Pattaya Cricket Club hosted the British Club at the spectacular Thai Polo Ground in the 6th round of league matches in the Bangkok Cricket League last weekend.
With a near capacity crowd, that included the mother of Andy Emery who had flown over from wintery England to watch her favourite son, PCC were asked to bowl first under sultry skies. PCC captain Simon Philbrook sensed there was a distinct psychological advantage to be gained in giving Andy the new ball as the opposition were being regaled with tales of cricketing excellence by his mother. And so it proved as Andy, in tandem with Peter Bass, bowled with great skill and pace to reduce the BC to 34/3.
Andy Emery (left) is presented with the man of the match award by his mother.
The pressure mounted as David Scott, Bernie Lamprecht, Raj Kumar and Manik all bowled with unrelenting accuracy and runs were hard to come by. Denzil (27) and Mossy (28) grafted well against the unstinting attack but when Andy returned, to the delight of his mother, the innings crumbled and the BC posted a modest 113/8.
There was a moment of crowd unrest when Venky dropped a relatively easy chance off the bowling of Andy as his mother jumped out of her seat and audibly threatened unmentionable repercussions to the offending fielder.
Inevitably Andy’s mum requested her boy open the batting and the PCC captain was in no mood to argue. So a clearly shaken Venky and exuberant Andy strode to the crease. Venky proceeded to hit a 7 ball 21 to get the innings off to a flying start that redeemed him in the eyes of Andy’s mum for his earlier foppery.
Manik and Andy batted fluently as they both ran well between the wickets and punished the bad balls. Manik (35) was out caught at mid on just as the finishing line was in sight but Simon (8no) and the delighted Andy (46no) finished the job as PCC won by 8 wickets with 5 overs to spare.
Mrs E hugged her son, only as a mother can, that brought back treasured recent memories for Andy and his fellow teammates suddenly realised how close a bond the two share. Andy was awarded the man of the match trophy as his mum, with chest proudly out, looked dotingly on.
PCC welcome anyone wishing to join the club to contact them via the club website www.pattayacricketclub.com or visit the club Facebook page. PCC would like to thank the support of the PSC and Shenanigans By The Lake. The next league fixture is Sunday 13th March at the Thai Polo Ground from 11am.
