This year's Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes will be the 17th birthday of an event that began in a modest way with 16 teams taking part back in 1988. Three of those teams have appeared in every tournament and will be there again this year when the Sixes takes place as usual in the grounds of the 106 year-old Chiengmai Gymkhana Club, from Sunday April 4th to Saturday April10th.

The three stalwarts reflect the broad international reach of Chiangmai's longest running international sports event - they are Darjeeling CC out of Dubai, the Drifters from the UK, and the perennial Wombats from Australia. A potential 32 teams have registered for the 2004 Sixes, which would make this the biggest tournament yet, and has caused the organising committee to make it officially a full 7-day event this year. Participating teams are expected from Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh (for the first time), China, England, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, the U.A.E and Wales. Other teams this year include 4 former Sixes Cup winners (Gloucestershire Gipsies, Lords Taverners, Drifters and Perth Postels) as well as many other returnees to what has become one of the amateur cricket world's most popular events.

But far from looking back, the 17th Chiang Mai Sixes will take as its theme " Building a Future for Cricket in Thailand ", celebrating development of the sport of cricket in Thailand, which has already begun successfully among Thai school children. Chiang Mai Sixes’ participants, sponsors and organizers were responsible for funding the first initiative to introduce cricket into junior schools around Chiang Mai starting in the year 2000. Since then, under the auspices of the Chiang Mai Schools Cricket Alliance (CMSCA), this programme has grown by leaps and bounds and now has the recognition and support of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the cricket world's governing body for this region. Already, 4 Thai schoolboys from the CMSCA's programme have represented Thailand at junior age levels at tournaments in Dubai, Singapore, India, and Malaysia. And this year the CMSCA gained an award from cricket's world governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC), for ‘The Best Junior Development Initiative" in the Asia Region.

The success of the CMSCA's development efforts among school children in Chiangmai, despite official recognition and encouragement, continues to rely heavily on private donations and funding. Ambitious plans are afoot to expand the coaching programme to include more schools and to develop a local cricket ground for coaching and tournaments among young Thai cricketers. The CMSCA continues to seek a major private benefactor to recognise the huge potential of Thai cricket. In the meantime, its "Baht for Bats" funding drive will be asking Chiang Mai Sixes participants and sponsors, to continue their generous and vital support. This year, under the auspices of the 17th Sixes, the 5th Chiang Mai Sixes Sawasdee Cricket Cup will be held - an annual tournament among local school teams playing a junior version of cricket which is being used to introduce the sport to Thai youngsters. The Sawasdee Cup tournament is also played at the Gymkhana Club ground on an adjacent field to the main Sixes event.

Several star international cricketers are, as usual, expected to play with the teams in the Chiang Mai Sixes, and negotiations are currently underway with a number of possible guest stars. It is hoped too that a main sponsor for the 17th Chiang Mai Sixes will be announced shortly. In the meantime cricket fans are reminded to make a note to join the vibrant social and sporting fun of Sixes week in Chiang Mai this year, from April 4 -10th. Admission to the cricket is free, although a donation to "Baht for Bats" will be requested at your discretion to aid Thai cricket development. Refreshments, programs and souveniers will all be on sale at the ground where sheltered seating is provided, and a new, visitor-friendly ‘Sixes Boundary Bar’ is planned. The cricket action runs from 8:30 AM every morning