Admission is free, there are many shady areas for spectators, a well-stocked bar (of course!) and snack areas - so come along and experience the 20th Chiang Mai Cricket Sixes.
Played, as always, at the Chiengmai Gymkhana Club cricket ground, there will be teams from 13 cricketing nations, including some “wannabe” cricketers: Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, England, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Wales.
With 14 matches scheduled for the first few days from 8.30 until “stumps” - usually in the failing light around 17.30 - it is going to be a real feast for cricket lovers. Not only will the action be relayed in both audio and video formats - this latter re-played at the cricketers’ bars in Chiang Mai - but also the aficionados will be able to catch up on the great event being played out in the Caribbean, “My Cricket World Cup”. And, throughout it all, will be the dulcet tones of perennial commentator, Ric (Viking) Davis who has only missed two years since the tournament was established in 1988.
Defending Cup champions from former years will also be back to contest the five major divisions, the Cup, the Shield, the Bowl, the Plate and the Spoon.
As usual, there will also be an “old crocks” challenge but, unfortunately, one of the ‘master old crocks’, Bangkok Post’s Old Crutch, will be absent this year and it was suggested that Peter Cummins, definitely the oldest “old Crock”, pad up for the game. But, as he has said every year, “I will be too busy hiding behind my camera to do anything strenuous like that.”
The ever-popular Women’s Challenge will again pit the Chiang Mai Chassies against the World Women Dixie Belles - two formidable teams who are careful to have lots of liquid refreshments prior to their game: “One must avoid dehydration,” one of the ladies pointed out last year, as she downed prodigious quantities of beverage.
Another highlight will be the Eighth Sawasdee Cricket Cup for Thai juniors, comprising a number of schools affiliated with the Chiangmai Schools Cricket Alliance. A number of these budding Thai cricketers, supported by the International Sixes teams, have developed into international stars.
Besides the regular supporters of this week-long cricket fest, ESC (European Security Concepts) and the re-opened Chiangmai Mail newspaper will be the major sponsors.
The driving force behind the International Cricket Sixes has been the Bromleys - Maurice and Renita - who have worked hard and diligently to ensure the success of the event. Maurice, as tournament director through all these years, has vowed that this will be his “Swan-song” but, somehow, after knowing him through our long association, I doubt it!
Actually, prior to last year’s devastating floods which inundated Chiang Mai and virtually washed away the surface of the grounds of the now 109-year-old Gymkhana Club, cricket there was facing a dismal future and, during the 19th tournament, the cricket area, at times, looked like the Gobi Desert.
But, since then, major improvements have included a set of turf wickets, new drainage and an up-to-date highly visible electronic scoreboard, guaranteeing the beautiful ground many more years of great cricket. Ironically enough, now that the ground is in great shape, we have to worry about the air above. Let’s hope that the burning off, causing much contaminated air, will be a thing of the past, come the first of April.
Entry to the event is free and there are many shady areas for spectators, a well-stocked bar (of course!) and snack areas.
Programmes will be available on arrival and, in the meantime, if any further information is required, go to the Sixes web-site: www. chiangmaisixes.com
To finish with an immortal cricket phrase: “HOWZAT!”
Chiang Mai Mail