BCIS win Island Furniture cricket title

PHUKET: Once again the weather gods dealt out a wet hand and the pitch had to be moved to avoid various swamps around the outfield. ICC were going into the game as favorites, with depth in both batting and bowling.

However, BCIS has proved during this season that four bowlers with a maximum of 10 overs each are all you need in 40-over cricket.

Under the circumstances, the toss was crucial and once again BCIS won it. In fact, their captain, Roddy Meyer, has since been nominated “Tosser of the Year” by his team. Not surprisingly, he sent ICC in to bat on the unpredictable surface.

His call was spot-on; BCIS had ICC at 24 for 4 after 8 overs with Nifty Catts, once again, doing the damage. Catts has been, without doubt, the bowler of the tournament and one of the few players to realize that it was line and length that would produce results, and not sheer pace.

While the varnish was still on the ball, he also achieved a late swing that was too tricky for most batsmen. He ended up with 4 for 14 off 5 overs.

At the other end, Andy Millward (2 for 25 off 7 overs) was chipping away as usual, though without the success he deserved. However, he set up Bob Wesson to take over, and Wesson took 3 for 9 off 4.4 overs.

Once again, tight bowling proved the key factor and ICC managed only 67 all out with Raju Pandey (19 runs) the only player who knuckled down.

Often when games are played on Sundays the previous evening’s beers can dictate sloth in the field, but BCIS were up for this final, Mike Ailing’s diving catch at silly mid-off exemplifying their efforts.

So BCIS went in to bat with just 68 to win: not a mammoth task but, as is often said, “Cricket’s a funny old game.”

BCIS don’t have much depth in their batting lineup and if Meyer, Ailing and Wesson went out early then ICC would still be in the game. Meyer (21 runs) took 12 balls to get off the mark – which showed everyone how much he “wanted it” and was an example to those who complained about the weather conditions.

Meyer has been BCIS’s rock in the batting department and his runs – although short of what one would call prolific – proved fairly decisive in a low-scoring game.

He was well supported by Ailing, who was very watchful, playing a straight bat when required and picking off bad balls.

ICC kept themselves in the game thanks to some fine seam bowling from Diwan Mydeen (3 for 21 off 7) and Jafar Ali (2 for 12 off 8) but they just didn’t have enough runs to defend and BCIS cruised to a 5-wicket victory and became the winners of the inaugural Island Furniture Cricket League 2006.

Man of the match was Nifty Catts (5 overs, no maidens, no wides, no no-balls, 4 for 14)

Teams or players interested in joining next year’s league should call Tel: 01-719 3414 or contact me by email to richardwkbrown@hotmail.com.

The league was sponsored this year by Island Furniture, Sunrise Diving and The Green Man. The BCIS pitch and facilities were used for all games. The umpires were Terry Williams and Ken Ferguson.