Published on April 02, 2005

[CRICKET] The stage is set for a magnificent final day here at the Chiengmai Gymkhana Club as teams battle for honours in five divisions at the 18th Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes.

Cricket fans around the world have been tuning in to the ground commentary at the Sixes, which is being broadcast over the Internet for the first time, and e-mails have been flooding in as the online fan base grows globally.

In yesterday’s action, the quarter-finals and most semi-finals were played in the five divisions – Cup, Shield, Bowl, Plate and Spoon.

One of the surprise upsets of the day came in the Cup quarter-final when the Perth Postels came from behind to pull off an unexpected win over England’s Yes No Wait Sorries. The Postels, with big-hitting South African star Kenny Jackson in their side, were chasing 76 runs and were well behind halfway through the match, but bounced back in the final stages to score 78 for victory.

The Postels had a big party planned for last night to celebrate their 10th year at the Sixes and yesterday’s win gave them something else to celebrate.

In another Cup quarter-final yesterday morning, the Cricketeers from Bangladesh scored 66 to better the Awali Taverners of Bahrain’s 41 and in the third Cup quarter-final the Surrey Vagrants knocked up 77 to cruise past the Gloucestershire Gipsies’ 48.

In a Shield quarter-final, the Moonshine Warathais from Australia with former Test player Trevor Chappell in the line-up cruised to an easy win over fellow Aussies the MBMG Dilettantes with a score of 87 against 74. The Moonshine Warathais next face Darjeeling in an early semi-final match today.

In another quarter-final in the Shield Division, Thai side The Mujibas won a tough match against battling Aussie team Yarrambat CC, the Aussies scoring a high total of 91, but it was not enough as the Thai team bounced back to win the match with 99.

Another Shield quarter-final saw the Dubai/UAE team Darjeeling outclass the Bangkok-based Southerners 98 to 59.

The Spoon division moved into the semi-final stage yesterday and Australia’s Wombats proved to be too good for the TQ Malakas, a combined Greek/Pattaya side, with the Wombats scoring 77 to Malakas’ 69.

In a Shield semi-final late in the afternoon, former champions the Lords Taverners of Australia took on Thai side The Mujibas. The Taverners amassed a tidy 67 runs in their innings, and the Majibas came out swinging, but in the end fell one run short.

The victory puts hot favourites the Lords Taverners through to today’s final.

In the other Spoon semi, local team the Gymkhana Cavaliers, with Sixes organiser Maurice Bromley and some Thai players in the side, pulled off an upset win over England’s Halylt to go through to the final against the Wombats.

Malaysia’s Silver State booked their place in the Bowl final with a good win over the Shanghai Dragons late yesterday afternoon, knocking up 103 runs against the Dragons’ 92.

The Bowl semi-final between the Ashwell Crusaders of England and Alma CC of South Africa was a thriller and went down to the final over when Ashwell hit the winning runs to finish with 76 against a target of 72. The Ashwell boys meet Silver State in the Bowl final today.

One of the highlights yesterday was the over 65s challenge match between the Chiang Mai Crinklies, with guest star Roger “Lightning” Crutchley padding up against the Wombat Elders. The Elders scored a respectable 45 with the bat, but the Crinklies hit back with 46.

On the other cricket pitch at the Gymkhana Club where the juniors have been involved in a hard-fought competition, the Grade 6 team from Sai Moon school edged Mae Pong by one run yesterday in their final to reverse the result of the Grade 5 final. Montfort and PRC School finished third and fourth respectively.

The Chiang Mai Sixes is a charity event with all funds raised going towards developing cricket in local schools and the juniors also benefit from donations of equipment from many of the teams playing in the tournament.

There was an added bonus for the junior cricketers yesterday when a representative from the local Lotus-Tesco store dropped by to watch the youngsters in action and was so impressed he made a donation to their cause.

Today is the final day of the world’s biggest amateur cricket tournament and a large crowd is expected at the Chiengmai Gymkhana Club. Admission is free.

There will be semi-finals, finals and a Stars Challenge match between some leading international players today, as well as a women’s match and an exhibition game by some of the promising local junior players.

Scores and other details are available at the tournament web site: www.chiangmaisixes.com.

Alan Parkhouse

The Nation

Chiang Mai