Whilst a number of the Men's professional squad have been busy in winter training at Merchant Taylors' School and Lord's since the start of November, and will spend the rest of their winters located at both HA6 and NW8, a number of the playing group have taken the opportunity to head for warmer climes, playing overseas around the globe.
We'll be keeping in contact with the playing group in the UK over the winter, posting regular updates, which began this week, when we visited Merchant Taylor's to talk to newly appointed Coach, Ian Salisbury, and the Club's latest signing Zafar Gohar, and we'll also be keeping an eye on how the players overseas are getting on.
Below is the first update on the progress of the players in action overseas...
Josh De Caires - Sturt CC, Adelaide, Australia
Josh is playing as an opener at Sturt Cricket Club in Adelaide in the 1st Grade of the South Australia Premier Cricket League.
He made his red-ball debut for Sturt against Glenelg at the Stratarama Stadium on 2nd November, hitting 15 off 26 balls on debut and bowling five economic overs of spin, going for just 3 runs.
He followed this up with a score of 29 off 49 against West Torrens the following week at the Price Memorial Oval.
On his third appearance he hit 36 from 56 deliveries against Kensington at Kensington Gardens.
In white-ball cricket, Josh has also featured for Sturt in the West End T20 competition, and made his debut against Prospect at the Price Memorial Oval, hitting 11 off 7 with the bat and picking up 1 wicket with the ball, with figures of 1 for 4 from 1 over.
Next time out, again at the Price Memorial Ground against Adelaide University he opened the bowling and picked up fine figures of 3 for 19 from his 4 overs, but with the bat was dismissed for a duck.
In his last T20 match he faced East Torrens at Campbelltown Memorial Oval, when he again picked up three wickets opening the bowling, finishing with figures of 3 for 22 from 3 overs and was out for 4 from 7 deliveries.
Blake Cullen - Sturt CC, Adelaide, Australia
Blake is playing alongside Josh at Sturt Cricket Club in Adelaide and also made his red-ball debut against Glenelg, picking up three wickets for 33 runs from 12 tidy overs.
Against West Torrens he backed this up with a brilliant performance, taking his first five wicket haul for Sturt, finishing with figures of 5 for 63 from 17.1 overs, having also hit 27 from 36 balls with the bat.
In his latest appearance, against Kensington, he went wicketless in the first innings, returning figures of 0 for 27 from 8 overs, but hit a useful unbeaten 48* with the bat off 65 deliveries. In the second innings he picked up one Kensington wicket, finishing with figures of 1 for 16 from 4 overs.
Like Josh, Blake has also featured in Sturt's T20 campaign, where he has also been in the wickets, taking 2 for 8 from 3 overs against Prospect and 2 for 18 off 4 against Adelaide University.
Luke Hollman - Tee Tree Gully CC, Adelaide, Australia
Luke finds himself at Tee Tree Gulley, playing in the same competition as both Blake and Josh, although he made his debut slightly earlier than them, on 19th October.
On his red-ball debut against Kensington at the Pertaringa oval he hit 33 as an opener from 39 balls, but went wicketless with the ball from 9 overs.
In his next outing he was again asked to open the batting, and smashed an incredible 159 from 165 balls against Adelaide at the Pertaringa Oval, hitting three maximums and an incredible 22 fours. He didn't bowl in the first innings of the game, but got through six overs in the second, finishing wicketless, going for 16 from his six overs.
Next time out he again opened the batting, hitting 27 from 44 deliveries, and picked up his first wicket in red-ball cricket for Tee Tree Gulley, finishing with figures of 1 for 25 from seven overs against Port Adelaide at the Northeast Auto Group Oval.
His last red-ball appearance in November saw him up against Adelaide University, and he finished with figures of 0 for 3 from 3 overs with the ball in the first innings and hit 5 from 5 balls with the bat. In the second innings he didn't bowl, but hit a patient unbeaten 27* with the bat, coming from 71 balls.
Luke has also featured in Tee Tree Gulley's white ball sides in both the West End One-Day and T20 competitions, and has made an impact in both.
In the One-Day Cup he started well against Port Adelaide at the Northeast Auto Group Oval, hitting an unbeaten 43* with the bat off just 31 balls, and took 2 for 48 from 8.2 overs with the ball.
Next time out he was in the runs again, against Northern Districts at the Pertaringa Oval, hitting 98 from 93 balls, including 8 fours and 3 sixes, and took 1 for 21 with the ball from 4 overs.
In the T20 competition Luke has made an impact with the ball, taking a five wicket haul on his T20 debut against Woodville at the Pertaringa Oval, finishing with magnificent figures of 5 for 5 from 3 overs, and hitting 10 with the bat.
Next time out against Prospect he again picked up wickets, taking 2 for 12 from his 4 overs, before hitting an unbeaten 33* with the bat.
His last T20 appearance came against Adelaide University, when he finished wicketless and made 2 with the bat.
Luke's next red-ball encounter will see him going head to head with both Blake Cullen and Josh De Caires, as they face Sturt Cricket Club at the Price Memorial Oval on 4th January.
Ishaan Kaushal - Frankston Peninsula CC, Melbourne, Australia
Ishaan is playing First Grade cricket with Frankston Peninsula, in the Victorian Premier League.
His overseas action in Australia kicked off slightly in October, with him making his debut on Saturday 26th October against Greenvale Kangaroos at the Greenvale Reserve Oval.
He finished his debut wicketless, but had a good run out, getting through 14 overs and finishing with figures of 0 for 53.
Next time out he was up against St Kilda at the harry Trott Oval, and picked up his first Frankston wicket, removing one of the St Kilda openers and finishing with figures of 1 for 59 from 12 overs.
His last outing in November was against Prahran at the AH Butler Oval, and he was again in the wickets, finishing with figures of 3 for 50 from 9 overs, and hitting 6 with the bat - the first time he'd been required to bat with Frankston.
Ben Geddes - Perth CC, Australia
Ben is playing as an opener in First Grade cricket in the Western Australian Premier League, and he has teamed up with Perth Cricket Club.
He made his red-ball debut on 2nd November against Wanneroo at Fletcher Park and was immediately in the runs for his new side, hitting 58 on debut from 61 deliveries, including 11 boundaries.
He backed this up with his first century for Perth in the very next game, when hitting 109 off 154 balls against Mount Lawley at Breckler Park. His innings included 11 fours and two maximums.
Last time out, he managed just 5 from 20 deliveries against Willetton at Burrendah Park, and is next in action against Scarborough at Fletch Park on 15th December.
Ben has also featured in Perth's T20 competition, and made his debut against Wanneroo at Fletcher Park, scoring 6.
Next time out against Melville at Tompkins Park he hit two boundaries and scored 15 with the bat from 9 deliveries.
Naavya Sharma and Aaryan Sawant - England U19 training camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa
Reports back from Stellenbosch are that both Naavya and Aaryan are enjoying their time with the England Young Lions in South Africa and that the training camp is providing them with a brilliant environment to further develop their skills.
Leus du Plooy - Team Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi T10
Leus received a late call-up to the Abu Dhabi T10, where he has played just once with Team Abu Dhabi, in the Second Eliminator alongside Jonny Bairstow, Phil Salt, Jordan Clark and Laurie Evans.
He made his debut in typically blistering fashion, smashing 32 from just 12 balls against the Delhi Bulls, including four boundaries and two maximums, although it wasn't enough to see his side through to the qualifier, as Delhi Bulla ran out winners by 42 runs.
Henry Brookes - Bangla Tigers - Abu Dhabi T10
Henry was part of the Bangla Tigers franchise in the Abu Dhabi T10 however played just once, against Ajman Bolts, finishing with figures of 0 for 24 with the ball.
Stephen Eskinazi - Kathmandu Ghurkas - Nepal Premier League
Stephen is in Nepal, playing with the Kathmandu Ghurkas franchise in the Nepal Premier League.
He made his debut against Chitwan Rhinos on 2nd December and was out for 2 from 4 deliveries, and would have been disappointed to follow this up with a score of 3 in his next encounter against Karnali Yaks.
He bounced back with a knock of 37 from just 33 balls in his next outing, against Sudur Paschim Royals, hitting five boundaries and one maximum.
He is next in action against Biratnagar Kings in Kirtipur.
There are other players scheduled to be heading off overseas in the coming weeks, with Max Holden already confirmed as heading to the Desert Vipers for the ILT20, so we'll be keeping an eye on the progress of our players overseas throughout December and January and will bring you another update in due course.
