Bunchuai, Cher and Chanchai have set off on the trip to Sri Lanka which we all hope will be play an important part in them becoming better players and coaches as well as giving them a chance to visit a new country where cricket is almost a religion, to watch Sri Lanka play England in a One-Day International and to go to Colmbo, Moratuwa and Galles each with their own wonderful cricket facilities.
The trip has been arranged by Richard Cowles in conjunction with the Willows CC in New Zealand and the Cricket Live project based in Moratuwa and Richard will accompany the boys along with his girl friend Pern and Lamphun coach Chris Dodd.
They will all arrive in Colombo on the evening of 25th November in time to watch the first ODI between Sri Lanka and England at the famous R Premadasa Stadium. Weather permitting they will see modern day greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara play as well as an England side desperate for some success in the lead up to the World Cup.
They are staying in the Mount Lavinia area of Colombo which overlooks the beach and is a good vantage point for sight-seeing in Colombo which is sure to involve a multitude of cricket grounds and the world famous Cricket Club Cafe. Next day they will head off to the Cricket Live Academy where they will meet head coach Sanjeewa Silva and attend net practice in preparation for a 50-over match to be played on Saturday. The boys will also gain valuable experience for the future when they will coach younger boys.
There will be more opportunities for specialist coaching on the Sunday before they head off to Galle on the south coast of Sri Lanka with another famous cricket ground overlooked by a historic Dutch fort. There may be a chance for everybody to play cricket on the beach and the boys will play more cricket on their return to Colombo thanks to Sanjaya Attanayake of Colts CC and there may be another ODI to watch.
No doubt some valuable cricket equipment will be collected before the return flights to Bangkok and Chiang Mai on 4th December. The boys will be back in time to play for the Lanna Jniors team in the inaugural Lanna Sixes to be held at Prem on 6th and 7th December.
Updates on their trip and lots of photos will be found on this site in the coming days.