Beavers Day 6 – The Final Curtain

Finals Day and there should have been a feeling of great expectation but there was general feeling of despondency in the Beaver ranks. Not only were we not competing for honours but the team was breaking up and heading for all points of the compass. After the great camaraderie built up over a week of sporting and consumption it was with great sadness that we waved goodbye to Nige and Dickie at midday.

The remaining team members slowly gathered at the ground to watch the Finals.

Bowl Final – Our new friends the Southerners played a team we had not come across, the Floggers and Robbers. Despite some enormous hitting from the boys and a commendable total of 85 they were chased down and just pipped at the post.

Plate Final – Yarrambat beat the Sugar Shack Postels. We had not really come across either of these two Aussie teams during the week. Never mind there is always next year.

Shield Final – Our neighbours at the ground the U.N Irish Pub had sufficiently recovered from their marathon 8 bottles of vodka fine session earlier in the week to beat the Tokyo Wombats in an excellent match to win the second division.

The Cup Final – What a game! This was a legendary final that had everything demanded of a top class sporting occasion. It was contested by the Gloucester Gipsies, with whom we had become very good friends over the week and the Cricketeers, a fine group of cricketers from Bangladesh and last year’s champions.
The Bangladesh boys batted first and set a very defendable total of 75. In went the Gloucester Boys and it was a see-saw innings of dramatic sporting tension.
At the beginning the Gipsies were ahead of the run rate and looked to be odds on but some very fine bowling tied them up in the middle overs. It seemed that they had too much to do in the last over in the last over but overthrows on ball number 4 gave them the tiniest chink of light.
Ten required for the win off the last 2 balls. The fifth ball was despatched to the boundary for four and the ground was hushed for the final delivery. A maximum required to win the whole championship.
The bowler put it on the spot but Dominic, who has played cricket at the highest level, was up to the task. As cool as you like he smashed the ball over mid wicket to clear the boundary rope by inches.
Pandemonium broke out in the Gipsie ranks and the crowd rose to applaud such a nailbiting victory. A feast of sporting excellence and drama by two fine teams.

The Spoon Final – Further drama was to come in our own comp the Spoon Final. The Maythais who were undefeated all week were odds on to beat our spiritual brothers and the party champions of the tournament the IOS Malakas. The Malakas fuelled by alcohol and held together with sticking plaster and cortizone following a drunken session of WWF wrestling, bowled surprisingly well to restrict the Maythais to 52.
However fine bowling by the Maythais stopped the Malakas from keeping up with the required rate and the dismissal of Max the Beast seemed to have consigned them to the runner up spot.
In a mirror of the Final 10 runs were required off the last 2 deliveries. Fortunately the crease was occupied by Marty who has been in fine form all week and who drinks and bats with the same gutsy intensity. He smashed ball 5 for an enormous six and the ground readied in anticipation of another monumental finish. Unfortunately the final delivery was a wide giving the Malakas the four they required and a deserved win.
Some great cricket on the Final day as befitting what was the most extraordinary tournament and all involved wore great smiles as we left the Gymkhana Club for the final time to prepare for the rites of the dinner and awards ceremony.

The Beavers were much depleted at the dinner Millers and Big Phil having also flown out so it was left to Begley, Jonesy, the 2 Irish Boys and Bell to represent the team. Unfortunately shambolic arrangements by the hotel led to the omission of a Beavers table and we were grateful to be given a berth and invited to join the hammock girls.

Unsurprisingly the Beavers didn’t trouble the judges at the award ceremony although there was always a faint possibility that the Voldermort incident may give us a sniff at Turd of the Tournament. However it was not to be. After the awards we took a quick trip down the clubhouse at Tuskers and then to the Sugarshack for the final knockings.

The Sa Pas were on great form and out in force. No question that they are kindred spirits with the Beavers. The Armadillos were also hitting it hard and fining people at random with their killer cocktail. However they were astonished that knocking back two in a row had no noticeable effect on Jonesy – these Beavers Girls are made of stern stuff. The Malakas were of course present and celebrating their win in their usual style by imbibing enormous amounts of any alcoholic beverage that came their way. The Beavers sent them some celebratory Sambucas which were rapidly dispatched.

Gradually as the night wore on people slipped away but we lingered not wanting to let such a monumental week slip away. In the end it was left to the best and worst of the tournament (at least in a cricketing sense) to see this great tournament week to bed. It is perhaps the message of the tournament that it is not how good you are on the pitch that counts but how you relate to your fellow competitors and all the others who are involved in the Chiang Mai Sixes. The Gipsies and Beavers united in a love of cricket and camaraderie toasting the week just past and clinging desperately to all that remained before we parted for the year.

As dawn finally began peaking over the horizon we downed the last drop of gin and headed for the gates. The Gipsies headed for bed just a few hours before their flights and we headed in search of an early breakfast feeling saddened that such a great week had come to a close. Only 356 days to go until next year!