Reading 2014
Reading may date back to the Roman occupation of Britain, possibly as a trading port for Calleva Atrebatum. However the first clear evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, when the town came to be known as Readingum. The name probably comes from the Readingas, an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means Reada's People in Old English, or less probably the Celtic Rhydd-Inge, meaning Ford over the River. In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to winter quarters in London.
Phoenix called upon their Punjabi battalion to unleash their Punjabiness in Reading. A joke and a whiskey were never to far as they relied on these weapons to infiltrate the locals & other foreigners, as everyone smiled at the madness of what we were doing. WIth the cricket we beat High Wycombe on the Saturday and lost to Phoenix RFC on the Sunday.
Phoenix's Tour Highlights
Batting – Kully scored the most runs
Bowling – Rowdy & Sanj took the most wickets
Fielding – Jazz for not actually trying
Angry Young Man - goes to Kully for his reaction
Is that MJ – goes to Sanj for people were recording his dancing on their phones
I am Salsa King – goes to Vipen for his dance moves
Biggie Smalls – goes to Vishal who rapped to every rap tune played
Believe me I am a nurse – goes to Sethi who tried to help a drunk girl recover
Irish Coffee – goes to Prince for falling in love with an Irish girl
Drug Dealer – goes to Vini when someone tried to sell him aspirin
Why am I here – goes to Babbu who was missing a wedding reception
Duck Hunt – goes to Jazz for not scoring a run
Lost In Transltion – goes to Raju & Gurdeep who chatted to two Polish girls
Earthquake – goes to Rowdy as he thought the building was about to collapse when he woke up
Sick Note – goes to Haseeb as he couldn’t stay the night
Thanks for coming – goes to Fabian for coming to one match and then getting out first ball
Phoenix on tour are a team full of laughter and comedy. To quote Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910), " Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place."
So another tour came & passed and yet again Phoenix showed their true colours and infected everyone involved with laughter, spirit and the sense of being a family.