Saturday’s competition brought an experiment that will have the management committee sweating on the flight home, coaches and shooters swapped roles, with the coaches taking to the firing point and the shooters stepping behind the scopes, in some cases for the first time. The results were surprising enough to raise a few awkward questions about who exactly should be doing what on this team. Dan kicked things off coaching Adam to a 50.6, Chris coached Ben to a 50.5, Felix guided Rick to 50.6, and Ellie’s coaching matched that exactly, also through Rick, who clearly responds well to fresh voices, finishing the day on a very tidy 147.15 overall, narrowly losing out to Adam with a very commendable 148.14.
The question now hanging in the air, entirely unspoken but universally understood, is whether the team might be better served simply swapping the arrangements permanently.
Elsewhere on the firing point, one team member had trouble figuring out the orientation of the new technology we have been using and the plotted result was interesting to say the least. No further comment required.
The match itself was England Lions versus England Roses, a fitting final chapter to the competitive programme. One of the team cars, meanwhile, contributed its own subplot by running the battery flat courtesy of the air conditioning having been left running to treat yesterday’s heat exhaustion. The heat, it seems, has been getting to everyone.
We should mention that our match was alongside the West Indies Short Range Championship, their equivalent of the National. Congratulations to Antigua and Barbuda for retaining the trophy they won last year, narrowly edging out our other hosts Guyana.
With departure tomorrow, the afternoon carried the particular energy of a tour drawing to its close, shirts swapped with opposing teams, a small but meaningful ritual that marks the end of competition better than any scoreboard.
The medals ceremony brought a suitably celebratory dinner conversing with the other teams, with Ed Feast taking the Grand Aggregate and England claiming the inaugural English Twenty Short Range International trophy.
The night closed with a masterclass tasting session of the rum gifted by the captains of the Caribbean nations.
Lollipops awarded: 2
Lollipops to date: 72