On a personal note, I was honoured to be given the captaincy of Team Tenzing, and delighted that G-man got the vice captaincy. G has been awesome in organising our fitness regime and other activities for the team and I can't wait to work with him in shaping Tenzing into the well oiled fundraising and cricketing machine it promises. Congratulations also to Glen and Jules who will lead Team Hillary; both great guys and fully deserving of their positions.

From our meeting place at the Plough, we moved to Sheen Park for the official Tenzing v. Hillary warm-up Twenty20 match, where we were treated to perfect blue skies and bright sunshine. The energy and belief in the Tenzing camp was incredible and when I won the toss the decision to field was an easy one. The plan: to get up close and on top of the Hillary batsmen and use the noise and spirit in the field to create panic in the top order. The result: with G, Chris and Tooves steaming in from each end, we ended the fifth over with five wickets for 10 runs. To their credit, Hillary put up some resistance in the middle, with a good knock in particular by Jamo, and they finished on 95 all out. But this was damage limitation; the calm before the storm that was Tenzing's demolition job with the bat. Led by the impressive Joe Williams and the experimental General, the 95 total was chased down in 12 overs without loss.

G rightly got man of the match, but note must be made too of JC's unbelievable direct hit from square leg to take the fourth wicket, which was 'play of the day' by some distance. Overall, it was a privilege to captain such a great bunch of guys and cricket players and I can't wait to see the team develop further. Although we'll take confidence from the game, playing on Everest will be a different experience altogether and I will make sure we are ten times stronger come April 20.

After the cricket, we settled in for some Pimms at the pavilion before heading out for a few shandies. I slipped off relatively early to get some rest and look forward to the stories from the night.

But what a great day, both for Tenzing and more importantly for the expedition as a whole. The events provided a huge lift to all and, with only six months left to go, the challenge really starts now.

Haydn