The plot for finals day became much clearer on day three of the Phuket International Cricket Sixes, as Leeming Spartans, Etihad Airways and Bahrain Camels eased through to the Cup semi-finals.

23 teams from eleven countries are competing for honours at this fifth annual Phuket Sixes, winner of the ICC Global Award for cricket development.

Etihad had a wonderful day today, beating both Corner Tigers of Pakistan and one of the form teams, Lamma CC of Hong Kong. The Tigers were restricted to a meagre 60 against the pumped-up Airways, with only Imran Idrees making his mark with a classy 35 not out. Etihad then knocked off the total without losing a wicket with 4 balls to spare, Azam retiring on 30 and Sanket – the dangerous left-hander - not out on 18. Then Etihad defeated Lamma CC, knocking off a challenging target of 79 to win with both Azam and Sanket again getting in the runs. Sher Lama had retired on 30 not out for the Hong Kong outfit. Lamma later defeated Corner Tigers to keep their hope alive of a place in the semi finals Sunday.

In Plate action The Entertainers faced the biggest challenge of the day as they chased the Uni Wanderers total of 105, the biggest score of the day. They gave it their all, but ran out of overs still 34 runs short of the target. Both Mark Parry and Trevor Higgins had retired for the Wanderers, each making an unbeaten 31.

The Plate semi-finals will now be played by Uni Wanderers, Weraroa CC from New Zealand, Toorak Prahan CC of Melbourne and the Entertainers as the doctors of the Delhi Medical Association and the Calcutta Old Boys both missed the cut.

The Bowl and Spoon divisions are still open with Wild Men from Borneo looking good in the Bowl and Gauhati Town from India playing well in the Spoon.

An entertaining Twenty20 match was won on Friday night by the Trevor Chappell XI over Kenny Jackson's World XI at the Karon Stadium. A raucous crowd applauded and barracked for three hours as twenty two of the best players in the tournament battled for pride and for charity under floodlights in what was a wonderfully atmospheric evening.

Finals Day gets underway at 9.15am with a Cup fixture featuring the Liquid Lounge Lizards and Calcutta Cricket & Football Club in what will be a decider for the final place in the Cup semi-finals.

Mark Burns

The Hong Kong Sixes for 2008 will be held on November 8 and 9 at Kowloon Cricket Club, it was announced today. For further information, check www.hksixes.com.

The first ever International cricket sixes tournament to be held in the Philippines took place at the picturesque fields of Clark on March 8 and 9 2008.

Thirteen teams, of which ten flew in to participate, took part in the inaugural Metals Exploration Philippine International Cricket Sixes, competing in Cup, Plate and Bowl divisions of the tournament co-organised by the Manila Nomads and the Asian Cricket Sixes Tour. The teams were joined by guest star cricketer, the former England and Surrey wicketkeeper Jack Richards.

Balmy weather and lush green surroundings were the setting for the tournament taking place on the huge Parade Ground at the fomer US Airforce base overlooked by Mount Pinatubo, the volcano which last erupted in 1991.

The official tournament hotel, the Holiday Inn, is just 10 minutes taxi ride from Clark airport. And with the the two full size grounds just a few minutes stroll from the Holiday Inn, even weekend athletes who had over-indulged more than usual had no excuses for tardiness, with hefty team fines undoubtedly levied on the transgressors.

In the field, competition was fierce but fair as a strong outfits from the Manila Nomads and Manila Indians competed against experienced overseas teams including acclaimed sixes maestros and fancied favourites the Shanghai Dragons plus the strongly tipped Gladiators.

Off the field, the sides were treated to free flowing San Miguel and sumptuous solids at the convivial Welcome Reception under the stars at Yat's International Wine Club, a wine bar & fine dining restaurant, plus the Gala Dinner in the Holiday Inn Ballroom. In an entertaining evening the 200 or so guests were treated to a lavish buffet dinner and amused by guest star Jack Richard's numerous recollections of how England last went about winning an Ashes series in Australia. Guests also had the opportunity to pose and have some merriment with several life size and lifelike cutouts of cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Matthew Hayden as the hotel had really gone to town decorating the room to a cricketing theme.

What was incredibly heartening to see at the event was a cricket team made up of Korean students, 100% Korean and playing in their first overseas tournament as the Korean Crusaders. A great bunch of lads, good competitors but joining in the wonderful cameraderie. It's not every day you see ethnic Korean guys playing cricket in the Philippines, in fact not surprisingly it's never happened until now. But that's the nature of sixes cricket tournaments, expanding cricket horizons and helping the game to develop sometime in the most unlikely of places. It's happened in Phuket, Macau, Shanghai and sixes cricket is now contributing to the growth of cricket in the Philippines.

Back to the fields, and sixes regulars the Bounty Buccaneers from Malaysia, led by Dave Nightingale, astonished themselves and others by grasping a place in the Bowl final amid a last ball melee, and then went on to a well executed and deserved victory over a talented and experienced CBB's outfit.

In the Plate the Shanghai Pirates who'd played well all tournament were pipped in the Final by the Taipans from Hong Kong, ably led by their skipper Romy.

And in the Cup final it was no great surprise that the Manila Nomads, fielding a very capable side in their own event, had won through to take on the fancied Shanghai Dragons. But they had little answer to the meaty bats of the sixes experts from Shanghai as Sanjay Anugula and Mike Tsesmelis both found the boundary with apparent ease. Only Henry Ahuja from the Nomads shone with the bat but it was not enough as the champions of the Macau and Hong Kong sixes tournaments added another trophy to their cabinet.

There was however some consolation for the thrillers from Manila when the umpires named Henry as the player of the Final for his miserly bowling figures of 0-3 plus 26 runs with the bat.

And what of Jack 'the Entertainer' Richards? He'd been appropriated at the Captain's Meeting against fierce competition by the Misfits from Singapore and they pressed his previously unheralded bowling skills into action. Jack helped them to a semi final too as the Misfits somehow rode the format despite losing a few matches. The losses didn't appear to dampen the Singsongers mood however as they consoled themselves very nicely in their hotel swimming pool later on.

The awards ceremony, MC'd by the Chairman of the Nomads cricket section Bill Bailey, was a splendid affair with plenty of silverware dished out to the deserving, and plenty of San Miguel flowing, most of which somehow found it's way over Mike Tsesmelis's head.

Bill thanked Mr Bernie Angeles from Clark Development Corporation who had agreed to the use of the exceptional facilities to stage the tournament, and presented him with a Manila Nomads plaque to mark the occasion.

The teams and tournament also showed their appreciation for Mr Gary Powell of leading sponsors Metals Exploration for their superb support of this first ever International Sixes tournament.

The first Metals Exploration Philippine International Cricket Sixes was a resounding success, staged at a wonderful location and with exceptional weather and cameraderie. Thirteen teams can pat themselves on the back for taking the plunge by entering a new tournament, especially the guys from Korea.

Bill Bailey said, "The spirit of cricket was in evidence throughout the tournament and the Philippine Sixes can only get bigger and better every year."

Mike Maher, Chairman of co-organisers Asian Cricket Sixes Tour said, "It's been a fantastic weekend, a real success and an exceptional first tournament. The Philippine Sixes is now firmly on the map, on the ACST calendar, and we expect in excess of 20 teams for the 2009 event in March next year."
Mark Burns

This year's Phuket International Cricket Sixes gets underway from April 17 this year, and Mark Burns has all the details.

The Phuket Sixes of course attracts club cricket teams from around the world, along with local Phuket sides, to enjoy the competition and camaraderie of cricket every year at the Karon Stadium in Phuket. First held in 2004 the tournament has gone from strength to strength and regularly attracts up to 28 cricket teams from the APAC region (including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Australia) and the UK. Star players such as former England Test cricketers Adam Hollioake and Alan Mullally and former Australian international Trevor Chappell have all competed at the 'Sixes by the sea.' Featuring a full schedule of beach cricket, Player Welcome Party and a fantastic Gala Awards Dinner at the Hilton Arcadia in addition to the cricket sixes matches, the Phuket Sixes cricket tournament is supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and makes for a fantastic cricket holiday on the wonderful island of Phuket. Sixes cricket is the ultimate hybrid version of the game; fast & furious with just 5 overs (30 balls) per innings and six players per team. Matches take just 45 minutes to complete. For further information and stock images contact Mark Burns media@phuketsixes.com Event Facts:

Dates: 17 - 20 April 2008
Time: 10am - 6pm daily
Venue: Karon Stadium, Karon Beach, Phuket, Thailand
Competing teams: up to 28 teams from Thailand, Australia, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Korea, China
Format: six-a-side teams compete in Cup, Plate, Bowl & Spoon divisions
First held: 2004
Website: www.phuketsixes.com
Enquiries: media@phuketsixes.com
Spectators: entry for spectators is free and food and drinks are available at the stadium
Charity Match: A Twenty20 format floodlit charity match featuring the best 22 players in the tournament will be held from 7pm on Friday 18th April at the Karon Stadium. All proceeds to the local children's charity "Childwatch"