PATTAYA, Thailand – Hopefully my cricketing audience has read the report regarding the PCC Thoroughbreds in the 9th Koh Chang Beach Tournament. This report will map the progress of the PCC Stallions who fielded an accomplished and impressive squad, with 5 players being members of PCCs victorious Bangkok Cricket League Div A Championship team. PCC Stallions were looking for a hat-trick of wins and add to an already overflowing trophy cabinet. Expectations were high.
The first match on Saturday, Day 2, was against The Southerners. The stallions won the toss and decided to bat first. Eddie’s bowling crimped Marcus for 4, but Max and Habby smashed 32 runs, whilst Andy had to crawl on his hands and knees to avoid a run out. Ben then set about Vaughan with 26 off the 5th over, including a 12 into the swimming pool. Jainish’s 7 off the last over brought up an unassailable score of 77 for 0. The Southerners made a disastrous start with Champ being caught three times and a bonus point for Andy’s hat-trick. Max took another wicket as did Ben and none of the Southerners could get bat to ball. They finished on – 14 for 5 and a loss by 87 runs. The Stallions earned 3 points for the win plus 3 bonus points.
The next match against the Black Parrots should have provided sterner opposition but that did not prove to be the case. The Stallions batted first with Marcus and although he was bowled by Martin for -5 and his first trip to the duck pond, no further wickets were lost with most batsmen making big scores, including Jainish who hit 4 consecutive 6s. 81 for 1 being the final score. The Black Parrots started cautiously and retained their wickets until Rehab was stumped off Max. Further wickets fell to Jainish as T Crooks was caught by Habby at the second attempt and Slatters was caught by Max off Ben, but few runs came off the bat and so The Black Parrots finished on 16 for 3 and a loss by 65 runs. The Stallions picked up a further 4 points.
The final Group Match was against Alibaba, who for some strange reason had three PCC players in their team, was postponed by poor light and deferred until the following day. The Stallions won the toss and decided to bat. Max was lucky to survive being caught on the boundary by Terry who carried the ball over the line. Andy made 9 off Molin and Habby hit Andre for 17. Ben continued the bashing with 20 from RJ as did Jainish with 16 off Pavit. The final score was 80 for 0 and a steep hill to climb for Alibaba. They struggled from the start as bowling from Ben, Andy and Max was very tight. Molin was dismissed by Ben with a fantastic running and diving catch off Andy. Alibaba made a recovery when Marcus was hit into the pool twice by Andre, who added 26 despite being caught by Jainish. Jainish and Habby bowled out the innings to give Alibaba 13 more runs and a total of 49 for 3 and a loss by 31 runs.
The Stallions finished the Group stage with 3 wins from 3 and a massive score of 14 points. They moved forward to the Cup semi-final against the Young Red Lions who would be their toughest opposition. The Stallions batted first and Max hit three 6s before being caught behind off the last ball. Marcus was also caught behind and went to the duck pond for the second time. Habby added some runs but he trod on his own wicket, in fact Andy and Jainish were the only batsmen not to lose their wickets. This limited the Stallions score to 63 for 4, a total the Young Red Lions might reach. They made a solid effort, aided by only losing one wicket, that of Nung bowled by Jainish for -4 and off to the duck pond. Although Cher, Pit and Luang got into double figures, it wasn’t enough as they reached 46 for 1 and thus lost by 17 runs.
This meant that The Stallions were in the final and their unlikely opponents were The Palmy Army. The Stallions lost the toss and were asked to bat. Max would have started well if he didn’t attempt an impossible run and was duly run out for 3. It was Habby, Andy and Ben that made the runs although Habby benefited from being dropped by Steve at Square for his 14. Andy got a ball into the pool for his 27 off Dave, whilst Ben got 23 with three 6s off Bobby Rainer to finalise the score on 80 for 1. The Palmy Army would have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to win and unfortunately the hat was rabbitless. Natik made a sound start with 10 off Max, but Bhodi was caught by Ben off Andy for -5. This was not the start they wanted and although Steve hit 17 runs he was bowled by Marcus and lost 5. 17 for 2 at the hallway point was not doing the business. Bobby was left with scoring 59 off the over from Ben and he only managed 12. 33 for 2 and a loss by 47 runs. The Stallions had batted and bowled extremely well and were deserved champions for the third time.
After the appropriate discussions, the event organisers began the prize giving. Thank you’s were given to the sponsors, the Shambala Hotel, officials, bar staff and kitchen staff for the buffet and the teams and their supporters. The prizes were awarded as follows: Wooden Spoon, British Club Masterbatters; Chopsticks, Black Parrots; Plate (scalloped), British Club Swingers; Cup Runners-up, The Palmy Army; Cup, The PCC Stallions. Individual awards were given as follows: Best Bowler, Sila Saepoo; Best batsman, Ben Walter; Player of the Tournament; Andy Emery. So ended the 9th Koh Chang Beach Tournament and yet another cracking weekend of cricket, made sweeter by adding more silverware to the PCC trophy cabinet. We will be there next year.
Pattaya CC would like to thank their sponsors, the Outback Bar, the Magic Bar, and the Pattaya Sports Club for their support and assistance.
If there are any persons of any ages and abilities out there in the Pattaya area who would like to get involved with cricket, please visit our website, our Facebook page, the Outback Bar (the PCC home base) or contact Simon Philbrook at [email protected].
