Team photo 2008

Five of last year’s six return, albeit three of them newly married and another in even deeper trouble.

Chad Blewitt (3rd CM tour). Chad relocated to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia after tying the knot in November, and relinquished the captaincy with the remarkable record of 3 consecutive league and 4 cup wins. A number of the Dogs traveled to Perth for the ceremony and to assist with the buck’s night, although the wedding night proved to be the greater challenge for Chad. Illness in India in attendance of Manoj’s wedding means we can no longer call him Tubby, but it’s only a matter of time before his beloved wife comes to our assistance again – possibly by bearing him a Mongol child.  

Leslie Horsfield (2nd tour). A.K.A. Grant/Arragrant, at his wedding revealed his sensitive side by bawling throughout the ceremony. His Harvard educated wife was more graceful, even when photo’s depicting Grant’s ambition to move to New York to become a model were revealed - 30 minutes too late for her to change her mind. At last year’s CMS, in the early hours of Saturday morning Grant pledged, and asked us all to pledge, that we would not be hit for six in our semi-final. The result - his first ball successfully bounced before crossing the rope, but the next five all landed between the car park and the golf bunker. He was no easier to hide off the pitch, but we hope that his rebirth as a philanthropist will at least reduce our risk of arrest.

Manoj Mehta (3rd CM tour). For most men one wedding per marriage is enough, but Manoj will be arriving late having lost the battle to reschedule the Shanghai ceremony. If the Hong Kong one was a legality, the Jaipur one was a festival… as one of the Americans recalled the barat, “I never imagined I would find myself dancing down a busy road surrounded by camels, elephants, horses… and Australians’. Disappointed us last year by keeping his renowned bunt in the closet, but the trajectory of his pies continues to increase.

Pete Cain (6th tour). Pete is our Morals Manager, for which he stands unopposed each year, as responsibility for decreeing what is morally inappropriate is only bestowable upon someone with such an impeccable personal track record as his.  There is almost nothing else good or bad left to say about this man, so we will just wish him well with the challenges 2009 has in store for him.

Mike Tsesmelis (7th tour). Not for the first time Mike has become single just weeks before a Chiang Mai tour. His behaviour did improve over the duration of that relationship, but we hope it doesn’t now sink back to the depths of last year’s tour… which culminated in a full blown hotel stake-out.

Ben Goodwin (Virgin). A summer arrival in Shanghai, the 22 year old Englishman slipped so seamlessly into the Hot Dog culture he was quickly dubbed Mike’s Padawan. Six months on the reason for Chad’s hiring of Ben has become clear – to ensure someone was around to give Mike a hard time once he left. Expect Mike to renege on all promises of looking after the youngster when drunk in dark clubs on his first Thailand visit. Needs to spend more time on his batting and less on his appearance, and will likely bear the brunt of the fines, especially if he brings his scarf.

Justin Fish (Virgin). An American Obama-activist, Justin is hopefully a non-playing member of the squad, and his attendance is currently dependent on the Saviour’s ability to rescue the US auto industry. Took him a long time to acclimatize to Asia, but based on recent activity should be an excellent wing-man for Padawan.