A Double-Header Weekend of Cricket 2007

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th March Sunday 25th February

THE CRICKETERS CLUB PHUKET GET SOME PAY-BACK WHILE MEYER

DESTROYS ISLAND CRICKET CLUB

The Island Furniture Cricket League resumed last weekend after a one week break while players from all four teams were up in Bangkok playing in the first Thailand Inter-Regional Tournament. Saturday saw the Cricketers Club Phuket (CCP) take on the Patong Cricket Club (PCC) while on Sunday the Phuket Academicals (PAC) found themselves up against the in-form side of the Island Cricket Club (ICC).

In Saturday’s match, which was match 7 of the season, PCC won the toss & elected to bat. However, in what appears to be a regular occurance for the team, the openers got off to a reasonably solid start but once they were gone, a middle order collapse took place.

After M.Foster (15) & A.Holgate (10) were dismissed, the scorers weren’t troubled too much until a decent partnership between D.Hunter (17) and W.Sarakhan (28) had the scoreboard looking a bit more respectable. But again, PCC didn’t see out the entire 35 overs & found themselves all out for 148 in the 25th over. The pick of the bowlers for the CCP team was Subhash who picked up 5 wickets for 45 runs off 9 overs.

Following a lunch break, the CCP side were put to the task & although reliable opener R.Muller fell for only 7 runs, smart batting from T. Connell (41), M.Khan (28) & Subhash (11) saw the CCP side cruise to a 7 wicket victory in the 31st over. Sixty-two extras from the PCC side certainly helped. As a result, the CCP side walk away with 18 points while PCC grabbed only three.

Man of the match went to Subhash.

Match 8 the following day saw Academicals Captain R.Meyer give an impressive display with both the bat & ball against the ICC side. After winning the toss & deciding to bat, Meyer made a quick 40 runs which included 8 fours to get his side off to a solid start. Some support from B.Daniels (20), J.Ali (14) & A.Hodges (14) saw PAC post a target of 142 runs off 30 overs. H.Kapoor was the pick of the ICC bowlers picking up 4 wickets off his 5 overs. During the innings break, the ICC lads would’ve felt fairly confident in reaching the target, especially with the PAC side only fielding 9 players.

However, that old phrase ‘Cricket is a funny game’ reared its ugly head again & despite a couple of decent scores by the ICC batsmen, none of them were allowed to get a foothold except for Tannu who made 24. Wickets fell at regular intervals but the scoreboard was none-the-less ticking ovver. This was until Meyer began his bowling spell & started to clean up the tail order in rapid succession. He picked up 5 wickets off his 4 overs while giving away just 17 runs. ICC, all out for 120 in the 20th over.

So a comfortable win for the PAC side who, just like last year, seem to be picking up steam as the season comes to an end. They take 17 points from the match while ICC were left wondering what happened while taking only 6 points.

Man of the Match PAC skipper R.Meyer.

The Cricketers Club Vs Patong Cricket Club 2007

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th March

THE CRICKETERS CLUB PHUKET GET SOME PAY-BACK WHILE MEYER

DESTROYS ISLAND CRICKET CLUB

The Island Furniture Cricket League resumed last weekend after a one week break while players from all four teams were up in Bangkok playing in the first Thailand Inter-Regional Tournament. Saturday saw the Cricketers Club Phuket (CCP) take on the Patong Cricket Club (PCC) while on Sunday the Phuket Academicals (PAC) found themselves up against the in-form side of the Island Cricket Club (ICC).

In Saturday’s match, which was match 7 of the season, PCC won the toss & elected to bat. However, in what appears to be a regular occurance for the team, the openers got off to a reasonably solid start but once they were gone, a middle order collapse took place. After M.Foster (15) & A.Holgate (10) were dismissed, the scorers weren’t troubled too much until a decent partnership between D.Hunter (17) and W.Sarakhan (28) had the scoreboard looking a bit more respectable. But again, PCC didn’t see out the entire 35 overs & found themselves all out for 148 in the 25th over. The pick of the bowlers for the CCP team was Subhash who picked up 5 wickets for 45 runs off 9 overs. Following a lunch break, the CCP side were put to the task & although reliable opener R.Muller fell for only 7 runs, smart batting from T. Connell (41), M.Khan (28) & Subhash (11) saw the CCP side cruise to a 7 wicket victory in the 31st over. Sixty-two extras from the PCC side certainly helped. As a result, the CCP side walk away with 18 points while PCC grabbed only three.

Man of the match went to Subhash.

Match 8 the following day saw Academicals Captain R.Meyer give an impressive display with both the bat & ball against the ICC side. After winning the toss & deciding to bat, Meyer made a quick 40 runs which included 8 fours to get his side off to a solid start. Some support from B.Daniels (20), J.Ali (14) & A.Hodges (14) saw  PAC post a target of 142 runs off 30 overs. H.Kapoor was the pick of the ICC bowlers picking up 4 wickets off his 5 overs. During the innings break, the ICC lads would’ve felt fairly confident in reaching the target, especially with the PAC side only fielding 9 players. However, that old phrase ‘Cricket is a funny game’ reared its ugly head again & despite a couple of decent scores by the ICC batsmen, none of them were allowed to get a foothold except for Tannu who made 24. Wickets fell at regular intervals but the scoreboard was none-the-less ticking ovver. This was until Meyer began his bowling spell & started to clean up the tail order in rapid succession. He picked up 5 wickets off his 4 overs while giving away just 17 runs. ICC, all out for 120 in the 20th over.

So a comfortable win for the PAC side who, just like last year, seem to be picking up steam as the season comes to an end. They take 17 points from the match while ICC were left wondering what happened while taking only 6 points.

Man of the Match PAC skipper R.Meyer.

Cricket League reaches half-way point 2007

Sunday 25th February

PATONG CRICKET CLUB WIN LAST MATCH OF ROUND 1

Match 6 of the Island Furniture Cricket League took place on Sunday to wrap up Round 1 of the competition. The Patong Cricket Club (PCC) came away with a somewhat shaky win over The Cricketers Club Phuket (CCP) to chalk up some much needed points.

After bowling CCP out for only 86 runs in the 23rd over, PCC got off to a wobbly start after losing Charlie Chelliah for just 2 runs. However, a solid partnership between PCC captain Martin Foster & David Ogden saw 50 runs be put on the board before the next wicket fell. PCC were looking set for a relatively easy win. However, some fine bowling from speedster Ben Davis saw a quick 5 wickets fall for only 14 runs. In the end though PCC managed to reach the target of 87 runs in the 20th over after losing 6 wickets.

Highlights of round 1 would have to be Jafar Ali’s 109 runs in match 3 which was the first century in the history of the Island Furniture League. Also match 4 proved to be a nail biter when last years underdogs the CCP bet last seasons winners The Academicals in a game that went to the wire with a win for CCP by just 6 runs.

Round 2 matches start on Saturday 10th March after a 1 week break. During this time a squad of players will head off to Bangkok to represent Phuket in the first ever Thailand Seniors Inter-Regional Cup which will take place between the 3rd – 5th March. Teams from the north, north-east, south & central regions of Thailand will play against each other in a round robin format. Hopefully the Phuket lads can bring back some silverware.

Patong Cricket Club vs The Phuket Academicals 2007

Sunday 11th February

THE CRICKETERS CLUB PHUKET UPSET 2006 SEASON CHAMPS

In what was probably one of the most closely fought matches in the short life-span of the Island Furniture Cricket League, The Cricketers Club Phuket (CCP) made history with their first ever win, & that win being over last season’s champions, the Phuket Academicals (PAC).

CCP won the toss & elected to bat which appears to be the smart move in this heat. Despite some solid hitting from CCP’s openers, J. Cooper soon found himself on the way back to the pavillion after being bowled by N. Catts for 6 runs off 8 balls. This brought T. Connell to the crease & along with R. Muller they put together a solid 38 run partnership before Connell was finely caught by S. Reading for 13 off 34 balls. Muller fell shortly after for 19 as did M. Inman for 9. CCP 74 for 4 in the 15th over. A partnership was needed & this is what CCP got. Captain M. Khan & A. Ghadge came together & put on a hard fought 51 runs before Khan was stumped on 26. Ghadge fell 2 runs later on 21 as the heat started to take it’s toll. A couple of handy innings of 12 apiece from M. Deveney & D. Mydeen saw the CCP team post a modest 156 runs, 3 overs short of the allowed 35.

Not a hard total to chase but cricket is a funny old game & anything can happen in this heat, especially after feilding first for 30-odd overs. PAC dangermen R. Meyer & J. Ali got the chase underway after lunch & Meyer made his intentions clear when he magnificently pulled the 3rd ball he faced over the fence for 6. Unfortunately he went the very next ball after an excellent catch by Inman off the bowling of B. Speed for just 7. Ali, who the previous week scored a century, soon followed after also being caught for just 1 run. PAC 13 for 2 & CCP were on fire.

From here on out, wickets feel at regular times but the scoreboard was ticking over. Most of the PAC batsmen chipped in with D. Kelleway (14), N. Catts (23), S. Reading (24) M. Ayling (20) & P. McEnvoy (26) all making it to double figures. PAC were 9 down for 140 runs in the 28th over & needed 17 more for the win.

Overs were not a problem but wickets were. However, McEnvoy was still out there & looking solid in his defence. Runs were coming slowly but surely as was the never ending advice from the boundary from PAC captain Meyer. However, in the end it was CCP’s day when the last wicket fell to the bowling of Muller in the 31st over. PAC all out for 148, 9 runs short of a win. A day a jubilant CCP side will never forget.

As a result, CCP storm up the points table after taking away 18 while PAC nab 7.

Man of the match was Mike Khan who top scored for the CCP side with 26 but also took 4 wickets for 44 runs off his 9 overs.

Patong Cricket Club vs The Phuket Academicals 2007

Sunday 4th February

JAFAR TON DESTROYS PATONG CRICKET CLUB’s HOPES

The first century in the Island Furniture Cricket League, Phuket, occurred in match 3 of the season. Jafar Ali, who only just transferred to the Phuket Academicals (PAC) team earlier that week, put together a flowless innings to dash the Patong Cricket Club’s (PCC) hopes of winning their first match.

After winning the toss & deciding to bat, PAC soon found themselves in trouble with the early wicket of R.Meyer who was bowled by R. Seemant for 8. However, despite the fact that only 4 of the Academicals batsmen made it into double figures, they did make it to the 35th over & raked up 216 runs – 109 of which came from the bat of Jafar. Other notable innings were D. Orchard who made 22 & N. Catts who chipped in with 13. The wickets were shared between most of Patong’s bowlers.

Patong unfortunately got off to a wobbly start while chasing 217 for a win with the early wickets of J. Kumar & R. Sadarangani falling to the bowling of J. Ali. A promising partnership between PCC captain M. Foster (28) & C. Chelliah (24) could not last however & after Foster fell, Chelliah soon found himself running out of batting partners. Despite some steady innings with the bat D. Hunter (9), P. Cotter (10) & M. Whetton (17), Patong were soon all out for 146 in only the 20th over, 4 runs short of a bonus point.

As a result, PAC walk away from the match with a handsome 19 points while PCC managed only 7 Man of the match was Jafar Ali for an unflappable 109 with the bat – the first century in the short history of the League.