The Chiang Mai Senior League was primarily established so that the most talented Thai junior cricketers could play competitive matches against the men so it was perhaps fitting that one of the junior teams, CPP from Doi Saket, has been comfirmed as the first league champions.
CPP, which acts as a finishing school for promising cricketers, were leading the league after winning four out of their six matches, but Chiang Mai Lanna went into the final day of the season with four wins from five matches and victory against Floggers & Robbers or even a narrow defeat would secure the title.
Floggers were looking to end their season on a high having batted powerfully in all their matches but having been let down by some wild bowling and their team was bolstered by some new names who it was hoped may be able to bowl with more control.
Floggers captain Chris Coombes was delighted by his side’s new look and confidently chose to bat first on winning the toss but although he hit the first ball of the innings for four he was soon dismissed lbw by Jon Danby who had clearly done his homework on the league’s leading run-scorer.
Young Max Coombes settled in well against some friendly bowling from Martin Papworth, while Ant Jackson is a quality player so the total raced along during a second-wicket stand of 72. The introduction of spin in the form of Tim Woolls quickly changed the course of the innings as he bowled Max Coombes and had Ant Robertson caught at gully first ball.
The Welsh wizard soon claimed two more wickets having Andy Paps caught behind and John Drummond stumped and with Ant Jackson required to retire on completing a highly accomplished fifty Floggers’ innings looked in trouble.
A lot depended on Wani playing his second match for Floggers but he was bowled by Lanna’s acting captain Ryan Sherman for 10 and Liam Woolls even bowling at half-pace was too much for Cavan Gardner. Surely Chiang Mai Lanna already had one hand on the league title?
But the Chiang Mai Senior League is not that predictable and it was the unlikely combination of a former junior cricketer returning from the United States and a man more used to taking care of elephants than playing cricket that held firm and shared an excellent partnership.
There may be fears of a run on the banks in Europe at the moment but in Thailand it was a case of a Bank in the runs as he put all his recent practice in the nets to good effect and hit the bowling of Tom Salusbury and Liam Woolls around the ground. Adam Green had looked a good bowler when training for the Sixes but the longer form of the game gave him the chance to get his eye in and he gave Bank admirable support as he batted with the care normally reserved for his elephants.
It was marvellous that a product of the junior coaching schemes in Chiang Mai from several years past would want to play cricket again at the age of 22 and even better that he should make a fifty. Adam Green finished the innings unbeaten on 20 as Floggers final score was an impressive 216 for 8 in 30 overs.
Chiang Mai Lanna would now have to work hard if they were going to win the league but they could still rely on their strong batting line-up to deal with a challenging target.
The two openers had both scored fifties in the league and been batting well in tour matches so they started confidently but were both out inside the first three overs. Richard Cowles hit a six and a four before being bowled by Ant Jackson, while Ryan Sherman hit three fours before falling lbw to Wani.
Tim Woolls, who had started the season so strongly with two unbeaten fifties, was caught behind for just one and Lanna were 36 for three after 6 overs and Lanna’s hopes now rested on John Darling and Kevin Shinner who both batted sensibly before Darling was bowled by Shaffi for 26 to leave the score on 68 for 4.
Liam Woolls now came to the wicket as the last of the frontline batsmen, but he played across the line to John Drummond’s first ball and his innings ended on just four. Lanna’s leading four batsmen had managed 27 runs between them. Club captain Dominic Williams now had the chance to become a hero but he made just eight to be fifth out with the score on 81.
The league title was slipping out of reach for Lanna but Kevin Shinner, a welcome visitor to Chiang Mai who plays cricket to a high standard in England, was looking the part and just needed somebody to stay with him.
Martin Papworth has contributed a lot to the development of youth cricket in Chiang Mai and has also dedicated a lot of his spare time to making the league a success. He had even helped Floggers & Robbers find new players for this final match of the season and was determined that Lanna could still lift the trophy.
Shinner and Papworth completed a fifty partnership together for the seventh wicket which was only ended when Shinner reached an excellent fifty. Tom Salusbury and Jon Danby did the right thing and got out straight away so Shinner could return to the crease as last man with the score on 168. 49 runs were needed to win the match in just less than five overs but only 25 more to win the league on net run-rate as had been hurriedly calculated should CPP and Lanna finish level on points.
The accuracy of the arithmetic was never fully tested as only five more runs were added before the disconsolate Papworth played his trade mark cut shot straight into the hands of Wani fielding at point. Chiang Mai Lanna were bowled out for 173 and they had fallen just short of claiming the league title.
The main purpose behind the formation of the league was to give a chance to as many junior Thai cricketers as possible, so it is appropriate that not only did CPP win the league but several of the Gymkhana Juniors team have also won awards for their high level of performance this season
The next step for the best young cricketers from Chiang Mai was for them to be asked to go to Bangkok for a training camp ahead of the ACC Under-19 Elite tournament in Malaysia. Thailand will come up against some very stiff opposition in this competition as they face teams like Afghanistan and at least half the squad will have played in the Chiang Mai Senior League this season.
This is something for all involved in supporting youth cricket in Chiang Mai to be proud of.