Wandering through England | Taranaki Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Taranaki

Talented cricketer, Neil Harper, has recently returned from touring in England with the Wanderers invitational cricket team.

Made up of high school students, Neil was the only player chosen from Stratford High School. The other players were from New Plymouth Boys' High School and Francis Douglas Memorial College.

The tour for Neil was a great opportunity to hone his cricket skills and experience a different sporting culture. "It was a lot different playing in England. Here, when we stop for lunch everyone just runs to the dairy and grabs something, but there, it is more social and everybody sits down together for a good feed. Both teams mingle and have the chance to get to know each other," he said.

The Wanderers played a selection of age-group representative and school teams, though two of their games were rained off.

Neil, a medium-paced right hand bowler, was named wicket taker of the tournament with 22 under his belt.

While in London, Neil got to experience the tourist side of things and visited sights such as the London Eye and Madam Toussards.

On the way back home, the team stopped over in Hong Kong and Neil had fun bartering with the locals.

Now back on Kiwi soil, Neil is once again playing for the Stratford Premier team and had his first game of the season last weekend. He classes the Wanderers English tour as invaluable experience for his playing.

"I learnt a lot and it was great to play a different style of cricket."