Whilst May was wet with a number of cancellations or games played in damp conditions, by the end of June the weather was already at the too hot and too humid level, but during the short period of ideal weather between these extremes there was some great cricket played and the Sharks knocked out 4 wins from 7 games. June also saw the historic Shearer Thurgate cup match, Sponsors Day for our main sponsor Interakt and the delivery of our Sharks Stubbies….but first things first….

Our Japan Cup side was the first to play in June taking on the Chiba Hawks at the Sammu ground. Batting first the Sharks were all dismissed for 96 after 19 overs; the wicket being especially low scoring that day and yielding only 3 boundaries for the Sharks. When it came time to field the team were confident they could defend the total. Ibby bowled the first over and showed the Hawks they had a tough fight on their hands, taking 2 wickets in the over, with one from a run out, for only 2 runs. From then on, but for a brief stand by the 5th and 6th batsmen, it all went the Sharks way with wickets falling regularly. The Hawks finally succumbed in the 15th over, all out for 63. Nikhil, Ibby and Freddy each took 2 wickets, with Ibby also getting three runouts and taking Player of the Match. The win made 3 from 3 for the Japan Cup squad so far this season.

On June 7th the glorious 3rd XI took on a strong Tigers 4th XI in the JCL Div 4. The weather was classic English cricket weather – grey clouds, moderate temperature and a hint of rain. Making things particularly challenging the 3rd were only fielding 9 players plus a fielding sub. Batting first the Tigers comfortably batted out their 35 overs only losing 5 wickets and setting a target of 250. Captain Kris was the only bowler to take a wicket, getting three in his 7 overs, the other bowlers failing to breach the Tigers defences. The Sharks batting started well, with Ali (40 from 54) and Aditya (47 from 50) making a stand and taking the game to the Tigers, but the rest of the batsmen were dismissed for only 18 runs off the bat – the English weather perhaps contributing to the England style collapse. The Tigers bowlers were kind enough to give us 48 extras, helping the Sharks reach 153 all out, but the Tigers ultimately won by 97 runs. The final score wasn’t representative of the differences between the squads abilities, the Sharks being much closer than the score alone suggests. The game had a feel of what if – what if we had a full squad, what if our bowlers had been a bit more lucky, what if our batting lineup hadn’t collapsed…the squad left determined not to let that happen again.

Fuji and a double header with the 1st and 2nd XI`s playing on adjacent grounds was a treat for Saturday June 14th. The 1st XI were playing the Tokyo Falcons and the 2nd XI the Tokyo Wombats, the Shearer Thurgate Cup being contested by the 2nd XI as the Wombats were relegated from Div 1 at the end of last season. On paper the odds were against the 1st’s and for the 2nd`s, but as so often in cricket, the odds meant nothing on the day. The day was filled with light rain that was always threatening more, but it was still enough to add a challenge for all players. In the Div 1 game the Sharks batted first, Nikhil (an U19 Falcons player!) getting 50/44, Ghufi 38/29 and Muneeb 32/49, helping take the side to 182 all out after 33 overs. On the adjacent ground the 2nd’s bowlers were systematically picking off the Wombats batsmen, finally cleaning them out in the 29th over for 129 runs, Hammad taking 3 and Vik and Shige also taking 2 a piece. Surely the Shearer Thurgate Cup was coming home? Not wanting to be shown up by the 2nds, the 1st XI bowlers undertook a similarly systematic takedown of the Falcons bower’s after the break in innings, with Freddy taking 4 and Manav getting a five wicket haul and taking player of the match. The 1st XI didn’t quite get the Falcons out in the 29th over, though, needing 4 more balls than the 2nds; they did however get the Falcons out for 147, winning the match by 35 runs. Whilst the 1st XI were dominating the Falcons, the 2nds were ‘doing a 3rd’ against the Wombats, collapsing without much of a fight from what should have been a winnable chase. Sud provided solidity by batting through the innings, getting 29 from 66 balls, however the rest of the squad fell cheaply around him, with four ducks and no other player getting more than 9 runs, adding a painful loss to the 2nd’s 2025 record and giving the Wombats back the Shearer Thurgate Cup. After the game both the Sharks sides and the Wombats headed off for a BBQ, hastily moved to under a nearby bridge to get out of the rain. At the BBQ Ash put on his salesman hat and cracked out the newly arrived Sharks Stubbies to great success; the Wombats players looking on with wanton stares but none brave enough to purchase!

Sharks Stubby any one?

With 2 wins so far in June, the 1st XI were confident going into their match against Wyverns on June 21st, especially after taking down the Falcons the week before. Pride comes before a fall, however and the Wyverns Kubota and Kimura handed the 1st’s a tough-to-stomach loss. Batting first the Sharks never really settled with the Wyverns bowlers not giving any chances. Kubota took a fifer off his 8 overs and fellow bowler Tomizawa bowled 8 overs at an economy of 2.25, including 3 maidens. The Sharks eked out a total of 121 from 31 overs, Muneeb being the standout batsman with 38 from 65 balls. The Sharks bowlers started well, with Gufi taking 2 wickets in the second over and Freddy one in the 3rd, however1 end was tightly held by Kimura, who was ready to put any lose ball over the boundary. The Sharks tried and failed to remove Kimura, rightly seeing him as the main threat, he even had a bail removed however in a moment of controversy it was judged the the bail was knocked off by the wicket keeper and not the ball. The Sharks bowlers kept fighting but Wyverns finally chased them down in the 29th over, winning with a boundary from Kimura. Ghufi was the leading wicket taker for the Sharks (2/28) whilst Freddy and Tim took one a piece, Tim getting an economy of 1.83 and bowling 3 maidens in his 6 overs.

The following day the glorious 3rd’s were playing the Tokyo Star Kings on Sano riverside 1C, the switch away from 1B making a nice change as it gave a chance to avoid the rabbit holes and weeds. The weather was hot (around 35 degrees) and humid, so the Sharks sensibly chose to bat when they won the toss. It was to be another low scoring batting performance from the 3rds, this time not helped by the weather. Only one player scored more than 10 runs, Yasir putting away a splendid 29. The Sharks made it to the 24th over before the last batsman falled, but by this time the Star Kings players were visibly suffering with the heat…would the use of the heat be enough to help the 3rds win? The Sharks started with spin, bowing it non-stop until the 14th over by which time they had already removed 6 wickets for 38 runs and with Vik taking three wickets by the third over. The Sharks had smelt blood early and relentlessly attacked the Star Kings batsmen and by the 20th over the last fell for a total of only 50 runs. Vik (4/14) and Attiq (3/11) were the star bowlers, helped by Sud being lightening quick on the stumps. A great win for the 3rd’s.

The last game of June was the Japan Cup match against Tsukuba at Sammu. This match was also the first of this year’s `Sponsor’s Days`, this being for our main sponsor Interakt. The Sharks had prepared a tent and refreshments for Interakt, who brought a party of 10 staff and family to watch and soak up the atmosphere in the Sharks Camp. Before the game club president Marcus made a speech, handed out gifts and introduced the players to our guests. Aditya, long time Shark and head of Interakt was also a part of the playing 11 today, his first game since scoring a 47th for the 3rd’s earlier in the month. Things started well with the Sharks winning the toss and again being able to choose to bat and tire the opposition in the heat. The batting got off to a good start and by the half way point the Sharks were on 60/3. A brief wobble in the 13th and 14th overs saw three batsmen quickly removed and the score fall to 79/6, however the Tsukuba bowlers were not quite good enough to defeat the Sharks and they batted out their 20 overs ending on 118/8. Rahul (37/42) was the highest scoring batsman, with opener Nikhil also contributing 20 off 18 balls. The Sharks bowling and fielding was a master class of team work and bowling to the field, with the successive bowlers setting up the batsmen and engineering catches in the deep. Ghufi took 4 wickets and Muneeb and Nikhil 2 each, but as they say `catches win matches` and this match the Sharks took 8 in total, including Nikhil taking 4! The Sharks won in the 17th over, removing Tsukuba for 91. A great win for our sponsors and 4 from 4 for the Japan Cup squad so far this season.

Pre-match Team Talk