After thirteen consecutive dot balls to start the innings, frustration took hold for Lamma’s top order and cascaded rapidly down the batting list. And as all Lanna players know, no one is better equipped for this situation than the wily lobber Tom Salusbury.
Once the Chiang Rai Express Jon Danby and Adam Green knocked off the top three, Tom sent four men back to the hutch without scoring, then generously allowed Andy Fullard a boundary before ending his Chiang Mai tour two balls later. By this stage it was 14/8 and match conditions were being hastily rewritten to allow a 12th batsman.
Tom graciously vacated the crease with figures of 2-0-6-5, and left the other bowlers to deal with the much needed resistance of Simon Joyce (31*) and Richie Abbott who hoisted Lamma up to a semi-respectable 77.
Unfortunately it was nowhere near respectable enough as Lanna’s top three cracked 12 boundaries in 8.5 overs to canter home. Despite the one-sided result, no one begrudged the efforts of opener Bunchuai, captain of the Lanna Juniors, who finished unbeaten on 37.
It was a great pleasure for all of us at Lanna to host such a friendly and generous team and we’re grateful to Chris Coombes for setting up the tour from our end and to all the Lamma players and supporters for making the effort. We hope to see you again soon.