KING’S Road have emerged unscathed – at least on the pitch – from their annual tour for the first time in the club’s short history.

The Orange Caps were due to play two matches on the Isle of Wight, the first against Shanklin CC and the second versus Ryde CC.

Traditionally, the touring side always gets thrashed, often when off-field activities take their toll. But this time both games were called off after the pitches became waterlogged.

It means The Road have gone unbeaten after losing five tour games on the trot having travelled to Swansea, Devon and Yorkshire in previous years.

During breaks in the rain, which also put paid to last week’s Twenty20 match against Bunga Bunga, the players took to the beach to practise their batting technique.

In a knockabout on Friday, Matt Cocken showed a real thirst for runs while tour manager Jamie Keating and Richard Peralta demonstrated why they can blow chunks out of any attack.

That night The Road also sharpened their mental abilities with a pub quiz win after taking part in a fundraiser for the Ryde Pier Historical Society, while on Saturday the team tried their hand at golf.

Jamie K emerged triumphant from the round of long-putting with a score of 54. Raju Mazumder scored his first century – although, being golf, it meant him finishing a distant last.

King’s Road are set to get the cricket back on tomorrow when they take on their Olde Enemy the Battersea Badgers at Fishponds Playing Fields in Tooting.

* Note: The author does not claim this is a true reflection of what happened on tour. As the old adage goes, ‘what goes on…’