Dear readers, now the part you have all been waiting for – the march to victory of the PCC Stallions. It has been an amazing year for PCC having won the Bangkok League A Division, the Chang Mai Big Bash Tournament for the 3rd time in succession and now the Koh Chang Beach Cricket – which was, until now, the only event PCC had not managed to win. Next year the Thoroughbreds aim to meet The Stallions in the final for the Cup and the Carthorses aim to win at least one match (a match too far methinks).
The Stallions consisted of the best of the available First Team members and Gary Moolman was given an honorary place for his sterling work as the 12th man in league match of previous years. The first match of the Divisional phase was against Koh Chang B. The Stallions opened the bowling with Gary, whose arm was not synchronised with a gyro compass and so Got benefitted from plenty of extras and Gary lying on the mat at one stage. 15 off the first over. Simon fared even worse and Poom added 19.
Something needed to be done to stem the run rate and Wez bowled the first maiden of the tournament. Andy, Jainish and Habby all bowled brilliantly to give away 2 runs each to Veer, Abu and Suttee for a marginal total of 41. Got bowled a good length to Simon for 3. Gary hit 2 6ers and then took a ball in the Gentleman’s Department before being bowled, but 7 added. Mr T leached 13 to Wez and The Stallions were starting to catch up. Andy and Habby got 12 and 9 to secure the total and so Veer needed wickets, but Jainish got 4 and the score was 48. The Stallions won by 7 runs.
The second match was against The Southerners. Again, The Stallions bowled first. Gary got hammered by Chaps for 23 whilst Simon curtailed Patrick for 5 having bowled him. The Stallion bowlers continued to be very economical with 7 from Wez, 1 from Andy, 5 from Jainish and 2 from Habby against the Thai National player Chan Chai. Excellent stuff to keep the last 5 overs to 20 runs and the score to 43.
A winnable match but wickets needed to be retained. Gary made a great start with 13 and Simon an even better one with 19 from Patrick. Wez attacked Vaughan with 3 6ers and The Stallions were ahead with 3 overs to spare. Andy lost 5 runs when caught behind for 7 and Habby was kept under wraps by Eddie. Chan Chai bowled a really fast final over but Jainish kept him out for 1 and a total of 60. Another win, this time by 17.
The final match of the day was against the British Club Master Batters. Unfortunately, their batting was decidedly unmasterly and they could not protect their wickets or get The Stallion bowlers away. Simon took a wicket and Jainish and Habby took 2 each, with catches from Wez and Gary. The total of 1 was the 2nd lowest score of the tournament and nearly had the entire team in the duck pond. The inevitable occurred after the first ball and The Stallions soon reached 60, but Jainish was bowled twice for -10 and a trip to the duck pond in the last over to reduce the score to 50 but a win by 49 runs.
Only 3 teams maintained clean scoresheets and 2 of them met in the semi-finals of the Cup, The Stallions versus Koh Chang A, a fiercely competitive side coached by Bobby. As usual, The Stallions bowled first. Gary opened to Marwin but got a little wonky to leach 13. Simon did the same against Bodhi who ran very quickly between the wickets.
Wez bowled Pang 2nd ball and with 4 dots, reduced the score to 21. Andy was economical for 7 and Gary took a wonderful one-handed catch to dismiss Johnny for 8 off Jainish. Habby tried too hard against Bobby with wides but then bowled him and ran him out with a superb throw at one stump. Bobby finished with -4 and total of 32.
You might think that was an easy score, but Koh Chang A have good bowlers. Gary was caught behind first ball and inexplicably ran himself out off a wide for -1. Hello duck pond. Simon got 5 but dragged on for zero and more swimming in the pond. Wez got a steady 8 but PCC were a long was behind.
Andy received 2 wide balls but got himself run out and only 3. At his point PCC were 17 runs adrift and staring defeat in the fizzog. Habby to the rescue with 3 6ers and 20 runs, only 1 behind with one over to go. Jainish got 6’s and 14 to win by 13 runs and a place in the final. A great match and a great come back by The Stallions.
The final was against the Black Parrots from Bangkok who had defeated Koh Chang C in the semis. Wez finally lost a toss and was told to bat. Gary batted first and got 2 6’s before being bowled last ball for 4. Simon got a creditable 14 from Rehab and Stronky dented Wez’s pride by bowling him last ball for 7. Andy moved the pace along with a spirited 16 to get to 41 with 2 overs remaining and nothing in the teams. Habby only managed 3 so Jainish needed to swing the willow, which he did by smashing Jeffers for 20 and reaching a defendable score of 60.
Gary opened the bowling and Stronky hoisted the ball around the ground for 14 and Rehab earnt 13 in mostly extras from Simon. Wez bowled Jeffers, who was having a terrible game, for 0 and the scores were very close. Jeff Epstein (don’t ask) got 12 from Andy and Jainish stymied Slatters for 3. It all hinged on the last over. Habby bowled really fast but Christy got a 6 and then skied a ball to be caught and bowled by Habby a full speed and full stretch. A 6 to finish and a score of 50. The PCC Stallions won by 14 runs in a fantastic final.
The prize giving saw other prizes issued to well deserving teams: Wooden Chopsticks to The British Club Swingers; The Silver Spoon to The Southerners and the Runners up Cup to the Black Parrots. However, PCC Stallions were not finished as The Player of the Tournament was awarded to Habby Singh for his excellent all-round performance.
The weekend was a great success and all down to the organisational skills of Steve Perry in conjunction with the support of sponsors and The Shambala Resort and assistance from the umpires, scorers and announcers. The swimming pool, duck pond, food and liquid refreshment were greatly appreciated.
“Remember dear readers, you heard it here first, off the record, on the Q.T, and very hush, hush.”
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