Alan Parkhouse
The Nation
Chiang Mai
[CRICKET] It was a day of drama and great cricket as the week-long Chiang Mai
International Cricket Sixes wound up yesterday at the 107-year-old Chiengmai
Gymkhana Club.
The drama started when one of the Perth Postal's female supporters tripped
over the boundary advertising banner and broke an ankle, then continued later
in the day when a Lords Taverners player suffered a nasty depressed fracture to
the cheek while batting.
Great cricket was a feature all day, especially when Australia/UK combination
the Marchwiel Outlaws faced England's Surrey Vagrants in the Cup division final.
The Outlaws scored a tidy 77, while the Vagrants’ Mark Higgs had the crowd
ducking as he hit a number of sixes and fours before being caught on the
boundary on 29.
With nine needed of the final six-ball over, the Vagrants put their heads down,
hit a four off the first ball and ran three of the third ball. Then a four from the
fourth ball won the Vagrants the match and the Cup title.
The Shield final was an all-Australian affair between two teams which have
been playing first-class cricket all week, the Moonshine Warathais and the Lords
Taverners.
Former Australian Test player Trevor Chappell and the big-hitting
Steve "Crunch" Christie opened the battling for the Warathais and came out
swinging, but after hitting two sixes and two fours off consecutive balls, Christie
was caught on the boundary on 22. Chappell retired after a classy innings when
he reached the maximum of 30 runs in six-a-side cricket.
The Warathais knocked up a total of 85 then kept their bowling tight, especialy
Ian "Reds" Liddell, when the Lords Taverners came into bat. The Lords
Taverners then had a setback when batsmen Andy Walton took a nasty knock to
the head in the fourth over, but bravely batted on despite a depressed fracture
of the cheek. As the Warathais walked off with another Chiang Mai Sixes victory
when the Taverners fell short in their run chase with only 63, Walton was
transferred to a local hospital.
The Ashwell Crusaders from England took on Malaysia's Silver State in the Bowl
final and after the Malaysians scored a modest 51, the run chase proved to be
no problem for the Crusaders, who made the winning runs with two overs to
spare.
The Plate final featuring local Chiang Mai team the Irish Pub Gang Green against
the Drifters from England provided a sensational finish when the Drifters needed
three runs off the final ball and ran two, then one of their batsmen knocked the
ball away as it was thrown back to the keeper, then they took another run.
The controversial move ended up being decided by the umpires, who declared
the match a draw - after all, this is cricket.
A combination of a late night celebrating their 10th anniversary in Chiang Mai
and some tough opposition saw the Perth Postals end their campaign when they
lost to the Surrey Vagrants in the Cup semi-final yesterday.
Mark Higgs knocked up a quick 32 for the Vagrants and 27 from Carl Crowe
helped the team to a total of 76, while the suffering Postels managed only 59,
which was bad news for the team as their tournament was over, but good news
for people selling beer at the boundary bar.
The Cup semi-final was a close affair between the Marchwiel Outlaws from
Australia/UK and Bangladesh team the Cricketeers, going right down to the final
over. Shakib Chowdury top scored for the Cricketeers with 33 retired as his
team amassed 75, but the Outlaws bounced back with some tight bowling and
bit hitting to come out winners with a total of 77.
The Moonshine Warathais from Australia had no trouble getting past Middle East
side Darjeeling in the Shield semi-final in the first match yesterday with Steve
Christie top scoring with 32 for the Warathais, who finished with a total of 72
against Darjeeling's 49.
The junior challenge match yesterday impressed everyone at the ground as two
teams of very talented local boys played out a hard-fought game in stiffling heat.
Each year the standard of junior cricket improves and this year's junior match
featured many young Thai players who have been picked to represent their
country in several upcoming overseas tournaments.
The best players at the tournament featured in an all-stars game at lunchtime
yesterday with one team stacked with former Sri Lankan Test players and the
other side a mix of former Test players like Trevor Chappell and leading first-
class cricketers, including Kenny Jackson of South Africa.
After an outstanding display of quality cricket, the Rest of the World side
defeated the Sri Lankans in the final over.
There was also the annual women's match yesterday between defending
champions the Chiang Mai Chassies and the Dixie Belles and after a couple of
mishaps - one run-out attempt failed when the ball hit a champagne bottle
behind the stumps instead of the wicket - the Chassies managed to retain their
title.
Battling Aussies The Wombats played in only their second final in 18 years at the
Sixes yesterday when they took on the Gymkhana Cavaliers, a team which
included some graduates of the junior cricket programme in Chiang Mai and
tournament director Maurice Bromley, in the Spoon final.
A great knock which included three consecutive boundaries from the Cavaliers
Chris Simmons helped his side get in front and "Reckless" Eric Little hit the
winning run.
The week-long event ended in style last night with a gala dinner in the grounds
of the Chiengmai Gymkhana Club where an auction of cricket memorabila was
held and trophies presented. All funds raised will go towards developing junior
cricket in Chiang Mai schools.
