Sunday saw the inaugural Horseshoe Point Inter-Club Cricket Tournament with Pattaya Cricket Club, Pattaya City Football Club, Pattaya Panthers Rugby Club and Pattaya Golf Club all playing each other at the wonderful game of cricket. In between everyone was reminded by the newly established Pattaya Thoroughbreds (over 50’s) how the game should be played, albeit at a more relaxed and sedate pace, who played a 7 over game.

Playing an 8-a-side and 6 overs an innings format the tournament provided a fast paced spectacle for those playing, as well as the many locals who turned out to support their respective teams. Of course the local cricket team had an unfair advantage, but the games were played in the true spirit of the sport.

PCC and the Golfers were the early form teams and both won their opening fixtures to set up a much anticipated final. The footballers, who missed their opening bowler due a late night World Cup experience, slowly got to grips with the game and its many vagaries to improve sufficiently to look expectantly forward to a third/fourth place play off against their oval ball rivals. It was the rugby team that took the day’s biggest hammering in their opening match at the hands of the golfers by conceding 90 runs, but they too soon adapted well to the unfamiliar game to have high expectations of clinching the bragging rights over their round ball opponents.

A day at the cricket would not be complete without rain and it duly arrived, quite literally with a bang, that halted play for half an hour and the players took the opportunity to revive themselves with some of the copious amounts of beer on offer.

Before the final matches the Thoroughbred teams, captained by the founding members Joe Grunwell and Graham Evans played their first ever match and in doing so established, what will surely be, a playing tradition that will last a very, very long time. The game went to the last over and Graham worked the penultimate ball smoothly through the covers to secure the joyous victory. The game gave all players immense satisfaction and most a new lease of life as memories of yesteryear came flooding back. To top off a wonderful day for the ‘more experienced’ cricketers the wives provided a cricket tea that personified the quality and class the Thoroughbreds bring to Pattaya Cricket Club.

In the playoff the footballers batted first, but their skipper Rick Bryant failed to live up to his hard hitting pre-match talk and was comprehensively clean bowled for a three ball naught by the wily Richard Reardon. Harpic Bryant valiantly carried her bat to finish 10 not out, but tight bowling and expert fielding positioning by Paul Crouch restricted the score to 28, with Richard Holt being the pick of the bunch. Despite Dave Brown and Mark Thomson’s best efforts with the ball and Helen Ball’s golden duck the rugby team easily reached their target, whereupon the drinking started in earnest.

In the final the golfers elected to bowl first in their game with PCC and it seemed a great decision as Andy Emery and Simon Philbrook removed the openers and kept the cricketers on the back foot. However, the senior players of Salman Khan and Leon Bouter capitalised in the final two overs with some big hitting to post a competitive 64. Lindon Giuffrida showed how to bowl fast and straight and the cricket captain for the day Leon displayed his left arm artistry to keep the pressure on the little ball players and despite a well constructed 24 not out from Gareth Gill the cricketers finished 10 runs short. The sigh of relief from the red leather ball team at the realisation that humiliation had been avoided was audible around the ground!

Special thanks go to the umpires Kim Fletcher and the irrepressible George Jackson and Mim the scorer.

Whilst there were winners and losers on the day the biggest winner was the game of cricket. This was a day that represented another giant step for the development of cricket in Pattaya and the ‘friendship of cricket’, the motto of Pattaya Cricket Club.

All players and social members are welcome and please contact us on pattayacricketclub@gmail.com or visit our website at www.pattayacricketclub.com