British Club are in town again for their annual Sunday fixture against Gymkhana Club as the two teams contest the Dick Wood Cup and the boys from Bangkok warmed up by playing a two innings match on the Saturday as British Club’s full squad of 16 was bolstered by juniors produced by the Chiang Mai Schools Cricket Alliance’s coaching program.
The day had started bright and early with another practice match for the new ladies team playing alongside the youngest boys with a songtaeuw arriving from Mae On where head coach Martin Papworth is now making good use of new net facilities at the High School there. The ladies, Thai and Farang alike, are all preparing for an expanded ladies competition at the Chiang Mai Sixes in April, so there was plenty to watch as British Club arrived ready for their match.
The sides were divided evenly with eight adults playing alongside four juniors in each team and play soon got underway with four 15-over innings to be contested with retirements at 20 to allow for everybody to get plenty of cricket.
David Dance’s team batted first scored 110 for 2 with Ben and Anthony both retiring and youngsters Daeng and Min showing promise with the bat in the last few overs, while Ting Tang and Jam both bowled well. Nick White’s team looked to be in trouble at 59 for 6 so the batting order was bolstered by Jun who struck the ball cleanly while the captain reached 25 as he returned after retiring. Hloo took two wickets and Daeng took an excellent caught and bowled.
Nick’s team posted an impressive total of 116 for 9 to take a first innings lead of six and David Dance’s side began their second innings with a revised batting order which meant Sarg opened the batting with Pin Papworth and it proved an inspired combination as Sarg hit 20 from 12 balls and young Pin stood up to her task well as she hit five runs before being out with the score on 53 for 2.
The later batsmen tried to increase the rate but the final total of 96 for 3 meant that Nick White’s team needed only 91 to win and Jun and Chat set off with a partnership of 41 as Jun made 23 before retiring as the Thai openers face a stiff challenge from Daeng who bowled his 3 overs for just 14. The match was decided by a cameo from Dale who hit 21 in 5 balls with two sixes and two balls and Patrick saw his side home with 2.3 overs left.
There was general delight that British Club had won a match in Chiang Mai after a string of defeats and a short presentation followed with Jun being named best junior batsman and Daeng best junior bowler and winning captain Nick White being presented with a ceramic Gymkhana Match Box as a memory of another memorable day’s cricket.