On the weekend of June 9-10, the Shanghai Cavaliers Cricket Club hosted its fourth annual International Sixes tournament, for the first time on China's first ever permanent cricket wicket. The showpiece event of the year, the tournament is part of Shanghai Cricket Club's ongoing work to promote and develop cricket in China.

This year it was played out between eight fantastic teams, wonderfully supported by Steinlager, and we were also fortunate enough to have the former Australia captain Kim Hughes and Australia spin bowler Tom Hogan as guest players.It proved to be a potent combination to say the least..…

After the excesses of the welcoming night on the Friday, Saturday morning saw players and supporters alike gingerly make their way to the Shanghai ground, where a splendid scene awaited them. The first of the games was underway, the sun was battling through the clouds to evaporate the fears of rain, and people were slowly positioning themselves on the banks and under the Steinlager umbrellas to settle down for a fascinating day's cricket.

As the morning progressed, the priorities of the various teams became clear. Beijing quickly declared their intent to retain the Bowl, whilst The Chesterton Petty Six Pack (made up of players from Hong Kong, Australia and Shanghai) were less ambitious and simply set their sights on winning a single game over the entire weekend.

Along with the Hong Kong Cricket Club and Shanghai Cavaliers, the Indian and Sri Lankan teams on the other hand looked to be relatively focused on the cricket. But perhaps most focussed of all were the Shanghai Roundheads (the Shanghai B team) and CBB, who both managed to quickly locate the beer and the delightful Steinlager girls and made sure everyone would at least have a fun day out.

On this first day the teams had been put into two groups of four for a round robin tournament, which would qualify them for the Bowl, Plate and Cup competitions on the Sunday.

Group B was eventually won comprehensively by HKCC, with the Shanghai Roundheads just pipping Sri Lanka and Chesterton Petty on run rate for second place.

Group A was also very close with three teams finishing on four points. In perhaps the best advert for Steinlager yet, after a dedicated day's drinking CBB defeated the Cavaliers on the last ball of their game, which prevented them from running away with the group. Beijing finished winless and assured themselves a place in the Bowl semi-final alongside India, and despite their last game defeat the Cavaliers finished top, ahead of CBB on run rate.

Throughout the day the two star players performed extremely well on and off the field. Kim Hughes entertained with some classic stroke play, and when given the chance to bowl at his old pal, Tom Hogan bamboozled Kim Hughes, who, unable to put bat to ball, eventually had to give up and retire.

Off the field the two guys performed even better. Whether recounting cricketing tales or simply sharing a beer with the lads, they entranced and charmed all those they met - Chinese, Sri Lankan, Indian and Australian, and even the English. This continued through to the evening dinner where they delivered two fascinating and amusing speeches, before leading us full-on on into the night..…

After another long night, the semi-finals action took place on the Sunday morning. In the Bowl competition, Chesterton Petty and Sri Lanka made it to the final, with India and Beijing the unfortunate losers. In the Cup competition the Cavaliers beat the Roundheads and in a superb performance CBB knocked-out the powerful looking HKCC.

In the Bowl final Chesterton Petty massively exceeded all their expectations, and not only secured their third win but also claiming the Bowl against the competitive but fun, young Sri Lankan team. One of the tournament favourites, HKCC, then deservedly won the Plate final against the Roundheads, who still finished in an impressive fourth position. HK player Keith Hawthorn won batsman of the tournament, and Gavin Erasmus won bowler of the tournament.

The Cup final was thus a replay of the Group A game - the Shanghai Cavaliers versus CBB - which CBB had won on the last ball. Batting first the Cavaliers posted a competitive, if gettable, total of 59 from their 5 overs, 10 more than in the first game, but they also lost a player through injury.

Bowling well to start with the Cavaliers managed to keep CBB down to just 12 off their first two overs, but CBB picked up the pace to leave themselves needing 23 off the last over to win. A tough task, but with eventual player of the tournament Steve Penney and in form Matt Hutton in bat, and with the over to be bowled by mid-game injury replacement Craig Weightman (he himself bowling with a cracked rib) it still looked possible. Bowling through the pain Weightman kept CBB down to just 9 off the first four balls, and looked to have won it for the Cavaliers, but bowled a wide and then Hutton stroked a glorious six over the midwicket boundary, sparking rabid cries of "Ju Lu Lu". This left CBB needing six off the last ball, and although the game had again come down to the wire CBB couldn't quite do it this time, and the Cavaliers celebrated winning the Ray Williams trophy for the second time.

Amazingly, almost as soon as the players had left the field after the final the heavens opened for the first time during the two days, but this did little to dampen the spirits during the prize-giving ceremony. With the formalities over it was then time for everyone to retire to O'Malleys, soak up some more Steinlager, and discuss where cricket and its fans in China will go next.

Shanghai Cavaliers Cricket Club would like to thank all its sponsors, Steinlager, FPD Savills, The Velvet Underground China Comedy Club, Formon and Associates, Piper Solutions, KABB, That's and O'Malleys. We would also like to say a special thank you to Tom Hogan and Kim Hughes, who are not only great blokes but helped give us a memorable weekend. Thank you.

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