Hello Sharks,
June has been a good month for Sharks both on and off the pitch…
On the Pitch…
June opened well as the 1st XI tamed the Tigers with a massive 134 run win including a fluent 70 from PG and a majestic 103* by in the in form Prashant.
The Japan Cup team lacked similar bite the following day losing to Tsukuba by 27 runs, however it was a much improved performance and suggests we have turned a corner in that competition.
The 12th June found the 2nd XI down at Fuji for a nail-biter against FFE. The game swung backwards and forwards all day but the Sharks held on to squeeze home by 2 runs. What a match that was!
The 1st XI were no doubt thus inspired to dispatch both MAX and Sano with the minimum of fuss. A rejuvenated Dave Lollback picked up 4 MAX wickets while Nic Reynolds blasted a quality 67 to see Sano off.
All in all, some true quality play across the board. The club has found real strength in depth this season.
Umpiring in June was taken care of by Viv and KB. Thank you gents.
Off the pitch…
…well, on the edge of it, it was good to see Dr Wheatgrass himself, Chris Reynolds, attend the match against Sano. No doubt he was impressed with some of the results of his generous support this year.
Adit has given me the very dashing red and white badges of our other major sponsor Akaihost. We need to iron them onto our uniforms ASAP. I’ll send out a separate email about where to put them and how. Expect to receive a badge at your next match or training session.
The JCA have told me that their online Registration and Payment system will be up and running in a couple of weeks. Yes, I know I told you exactly the same thing last month. They told me exactly the same thing last month. Patience Sharks.
Congratulations to Mrs. Thurgate who has been named as Team Manager for the Women’s EAP Qualifier trip down to Samoa. She will be looking after Madoka and Kurumi who are both part of the squad. Japan face Samoa who are captained by none other than Regina. Good luck Ladies.
Ins and Outs…
The Sharks welcome back Nick and Dan Reynolds who have joined on a short term block memberships while they are in the country. These two are twins and have played several times for the Chiba junior sides including the team that won the Junior tournament a couple of years ago. They are quality players with both bat and ball.
…and au revoir to Regina who has to go back to New Zealand for a bit and to Samoa for the EAP World Cup Qualifiers. She’s been great to have around the team and we wish her the best of luck.
Other Teams…
Fuji Far East continued their recent run of losing by a handful, going down to Adore by just 8 runs (with 4 wkts in hand!). You have to feel sorry for them as they are a good bunch and still haven’t picked up a point this term. Hang in there FFE.
Congratulations to Paddy’s 1st XI though. They picked up their first points of the season last week as their match vs Wombats was rained off.
And Wombats were the innocent party in a curious controversy with MAX CC in the middle of the month. The latter showed up 30 mins late to their match. The whole team was 30 mins late. After negotiations it was agreed that MAX would be deducted 5 batting overs. Somehow though, they still managed to beat Wombats. However, the JCA stepped in a few days later and decided to award the match by forfeit to Wombats. MAX not happy but fair enough I suppose.
Anything else…
An early heads up from Dhugal about the East Asia Cup taking place on November 3-6 at Tanuma. Takady, Tommy and Waki will be leading the Japan bowling attack and Rui, Marcus and Muneeb have a chance to get a look in as well. Dhugal is hoping to get a Sharks VIP table going for at least one of the days. Hopefully we’ll get a few of the Sharks members along to enjoy some beers and support the Sharks Japan players.
There’s been a bit of confusion recently about 12th Man Fees.The club now pays for all 12th man fees. We request that an MC member (or the MO on the day) pay the 12th man the amount of their return train fee (not their car fees/toll fees/gas fees etc) plus 500 Yen for lunch. The club will then pay you back.
I get notifications from time to time of any new followers we have for the Sharks Twitter account and this month Aussie legend Damien Martyn signed up! Another quality 12th man option for the future maybe…
That’s all for now Sharks. Best of luck in July.
Anton
