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- The Big 10’s are in again – Chiang Mai Sixes is (we believe) the only place in cricket where you can score 10 runs off the bat in a single hit. Thanks again to Champion and new comer CMWOriental Collection for sponsoring the challenge. Hit the signs on the fly and you score 10, plus earn a cash donation for Junior Cricket funding.
- Congratulations to the Postels (from Perth and elsewhere), celebrating their 10 th consecutive year at Chiang Mai Sixes and touring Thailand. They look intent on making it a special party, with one of the biggest touring groups ever at the Sixes – only rivalled perhaps in the early days of the Drifters – with 3 Postels team entries plus the Ladies Challenge Dixie Belles. There’s also a welcome return of ‘The Minder’ – Patrick Anderson, one of the longest six-hitters to play in Chiang Mai. Unless the “Master Blaster” gets here to claim top honours, The Minder’s presence could give the Postels a big opportunity in the Cup this year.
- Our annual warning & advice to new players here – our pitch is artificial (concrete base), so please don’t wear spikes as they might tear our carpet.
- To help junior cricket coaching, but to everyone’s benefit, we’ve added a secondpractice net alongside the original (over by the toilets, behind the golf tee).
- Usually with the onset of decrepitude & repeated failure to win silverware, a team might quietly drop down to the quieter life of the Spoon Division. But this year , despite much the same symptoms, Sandy Cullen’s Irish Pub are moving up from the Spoon to challenge for main competition honours. Good luck lads…together with new signings Wally and Dean (ex- local tobacco team), you may still need the luck of the Irish…
- A new trophy this year – theShield (presented by Maurice & Renita) has been slotted in between Sixes Cup and the Bowl. That means with Cup, Shield, Bowl, Plate and Spoon competitions, up to 80 players (winners and runners-up) will go home with a Chiang Mai Sixes pewter tankard this year.
- To encourage and reward a better standard of cricket throughout preliminary rounds as well as the trophy play-offs, we’ve added a Man of The Day (MOD)award. At the end of each day of the Sixes the Umpires, together with the Scorers, will announce who played the best all round cricket that day (a combination of batting, bowling, fielding and sportsmanship). The 7 chosen Player(s) will receive a Sixes’ MOD award at the Closing Awards Dinner Thanks to CMW’s Wani for the good idea.
- The Sixes now has a Broadband internet connection right on the ground at the Committee Tent. It’s available for use by teams to e-mail home (or for home to contact you),or your local news media, for rapid updating of the Sixes website, and for our journalist friends who may wish to file a story direct from the ground. If you bring your own computer or mobile internet link you can log on with wireless connection from tents within range of the ADSL connection. (Ask at Committeee tent for the password). AND, our IT specialist and webmaster Mike McCune has planned to run Viking’s incisive and ascebic match commentaries over the Sixes website – LIVE ! warts and all. Currently we don’t have capacity to broadcast video, but its coming….
- The Chiang Mai Sixes was a prime mover and financial sponsor in the initiation of the local programme to introduce cricket to Thai school children. Last year Sixes participants helped with a major fund raising boost to the project. This year we return to a more sustaining on-going role as “Supporting Development of Cricket in Thailand”. It’s believed that most of us Sixes participants support this policy. As a small general contribution this year we will again donate 10Baht from everybeer bought at the Sixes bar to the junior effort. Meanwhile the “ducks” will be back, Jenny will be ‘fining’ the victims as usual and there is a Chiang Mai Schools Cricket Alliance (CMSCA) tent for anyone interested in learning more and/or doing more.
- We now have a snazzy, refurbished scoreboard. Anne and Rhonda will be looking down on all of you from their 2 nd story room. If all is well the main numbers will be electronically operated. We tried this before so not saying much now, let’s see the results.
- Many thanks to Tesco Lotus who again helped us look for sponsors. Coke and their own support through their SVP Corporate affairs, Justin Barnett, have been invaluable. Congratulations to Justin on recently being elected to the Board of the British Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (BCCT)
- Well we tried – an invite to this year’s Sixes went out to Mick (sorry, Sir Mick) Jagger of Rolling Stones fame who is known to be an avid cricket supporter & sometime player. We had hoped he might do wonders for awareness and local support for junior Thai cricket development in this currently non-cricketing country. But as we went to press we were still waiting to hear if he’d even seen our invite !! Ha! If you see Jumpin’ Jack Flash looking for the entrance to Gymkhana, please direct him to the Committee tent. Maybe next year we’ll try harder.
- Our good Sri Lankan friends are back again. This year we expect to welcome several great ex-test players in their party of Roshan Mahanama, Avishka Gunawardana, Sidath Wettimuny, Amal Silva, Lanthra Fernando, Hashan Tillakeratne.
- Many thanks to The Big Chillimagazine for our program cover designs this year (both Main mag + Sawasdee Supplement). The Big Chilli is a great read, and claims to be the only genuine news story mag published in Bangkok (oddly yet to do a feature on the newsworthy Chiang Mai Sixes – so many stories, so little time, eh Colin?) – in English language, attractive full colour format – check out a subscription on their website at www.thebigchillicompany.com . Great covers, thanks guys.
- Many Sixes thanks go to Brian & Hilary Neve. Not with us this year. Brian whose many years of braving the heat to man the scoreboard without a grumble look to have come to an end thru’ ill health. And Hilary whose ’ sponsored swims’ for junior cricket and reliability as Match Steward will also be sorely missed. We’ll miss you both, and send our grateful thanks and best wishes for your better health.
- We understand that Dan Foxman of Foxy Lady will be shooting (better)videos of the matches again this year, and screening them in the evenings at his bar.
- On behalf of all Sixes participants, a donation of
10,000 Baht was made to the Tsunami Relief funding by Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes. A small contribution to a very needy cause. We hope everyone will support that decision.
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