"It was just the change in diet and different food. We were crying out for some Western food near the end."
Despite the gruelling heat, humidity and slight illness, Marr said the 14-strong Northland squad returned home as "better cricketers and better people".
"We won the first game and the last so we started well and finished well."
With seven games being played in total, the squad was given insight into Indian subcontinent playing conditions.
"They played spin - a lot of spin," Jones said.
"[We] didn't struggle with spin, it was more just thinking of ways to rotate strike.
"The games we lost were because we couldn't quite draw the complete team performance. It [the heat] took a bit of a toll on the bowlers ... it was just as mentally draining as physically."
With temperatures sitting in the mid-thirties, playing conditions were tricky for the Northland lads.
"Four overs was the max for a quick bowler," Marr said of the tiring conditions.
"We had a couple of chargers. After four overs they were just done."
The emphasis of the sojourn centred around cricket, with the team travelling to Kandy, Hikkaduwa, Hambantota and Colombo.
But aside from cricket, the boys were also privy to the nature of a country still resurging from a long and bitter civil war.
"There were some pretty poor kids," Marr said.
"A couple of parents went and bought helmets for a team [and] we took some caps and stuff over."
Matthew Lobb, who captained three games of the seven, said the culture shock was widely felt.
"[We were] immediately hit by the heat and humidity and the chaotic nature of the place. Everything from the roads, the traffic, the poverty and stuff - you can sort of see how that feeds into their cricket.
"These guys were some high-quality cricketers and they've never had the chance to tour or anything like we've done. They don't have very much. Cricket is [one thing] they do have."
