2006. Tournament Round Up

Lighthouse Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2006

The ‘Spirit of Cricket’ Alive & Well at the

2006 Lighthouse Phuket International Cricket Sixes!

The spirit of cricket encapsulated by the MCC in the preamble to Laws of Cricket, defines this special core of the sport in terms of fair play and respect to others. At the Lighthouse Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2006, which concluded on Sunday at the Karon Stadium, these values were driven home to the maximum by the players, spectators and organisers of the ‘fun in the sun’ showcase international cricket tournament.

A record 28 teams competed in this third annual cricket tournament which, in addition to the matches played at the stadium by the sea, also featured a beach cricket competition, a Players Welcome Party, cricket coaching sessions for local youngsters, plus a Gala Awards Dinner enjoyed by over 300 guests on Sunday at the Hilton Arcadia resort.

“Cricket Heaven” was how one player described the experience of participating in the Phuket Cricket Sixes, and few might argue with that opinion, certainly not the International Cricket Council who’s President, Ehsan Mani and other distinguished members of the selection panel, on Saturday awarded the Global “Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative” to the tournament. By winning the award the Phuket Cricket Union will receive US$1,000 of cricket equipment from Kookaburra to help develop cricket on the island.

Twenty-eight cricket teams, of which 24 flew into Phuket from all around the world, as well as ex-Test players Adam Hollioake, Alan Mullally, Pranab Roy, Trevor Chappell and former first class player Rizwan Sattar, all contributed to a spectacular week of sixes action and inspiring camaraderie.

Sixty-six matches were played in Cup, Plate, Bowl and Spoon Divisions, plus a successful Twenty20 match on the Saturday evening under lights which featured many of the best players from the tournament in an entertaining affair which went right to the wire, with the Trevor Chappell XI eventually triumphing once again, this time over the Adam Hollioake XI. 

A full range of cricketing ability was on show at the tournament from former international professional cricketers to the keenest total novice, with players of every ability able to soak up the atmosphere and give it their best out in the middle. Two female cricketers represented Lamma CC and acquitted themselves with aplomb, Kylie Knott especially performing with distinction with the ball.

The Perth Postels ran out winners of the Cup Division after posting a competitive 87 runs against a reasonable bowling attack from defending Champions, Corner Tigers from Pakistan. The Postels then defended their total tenaciously, restricting the Tigers formidable batting line-up to just 69 and taking their first Phuket Sixes Championship. Daniel Shaw and Cameron Park of the Perth Postels were named joint Player of the Cup Final.

In the Plate Division final, a valiant innings of 35 by Kelawar skipper Henry Tattersall could not prevent his side going down to the Moonshine Warathais of Australia as Kelawar mustered 82 in reply to the Warathais massive innings of 113. Simon Porter and Trevor Chappell took to the Kelawar bowling attack, both batsmen retiring, with Trevor Chappell being awarded the Player of the Plate final trophy by the umpires and which he later received on stage from himself.

The Bowl Division was a real nail-biter for the partisans, with another Aussie side, Applecross CC, taking on Drifters from England. It was the highest aggregate total of all matches during the tournament, Applecross batting first and posting a hefty 108 with ‘Zads’ and ‘Mel’ of Applecross both retiring. The match went right down to the last ball, with 4 runs being required off it by Drifters to take the title, after Dean Morrison and Rob Hall had both retired. But it wasn’t to be, a single was all they could manage and Applecoss won by 2 runs, with the top three titles of the tournament becoming a clean sweep for Australian teams. Chris Zadow of Applecross was named Player of the Bowl Final.

The Phuket Cricket Union had only one one match all tournament coming into the Spoon final. They faced a buoyant Bounty Bar Buccaneers who posted a reasonable 69, Graham Witt scoring 20 and Gupindar Mahal 21 not out for the Malaysians. The PCU hit a vein of form at just the right time with excellent innings from Mark ‘Scarfy’ Whetton and skipper Rich Brown which guided the local side to the their target with just 2 balls to spare. Brown was later awarded the Player of the Spoon Final by the umpires.

Players of the Tournament were, in the Open category Imran Idrees of Corner Tigers for his all round performance (innings of 33, 23, 35 & 33 and 2-2, 0-7, 1-17 & 2-2 with the ball); in the Spoon category Mark Sayers of the Wild Men from Borneo was named Player of the Tournament (innings of 41, 15 & 24 and 1-14, 1-15 with the ball).

There were many comments about the high standard of officiating at this years Phuket Sixes, and this side of things contributed so much to the high standard of cricket played. The tournament was fortunate to benefit from the services of several highly experienced and qualified umpires including Glyn Davies (Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Cricket Umpires & Scorers) and Chanky (Chairman of Umpires at the Cricket Association of Thailand), with the umpires section of the Sixes being ably overseen by Paul ‘Hagar’ Jones from Wales. Kim Leung and Kevin Bishop provided the bulk of the essential scoring services for the 66 matches, assisted by Barrie Radburn of Awali Taverners.

The Phuket Sixes, in keeping with it’s special spirit is not just about winning cricket matches and silverware. During the tournament, generous players and spectators dug deep with more than 100,000 baht being raised for local charity Childwatch-Phuket and the Youth Development Programme of the Phuket Cricket Union. Particular thanks from organisers must go to ‘Kitten’ for her tireless fundraising efforts and to Allan Mullally for his donation of a lovely piece of Ashes cricket memorabilia which was auctioned off for US$1,500.

Put into the mix an unprecedented numbers of teams, matches and hours of play, several international star players, excellent standards of officiating, five-star quality social events, incredible local, national and international media coverage, substantial sums raised for worthy causes in Phuket, glorious weather, amazing camaraderie, plus a few dodgy floodlights, add two massive international awards from the ICC and healthy measures of cricket spirit and that goes some way to encapsulating the spectacular Lighthouse Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2006.

Team Entry for the Lighthouse Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2006

 1. Applecross Cricket Club (Perth, Australia)

 2. Awali Taverners (Bahrain)

 3. Bangkok Postels (Eng/Aust)

 4. Bombay Gymkhana Club A (Bombay, India)

 5. Bombay Gymkhana Club B (Bombay, India)

 6. Bounty Buccaneers Drinking Cricket Team (Malaysia)

 7. Brighton Union Cricket Club (Melbourne, Australia)

 8. Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (Calcutta, India)

 9. Corner Tigers (Pakistan)

 10. Drifters Cricket Team (England)

 11. Formosa Spartans (Taiwan/Aust)

 12. Guwahati Town Cricket Club (Assam, India)

 13. Island Cricket Club (Phuket, Thailand)

 14. Island Cricketeers (Phuket, Thailand)

 15. Kelawar Cricket Club (Kuala Lumpur and Lembah Beringin, Malaysia)

 16. Kudu Bar Cavalry Drinking Cricket Team (Malaysia)

 17. Laguna Phuket Cricket Team (Phuket, Thailand)

 18. Lamma Cricket Club (Lamma Island, Hong Kong)

 19. Macau Scrubbers (Macau)

 20. Moonshine Warathais (Newcastle, Australia)

 21. Nollamara Turf Cricket Club (Perth, Australia)

 22. Phuket Cricket Union (Phuket, Thailand)

 23. Perth Postels (Perth, Australia)

 24. Phuket Barbarians (Phuket, Thailand)

 25. Southerners Cricket Club (Bangkok, Thailand)

 26. Sugarshack Postels (Australia)

 27. Taipan’s Cricket Club (Hong Kong)

 28. Wild Men From Borneo (Borneo)

Roll of Honour:

Cup Winners: Perth Postels (Australia)

Cup Runners-up: Corner Tigers (Pakistan)

Player of the Final: Daniel Shaw & Cameron Park (Perth Postels)

Plate Winners: Moonshine Warathais (Australia)

Plate Runners-up: Kelawar CC (Malaysia)

Player of the Final: Trevor Chappell (Moonshine Warathais)

Bowl Winners: Applecross CC (Australia)

Bowl Runners-up: Drifters (England)

Player of the Final: Christopher Zadow (Applecross CC)

Spoon Winners: Phuket Cricket Union (Phuket)

Spoon Runners-up: Bounty Buccaneers (Malaysia)

Player of the Final: Rich Brown (PCU)

Player of the Tournament (Open): Imran Idrees (Corner Tigers)

Player of the Tournament (Spoon): Mark Sayers (Wild Men From Borneo)

Tournament sponsors:

Lighthouse International

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Thai International Airways

Phuket International Hospital

Karon Sea Sands Resort

Andaman Seaview Hotel

The Green Man

Imran Sports International

The Accenta

The Green Parrot Bar

Thirsty Horse

Travelscene Lords

Montpelier

Molly Malones

 

The tournament was organised by: Asian Cricket Sixes Tour www.cricketsixes.com & The Green Man

Tournament Director: Brad Tarr

Event Director: Poonpun ‘Nui’ Jangrugsa

Tournament Referee: Ian Liddell

Media Director: Mark Burns

Overseas Teams Coordinator: Mike ‘Cat’ Maher

Scorers Coordinator: Kim Leung

Umpires Coordinator: Paul ‘Hagar’ Jones

Webmaster: Kevin Bishop

PCU support: Rich Brown & Mark Whetton

Groundsman: Dixie Joy

Photographer: Wayne Morrison

Lighthouse Phuket International Cricket Sixes

Winner of the ICC ‘Best Spirit of Cricket Initative (Asia)’ & the ICC ‘Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative (Global)’