by Peter Cummins

Aussie team the Lords Taverners scraped in with a one run victory over British group the Gloucestershire Gipsies, to win the Cup Division of the just-ended Fifteenth Chiang Mai Cricket Sixes, finishing 64-3 to the Gipsies's score of 63-3. A finish can't be any closer than that - in any type of sporting competition.

In what veteran cricket commentator and enthusiast Rick Davis called "the most exciting cricket ever seen in Chiang Mai in the fourteen years since the tournaments began in 1988", this year's tournament, with 30 teams participating was also the biggest to date.

Other records were broken at this year's event. In the Bowl Final, the British Kiteboys racked up a massive 98-2 to defeat the Warbler Bunny Club 94-2 . Although accurate records of all previous Sixes are unavailable, it is believed at least a couple were broken in this exciting final. The combined teams total of 192 runs is thought to be the most scored in any Chiang Mai Sixes final, and the Kiteboys winning total (98), may well be the most runs scored by a team batting second in a final. Certainly the mighty batting of new Sri Lankan cricketer Malintha Warnapura, who belted 34 for the Warbler Bunny Club off the Kiteboys' first over, contibuted to a single over score of an incredible 48 runs, believed by Chiang Mai Sixes stalwarts to be a one-over record for the event (and definitely a single over record for a final.)

In the Plate Final no records were broken as Ashwell Crusaders (54-0 ) with former England Captain Mike Gatting in flowing form , rather comfortably overcame Kirkby Vampires (49-3 ), who as the Northern Oiks had won this trophy last year.

In the battle for the Spoon honours, Ios Malakas (48-2) beat the Wombats who scored 46-2. The 'record' of sorts here was that this was the first time in all their 15 years of the participating in the tournament that the Wombats had appeared in a final. (Although their one-time 'youth' team the Lik Lik Wombats did once contest a Plate Final). It will also be a record for the Wombats to savour that they finished top of the Spoon Round-Robin play-off group on 8 points (winning 4 of 5 matches).

The Castrol Big Six Challenge was a first for the competition this year, and so 4 batsmen ( Al Field - Taverners, Ruchira Pallyaguru - Sri Lankans, Tony Miller - Seagulls, and Meyrick Pringle - Slammers), hitting the Big 6 sign is a record that may well be broken if Castrol pose the challenge again in future tournaments.

On the field, then, Sixes cricket was definately the winner this year. Other winners, for the record, at the 15th Chiang Mai Sixes, included the Ios Malakas - Champions of the innaugural Cricket Quiz Night, Lysaght Southerners who submitted the longest Pen Portraits (1, 344 words), the Warathais who were First to submit their 2002 Pen Portraits . In the traditional Closing Dinner Awards , Stan Spink of Bangkok Postels managed to carry off the Elephant Extract (Turd-of-the-Tournament) Award in what was one of the all around happiest, least controversial Sixes to date. Cookies Ashes, the traditional award for sartorial scruffiness (named for its first winner , the Drifter's Bob Cooke), was edged by Dave Terrington of Gloucestershire Gipsies. On the sporting side, James Bryant from South Africa , guest star with the Bowl winning Kiteboys, won Player-of-the-Finals presented by CMW /Oriental Collection. And the annual Player-of-the-Tournament was awarded to Mark Briars who had contributed so much to Gloucestershire Gipsies unbeaten run all the way up until the Cup Final.