CHIANG Mai, Thailand – This year’s Chiang Mai 6’s suffered from the terrible floods that devastated the area some 6 weeks ago. The Gymkhana Ground was flooded by 1.5m of water and half a meter of mud which completely ruined the cricket surface. As a result, sterling work was done by the organisers to relocate and reprogram the tournament. The event was moved to the Royal Chiang Mai Golf course, a beautiful setting and a superb ground some 40km north of Chiangmai, and shortened to a day.
There were 6 teams divided into 2 groups: Pattaya CC, Lanna CC, Lamphun CC, The Black Swans, The Sloggers and the Thai Junior Cricket Development Fund (TJCDF). Each team would play 2 round-robin matches and either a match for 5th and 6th or semi-finals and final for the remainder.
A warm and sunny day with a slowish outfield and grassless wicket greeted the players, with PCC, the current 6’s Champions, playing the Black Swans in the first match of the day. Captain Andy Emery won the toss and decided to bat first. Habby Singh and Luke Stokes opened against 2 -Ball Metcalfe. Anything less than 12 off the over was a win for the bowler and 2-Ball only gave away only 9 runs. Habby and Luke set about Chris Love with 3 boundaries and Steve Perry dropped Habby at Long-off. Steve bowled next and was hit for more boundaries as was Dave King and Luke retired on 33 with the score at 58 in the 4th over. Max Burzler took over the batting as Habby was stumped by Jeffels for 24 and he finished 15 not out. PCC were 73 for 1 and a bonus point.
The Black Swans reply started badly as Habby had Raj well caught by Max at long-off for 4. Max bowled next for a reasonable 11 but Jake Walsh took the valuable wicket of Jeffels, bowled for 12 and the Swans were 2 for 25 after 3 overs. Nung bowled well for 7 runs and Andy wrapped up the Swan’s innings with their score restricted to 37 for 2. A win for PCC by 36 runs and a good start to the tournament.
PCC’s next victims to be pulverized were Lanna. Andy won the toss and decided to bat. Once again Habby and Luke took the crease against Shine Thomas and set about pulverizing their bowlers. Steady bowling from Ian Harling but Tandin Penjor took a hammering from Luke with 3 sixes as did Bhaskar. Luke retired on 33 with the score on 65 for 0. Jake took the crease and Habby retired on 34 having hit Richie George for a 6. Andy got a 4 off the last ball and PCC scored bonus points win with 81 for 0.
Max opened the bowling against Chris Coombes and Sheri. A tidy over from Max for 8 and another from Chalang for 7. Jake went for 13 runs but he managed to bowl Sheri for 9 and Lanna were 27 for 1 after 3 overs. Habby bowled well and a good throw from Jake ran out Chris whose lazy run left him 3 m short of a run. 32 for 2. Andy had an uncharacteristically slack over as Richie scored 11 with 4 overthrows. Lanna concluded with 43 for 2 and a win for PCC by 38 runs and a semi-final place against Lamphun.
Andy won the toss again, against Lamphun and decided to bat. Habby and Luke open against Krit who was duly pummelled for several boundaries, one of which would have been caught by a taller fielder – a lucky escape for Luke. Feem got the same treatment and PCC were 35 for 0 after 2 overs. Luke retired on 31. Oh, don’t sound surprised, bowled well for 7 runs and Champ was unlucky not to have Habby caught at Long-on. 51 for 4. Max batted well with some sixes and Habby finished with a 4 off Cher. Lamphun bowled well but 65 for 0 might be too much for them to chase.
Lamphun sent out Cher and Champ to face Max who bowled Champ 2nd ball with a corker. Feem went in, 8 for 1. Nung returned a good throw to Luke and Cher was run out for 12 in Jake’s over, 25 for 2. Good running between the wickets gave Lamphun a chance but Habby returned a good throw to Andy and Feem was run out for 11 and the match concluded at 54 for 3. Excellent fielding from the PPC team and a win by 11 runs.
The final was between PCC and Lanna. Andy finally lost his winning streak as a successful tosser and he was asked to bowl first. Max bowled Tandin with his first ball and set the tone for a competitive final as Max started with 7 for 1. Chalam also bowled well and had Shine plum LBW for 7 as Lanna were 2 for 12 in the 2nd over. Lanna made a recovery at this point, aided by Andy dropping a sitter at Long-on, (the only catch that PCC dropped that day) as they made steady, but unremarkable progress to 54 for 2.
PCC sent out the usual openers and Luke was lucky to escape a stumping in the first over by Richie. Ian Harling was hit for 14 but it was Tandin that took the brunt of the punishment as he was hit for 20 and forced the retirement of Luke for 31. 43 for 0 from 3 overs. Habby took the remaining runs from Anastasia Brown and Sheri to finish 18 not out as PCC reached the winning score of 55 with 5 balls to spare and became the Chiang Mai 6s Champions for the umpteenth time in a row.
The winner’s trophy was presented to Andy Emery by Cher but due to the truncated nature of the tournament there were no trophies for best batter, fielder or Man of the Tournament. Had there been, Luke would have been a contender for MotT with 128 runs not out, 1 catch and 2 run outs. PCC’s best bowler was Max with 4 overs, 2 for 34. PCC’s 4 innings had amassed 277 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.
PCC would like to thank their sponsors, the Outback Bar, the Magic Bar, and the Pattaya Sports Club for their support and assistance.
