Justin Moseley �" Chiang Mai

Cup holders Surrey Vagrants back on form

The San Miguel Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes entered its second day yesterday with another display of entertaining and skillful play.

The first game of the day saw the Bashundhara Cricketeers from Bangladesh win without losing a wicket against the tough Yarrambat who are back at the Sixes for their fifth consecutive year.  The English team the Romany Martlets, whose captain Paul Lack is back for his tenth consecutive year, scored an impressive 80 to beat the Lords Taverners Postels from Australia.  Lots of extras cost Sa Pa from Vietnam dearly and the Darwin Dilettantes won without loss of wicket.  Despite winning their match with the Taranaki Taverners, the Warathais did have Trevor Chappell bowled out.  A win by the Southerners from Bangkok over Almar from South Africa was helped by their Jamie Cutbill retiring not out on 30 runs after a string of fours and twos.  Highlight of the Tokyo Wombats win over Thai Thevada was when their Ian “Curly” Gason took all 3 wickets of the innings in one over, a marvellous feat. 

The Surrey Vagrants needed a command performance against the Drifters after their wounding defeat on Sunday by the Irish Pub, and some huge sixes by Mark Higgs and Cameron Eve produced a high score of 88 for their fellow English opponents to beat.  The Drifters responded very well with no lost wickets and scored a solid 66 which included 30 from “Lord” Rob Hall whose innings forced him into retirement from the heat of the crease to the chill of the many cooling fans located near the bar.   

The Divine Felons from New Zealand continued their winning ways of Sunday with a victory over the Awali Taverners from Bahrain, and Asif followed on from scoring the first six of the tournament to scoring 30 not out.  The Maythais, even with the most photogenic player in the tournament in the side (“Chef” Keith Roddom), were unable to beat the Udon Thani Richmond Steakies (the steakies were just too tough for the chef!!).  The Bangkok Postels enjoyed a second victory by overcoming a somewhat lacklustre Blythswood (whose intention to be more memorable for their social achievements than for their winning could be the reason).  The Bashundhara Cricketeers, in their second win of the day, gave us a display of smashing sixes and fours and lots of nippy singles and twos to hit 92 against the Armadillos, whose Sahil Mushtaq was unlucky not to catch some of the Bangladeshi’s more wayward strikes.  The Yorkshire Puddings had little to beef about in their dominance over the Lords Taverners Postels and  Darjeeling have had harder games than their victory against the Taranaki Taverners.  The penultimate match of the day was that between the Gloucestershire Gipsies from England and Sa Pa, and it was a memorable contest.  After some stirring batting the Gypises scored a massive 106 (97 off the bat, with a particularly impressive 35 not out from “Deano” Dean Morrison.  The Vietnamese from Sa Pa put up a good response but just couldn’t match the spirited Englishmen.  The final game of the day was the ladies’ game between the Chiang Mai Chassies and the AA Pixies and it was great to see such enthusiastic play and support from around the ground.  The Chassies just won 45 to 44.

The Sixes are fully online and the excellent website features live video and audio links, and you are also able to send in emails, which may well be read out by the commentators.  Live website lookers and listeners have been identified as being from Perth in Western Australia, the USA, the UK, and even from remote Ulan Bator in Mongolia.  The website is kept updated thanks to the fine efforts of Mike McCune.

All proceeds from the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes go towards promoting the game at the junior level in Thailand.

The action continues daily from 9.00am until dusk with the finals on Saturday 4th April.  Entry to the delightful 111-year-old Chiengmai Gymkhana Club in the heart of the northern capital is free and a large variety of excellent food and drinks are available. If you cannot come then you can listen and watch online - for more information, check out www.chiangmaisixes.com.