The final of the Bangkok Cricket League will take place on Saturday April 27. Punjab CC, who finished top of the seven-team league, progress straight to the final where they will meet the winners of a play-off between Maxwin and Aditya Birla who finished second and third respectively.

The Asian Cricket Council has confirmed Malaysia as the venue for the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite Division. The 10-team tournament will be held from July 25 to August 3, with all matches likely to be staged in Kuala Lumpur.

It was also confirmed the ACC Trophy will be held as two separate tournaments for the first time.

The ACC Trophy Elite tournament will be contested by the top 10 ranked ACC members: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the holders, the United Arab Emirates.

The ACC Trophy Challenge for the remaining ACC members is likely to be staged in Kuwait from January 11-17, 2009. Among the invitees are Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, China, Iran, the Maldives, Oman and Thailand, although it remains to be seen whether China fields a team.
Tony Munro

Twenty three teams from ten countries, including local sides from Phuket, will compete for the Cup, Plate, Bowl and Spoon titles at the 2008 Phuket International Cricket Sixes being played next to the beach at Karon Stadium, Phuket, Thailand from 17 - 20 April 2008.

This is the fifth staging of this popular ICC award-winning tournament which helped to kick start the development of cricket in Phuket.

Continue reading "Chappell and Mullally line up in Phuket"

The Bangkok Post reports on the forthcoming Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes which takes place for the 21st time between March 30 and April 5.

Continue reading "Chiang Mai Sixes come of age"

This year's Phuket International Cricket Sixes gets underway from April 17 this year, and Mark Burns has all the details.

Continue reading "The Phuket International Cricket Sixes"

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

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A county squad member alongside Monty Panesar and Michael Hussey, John Hottinger’s arrival in Thailand to play cricket came after he was within a whisker of playing county cricket in England. A fascinating interview with him appears on the Asian Cricket Council site.

	Singapore's captain Rezza Gaznavi receives the ACC Under-15 Elite Cup © ACC

The Asian Cricket Council had taken drastic action on Saturday and kicked out hosts and defending champions Nepal as well as Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Thailand after its medical board reported that all the squads from those countries contained players over the stipulated age limit. Sunday's semi-finals - Nepal v Singapore and Afghanistan v Hong Kong - were scrapped.

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It's a year since the Cricket Association of Thailand held its last election. In the intervening period Thai cricket has been blighted by an internal dispute which has done serious harm to the standing of the game both inside and outside the country.

Continue reading "Thailand board fails accountability test"

Thailand may be a cricketing backwater, but the game these has a decent foothold and it also attracts touring sides to the prestigious Chaing Mai Sixes.

However, the national board continues to attract much criticism and that is now spilling over into the country’s main competition, the Bangkok Cricket League, which is due to start its new season this month.

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Organisers of the 4th annual Phuket International Cricket Sixes tournament, which takes place at Karon Stadium, Phuket from April 19 to 22, have confirmed that the financial services group Montpelier have signed as title sponsors of the event.

Over 20 teams from around the world will take part - entry for spectators is free and food and refreshments are available at the ground.

A Twenty20 Charity Fundraising match, featuring all the best players taking part, will be held on the evening of Saturday April 21 from 6.30pm. All the proceeds from the match will be donated to a local children's charity, Childwatch.

It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

Continue reading "A long way from home"

As cricket develops in new countries, true cricket lovers take great pleasure in seeing young cricketers improve their skills. However, in the last few months, a coup of another kind has happened in Thai cricket.

Continue reading "Trouble in Thailand"

A tournament organised by the Cricket Association of Thailand (CAT) for Under-16s begins today at Chiang Mai. The three teams are Bangkok, Khon Kaen, and Chiang Mai in three 45-over contests. The full schedule can be found at the Bangkok Post.

The Bangkok Post reports that the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes will stake place at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana Club starting this weekend. It will be the 19th time the event has been staged and 31 teams from across the world will be taking part, equally the record turnout.

A group of Sri Lankans, led by ex-Test star Amal Silva, will pay their own way to take part. In addition ex-Aussie international Trevor Chappell is expected to play with the New South Wales Warathais team.