The organisers, led by tournament director Maurice Bromley, feared the worst some months ago when the 107-year-old Gymkhana Club ground was buried under metres of silt after major floods.

However, while the flood damage is still visible in places, the cricket pitch is in superb condition. At the end of the first of the round robin matches yesterday, the Floggers and Robbers, a motley bunch mainly from Zimbabwe, at 61/2 trailed the Tokyo Wombats (101/1) by 0-3 in a newly-designed scoring system.

Yarrambat (69/0) had three points and were two clear of the Divine Felons (68/1). The Pattaya lads from Kim Fletcher's Jameson's Dilettantes (82/1) had three points after beating local Chiang Mai team the Sugar Shack Postels (75/2).

The final game of a day of entertaining, exciting cricket saw former Cup champions the Lords Taverners (67/0) narrowly beat Darjeeling (66/1) for three points and one point respectively.

Games continue today with round robin matches and, on present form, as the teams settle in, the 19th Chiang Mai Sixes are going to be a great success. The action actually started on Saturday night with the opening party at the traditional venue, the Porn Ping Hotel, which rocked to the sound of a myriad of languages, mountains of beer and rivers of wine, food and good camaraderie. - The Nation.