2008 Team Photo

SPONSORED BY  HARDYS WINES AND ANZ BANK JAPAN.

Jarrad Shearer. Japan's worst behaved cricketer returns. Boasts that his name is up there with Viv Richards. Well, yes, on the Turd Of The Tournament award....And it was Viv's manager. Hasn't won the club's Dummy Spit Award for a whole 2 years now, but did win the Golden Thong for shutting down the Kobe-Osaka train line with his personality.

Martin Charlton. Inspirational leadership ("mate, I don't give a shit about the cricket") and solid wicket keeping ("I let that one go cos I couldn't be stuffed to bend down and pick it up".) were the hallmarks of Marty's last tour. Knows the location of every ATM in town. Will be looking to make up for a lack of variety in '08.

Kyal Hill. Proven team player with a simple technique. Fond of pouncing on loose offerings and known to surprise. His team-mates will be keen to help him throw  the shackles which restricted his movements on his maiden tour. Always puts his head down and digs in, on a sticky wicket or a grassy pitch.               .

Ian Gason. Showed signs of promise on first 3 tours but finally lived up to expectations in '08. Seems keen to continue where he left off, but will the pressure of new expectations be too much? Fully insured and with a well-worn helmet, when Curly comes out to bat, Barbara gets the stretcher on stand-by.

Ravindra Pushpakamara. Making his second appearance for Tokyo, expect to see a repeat of Pushie's Hot Shot nocturnal form, which resulted in him being run out walking a single to cow-corner by a rolling return. So cleanly and powerfully does he strike a ball, that one fellow Wombat, when told that Pushie's Test career was as a bowler remarked, "you wouldn't have thought so after today's effort!"            

K.A. Toey: Tall and stylish, with formidable ball-handling skills, able to swing it both ways. A deft little paddle, and switch hits like Pietersen. Captain Marty will be seeking someone of this description at Spiceys Saturday night. If she is any good, we'll bring her back to Tokyo as she is more man than most of the blokes who didn't make the tour.