KOH CHANG, Thailand – The 10th Koh Chang Beach tournament took place at the Shambala Beach Resort from 23-25 Aug 2025. The 10th anniversary was attended by a record number of teams, 18, thus it was played over 3 days. The standard was extremely high and introduced more ladies and young teams from all over Thailand.
Pattaya CC, 3 times holders of the Shield Trophy were hoping to be successful again but several key players were unable to attend and The Stallions and The Thoroughbreds were re-organised, although the much diluted Thoroughbreds were still in The Shield along with the Stallions. The 18 teams were divided into 4 groups, with Groups A & B in The Shield, each with 4 teams and Groups B & C in The Cup each with 5 teams. The prizes for the Beach Tournament consisted of: a wooden spoon, some chopsticks, The Cup and The Shield and individual awards to the best bowler, the best batter and the Player of the Tournament.
The local rules and scoring: 6 batsmen would each face one over of 5 balls. Each player would bowl one over and occupy each fielding position by moving clockwise at the end of each over. A run by the batsman is halfway up the wicket and back. 4’s and 6’s as normal. A hit into the Shambala Resort pool will be 12. If the batsman is out, he loses 5 runs. The bowler will be penalised 2 runs for each no-ball or wide, then 4 runs and 6 runs for successive errors.
This year I will report the progress of one team at a time through the tournament. Part one will cover The Thoroughbreds, whilst Part 2 will elucidate on the progress of The Stallions.
The Thoroughbreds consisted of the much slower, much more mature members of PCC, namely, Clive Rogerson (Capt. and author of this report who foolishly asked ‘Who was the captain going to be?”), Daryll Lovegrove, Scott, Gary Moolman, Owen and Mark from Buriram. In time honoured tradition the Thoroughbreds maintained an average age of 50+.
Their first match was against the Mutant Misfits from Bangkok, who were eventual winners of the competition. The Misfits won the toss and decided to bat. Clive had asked his team to concentrate on bowling straight and protecting their wickets as extras and run losses were devastating to the score. The whole team bowled well with very few extras, but the Misfits were very good cricketers and hit mainly boundaries from each bowler. After 6 overs the misfits were 100 for 0. The Thoroughbreds responded as best as they could but lost 2 wickets due to run outs – Gary kept offering his advice on running for 2, but ended with a loss of 5. It all ended on 17-2 and a loss by 83 runs.
The Thoroughbreds next match was against the Phuket Penguins. Clive won the toss and decided to bat. Daryll did well with 9 and crucially kept his wicket. Gary and Scott also kept their wickets but runs were hard to find. Clive was bowled by a long-hop and finished on minus 2 and a visit to the duck pond. Owen joined him due to a run-out but Mark managed to remain in positive territory despite being bowled. 11 for 3 and PCCs worst result. The Penguins were kept very much under control by tidy bowling from Daryll, Scott and Clive, but the Penguins last 3 batsmen, Flowers et al, let loose against Mark, Gary & Owen. The Penguins scored 65-0 and won by 54 runs.
The final match of the day, Thoroughbreds v Alibaba CC (from Pattaya) was postponed until the following day due to bad light. Alibaba lost the toss and Clive elected to bat. Gary, remarkably refreshed after an unscheduled early night, was caught on the boundary by Sajan and went to the duck pond. Both Daryll and Clive were caught behind but Daryll went to the pond. Scotty, Mark and Owen retained their wickets but could only add 5 more runs. Another game ended with another worst score of 7 for 2. Alibaba had a run-fest via all of their batsmen and all of the Thoroughbred bowlers got the treatment despite straight bowling and ceded 92 runs. Alibaba won by 85 runs.
The Thoroughbreds had got worse as the tournament had progress but their lack of competence did get them into the final of the Wooden spoon. Some pulling up of sox and a slight alteration in the bowling line up was required. The Bangkok Boondocks won the toss and decided to field. The Thoroughbreds batted well, by their standards, and only lost one wicket. Nobody went to the duck pond. They finished on 33 for 1. There was a chance of a win if the Thoroughbreds could get their acts together. Boondocks started badly when Daryll took 2 wickets in his over, a C&B and Mark took a catch at long on. -6 for 2. Mark bowled well but Clive suffered wobblyitis of the arm and the Boondocks clawed their way back. Scott had to bowl underarm (subsequently fined) by which time the scores were tied. Clive then dropped a catch behind whilst Gary got a hit wicket. However, the Boondocks managed 47 for 3 and won the Wooden spoon. At least the Thoroughbreds showed some grit and produced their best performance.
Daryll Lovegrove was the Thoroughbred player of the Tournament.
