Chiang Mai Lanna Cricket Club were given a tough test by their junior team who were full of confidence following their success in the National Youth Championships at Lopburi but the seniors achieved their third victory of the season to go to the top of the Chiang Mai Senior League.
Lanna Seniors won the toss and chose to bat on a lovely sunny morning after players from both sides had travelled out to Prem to allow the Thailand Women to practice at Gymkhana. Father and son
Richard and Simon Cowles opened the batting but Cowles senior who was visiting from New Zealand suffered the disappointment of being caught behind for nought 16 years after his last innings when he had scored 96.
Cher was back to his best as he bowled an excellent opening spell but it was Chanchai who took the second wicket as Chris Coombes also edged behind. Martin Cardno counter-attacked with three fours in an over but was bowled by Cher as a short ball shot along the ground. Richard Cowles was also bowled by Cher for who finished with figures of 3 for 17 and when Adam Green was run out for 3 Lanna were in trouble at 57 for 5 and the boys were sensing another victory.
But there is no substitute for experience as Pete Warner and Richard Young came together with years and years of playing club cricket in England. Young finally missed a straight ball from leg-spinner Bunchuai who took a second wicket as Tim Jones was out second ball to leave Lanna on 82 for 7.
Warner was content to push the ball in to the gaps and to wait for the bad ball as he had faith in Lanna’s long batting line-up and he was proved correct as Paul Johnson hit 16 from just 8 balls with a six and two fours and Nithi hit a six and a four in his 15 as he helped his captain add 45 for the ninth wicket.
Warner was last man out after being run out for 27 from 50 balls as he gave the boys a master-class in how to build an innings without any risk. He had come to the wicket at 50 for 4 and 97 runs were added while he was at the crease but a total of 147 was by no means a winning score if the Juniors batted well.
After Chairman David Holt had provided another splendid lunch, Bunchuai faced first ball after being named batsman of the tournament and also having scored 48 against the women on the previous day but cricket is a great leveller and Paul Johnson bowled him an unplayable delivery which crashed into his stumps.
Nought for one but Formot now had a chance to make a name for himself after often batting down the order in recent matches. Formot is a young batsman from Mae On who has always looked a player of high class and once he had successfully kept out a few balls he began to unleash some wonderful cover-drives as he and Chanchai brought up the fifty in the 11th over.
Chanchai’s concentration wavered after the first drinks break and he was bowled by an in-swinger from Tim Jones who had been unable to control his line but the bowler then took another wicket next ball in exactly the same fashion. Cher now joined Formot and the total mounted quickly as the boundaries continued to flow as Nithi bowled erratically and Richard Young struggled with his off-spin.
With the score on 95 for 3 after 17 overs, only 52 more runs were required but Young again showed the virtue of experience by reverting to much more accurate medium pace and Cher was bowled for a swashbuckling 23. Por didn’t last long but with Formot still at the crease Lanna Juniors still had a chance of victory although Martin Cardno was now bowling straight and full and Formot was finding him difficult to get away. His patience finally ran out and he was bowled as he played across the line but his innings of 47 from 64 balls with 7 fours had been extremely impressive after he had come to the crease to face the second ball.
The end of the innings came very quickly as the last six wickets fell for just six runs as Lanna Juniors missed the extra batting strength that Choo or Boom could have given them. The senior team’s victory by 32 runs may look fairly comfortable but the comparative scores after 20 overs (seniors 108 for 8, juniors 111 for 5) tell a very different story.
The adults had come out on top on this occasion and their three victories may well be enough to win the league but the juniors have given an extremely good account of themselves this season and Formot had shown with his innings that along with Bunchuai, Cher and Chanchai, he was more than capable of playing for Thailand in the future.
The seniors then spent an enjoyable couple of hours in the tranquil setting of Prem drinking beers and reflecting on another wonderful weekend for Chiang Mai Lanna Cricket Club. The boys and girls of the junior team had celebrated their success at the National Youth Championship with a party at the Sukontha Buffet on the Saturday evening and now the men were within touching distance of winning the league trophy for themelves.