A sun filled day with clear skies was the backdrop for a friendly cricket game at the picturesque Thai Polo Club in Pattaya last Sunday.
Pakistan Sports CC were the opponents against a seasoned Pattaya Cricket Club Thoroughbreds XI and no coin toss was required when the visitors said they wanted to bat. And bat they did, gathering a mighty 233 for 7 off the allotted 25 overs. Typical of most games of cricket where the ball, when hit, finds gaps like cracked pepper in your teeth.
Pick of the fielders for Pattaya would have been ‘Big’ Dave Nichols, with his blistering speed and hand eye coordination, not only dropping catches but also with his returns to the keeper (had to be there) and the uncanny ability to call ‘catch it’ when he was the closest fieldsman.
Bowlers had a hard time of it as you could imagine, with a score of 233. Sam Nethery started with an early wicket with a great caught n bowled, that’s where it stopped though. But two guys did okay once Naveed, who made 104, retired: Paul Hack took 1-9 off 3 overs and a young, reinvented Mike Silcock returned figures of 3-11 including 2 clean bowled and it could have been even better if he had held a caught n bowled in his 3rd over.
Andy Emery’s old man, Mike, showed where Andy gets his sporting ability from, with his bowling, but no one was good enough to hold onto the chances he forced from the opposition batsmen. No figures needed as he bowled when the centurion Naveed was smashing it around.
Imran with 40 and Mithu with 26 not out, were other notable scores.
Needing near 10 an over for victory, Venky came straight from the airport, donned the whites and opened the Pattaya innings with Dan (27) and The Pakistan Sports CC didn’t have it all their own way. Venky, after 15 overs and deciding to share the batting time with team mates, retired with a smartly made 70 off 50 balls, the same with Spike (30) and again Big Dave Nichols (24) retiring, giving most of the guys a hit. Even though PCC fell shy of the total it was an enjoyable game certainly, as PCC finished on 183 for 2, only 50 runs short.
After the game a few cool ones were consumed with good company and many laughs and the Pattaya cricketers now await their next fixture on October 3rd against a visiting team from Saigon, Vietnam.
Anyone wishing to get involved with PCC either as a player, official or supporter is encouraged to visit the club website www.pattayacricketclub.com or go to the club Facebook page. All are extremely welcome, especially if you can bat or bowl!
