Greetings, fellow flockmembers

April fools day is just around the corner and as well as being a holiday which most of us can identify with (rumour has it, it's DC's birthday), it also marks the passing of the month of march. March is traditionally an up and down sort of month for the Parrots - who could forget last year's St Paddys Day Massacre - and this year, like Caesar, the Ides did not bode well   From the highs of our last over victory to regain the Colonels Cup on the 1st, we experienced the lows of a last over defeat on the 15th. Yep, that dream run that had the Parrots soaring about undefeated finally came to an end and I'm pleased to report that absolutely nothing changed in the session afterwards.  
When we win, we imbibe the odd beer and voddy. When we lose, we imbibe the odd beer and voddy When we have a game abandoned we imbibe the odd beer and voddy When we don't play we imbibe the odd...well you get the idea  
Consistency, you see, it's all about consistency (as my dear old Nana used to say during her gravy making tutorials) and while the Parrots can be accused of many things, shirking the time honoured traditions of a beer with the boys after a game ain't one of them.  
March also saw our brief migration to the Union of Myanmar, Yangon in particular, to participate in a 3 way 20/20 comp. More Parrot history was made during a fabulous weekend, thoroughly enjoyed by all. We had a splendid time and managed to return home with a few accolades too - Best Player, Best Bowler, Best catch, best legshaving, whale mounting, hair product officionado whose name rhymes with "dredge" etc ...a bit more on that later.  
  vs AIT at AIT March 15  
We won the toss again - 5 out of 6! - fully justifying many of my former teacher's and coaches prophetic predictions that I indeed will grow up to be an A grade tosser! Surprisingly enough we put them in. "Crackers" Keenan debuted for the Parrots and Froggy also received a cap for his tireless contributions to the Parrots, while Deano and Wanie were welcomed with open arms from Chiang Mai. DC and Wanie opened up with the usual miserly Parrot opening performance, an early wicket to Wanie and 6 overs for 19 runs from DC. Scully then had a go and bowled beautifully finishing with 2 for 35 off 8. Mention must be made of Deano (1-49) and Glenn's (0-26) bowling which helped restrict their total. Crackers capped off a very good debut with a handy wicket at the death. Richard Mac, Justin and Strunky (as always) were superb in the field. Froggy added heaps to the team when he came on to help out too. We fell for our old habit of leaking a few too many runs at the end and after 40 overs we had them 237 for 7 - very gettable at AIT though.  
Disaster struck early on in our chase as form batsman and 6th on the league batting averages Glenn, got a jaffa in the first over. The skipper and DC guided the Parrots to drinks at 1 for 50 odd. Fatigue, that longtime companion of the Parrots, contributed to DC's downfall but not before he had posted his best score of the year and batted very well for 32. Justin (12) and Scully (19) put on good partnerships with the skipper and with 10 overs to go we needed about 8 per over with plenty of wickets in hand. The skipper was run out for 127 in the 38th over and the Prez and Strunky were faced with 15 off the last over for the points. Fair dues to the opposition bowlers who restricted us well in the end.  
Parrots go down by 3 measly runs.  
A funny game really. I thought we played really well yet didn't manage to finish the game off. Cricket can be like that sometimes, so we toasted the gods again with the Prez's creaming soda vodka and washed it down with lashings of lager.  
One of the highlights of the game was seeing the skipper /finally /post his maiden century for the club. That's 3 centurions now ; Justin 135* highest and first Parrot ton, The Prez 115 (in only 15 overs!), fastest Parrot ton and Kiwi 127, the only losing Parrot ton! A proud moment as well for the skipper as the Prez extended his hand with a "welcome to the club" shake - up to the other players to join us now. To add insult to injury the losing skipper was adjudged to be Man of the Match so expect the insult to be partially forgotten after another relaxing weekend at the Regal Guesthouse Jomtien. Would rather score a duck in a winning game than a hundred in a losing one though.  
So, our unbeaten streak ends but fittingly no change in the boys' spirits after the match - great club we've got here folks.  
 
We have two more league games: vs Bangkok Stars (I know tickets on themselves or what?) at AIT this sunday and vs Thailand Colts at Polo Club on April 26. This is a great opportunity to join us for a season finale at a great location. If you're not booked into Jake and Rics Mongrel Mob/Filthy Few bikie gang (Palmy North chapter) reunion to Kanchanaburi, then please join us at the Polo. I'll remind you again closer to the date.  
The finals this year consist of 2nd and 3rd playing off to meet 1st in the grand final - we could/should be one of those teams.  
 
These are the current standings and details of the league and all Parrot action can be viewed here http://www.bangkokcricketleague.com/ - thanks Vaughany!    
 
 
Bangkok Cricket League <http://www.bangkokcricketleague.com/common/pages/public/entitydetails.aspx?popup=1&entityID=7209> - Premier Division

Rank   Team    P     W2    W1    D     L1    L2    WKTS
LOST     RUNS
FOR     WKTS
TAKEN    RUNS
AGST     Points
1      Siam Cricket Club     6     0     5     0     1     0     31     1190     51     1183     *97.10*
2      Asian Institute of Technology   5     0     4     0     1     0     41     1194     42 840     *80.34*
3      Indian Cricket Club     6     0     3     0     3     0     42     1085     43     1182     *66.45 *
4      Bangkok Cricket Club     4     0     3     0     1     0     23     662     32     660     *60.02*
5      Bangkok Stars     4     0     3     0     1     0     35     647     29     575     *57.27*
6      Thailand Cricket Club     4     0     2     0     2     0     33     677     37     825     *44.17*
7      Southerners Cricket Club     6     0     1     0     5     0     52     1271     40     1319 *35.71*
8      British Club Elite     4     0     0     0     4     0     36     604     35     686     *13.04*
9      Royal Bangkok Sports Club     3     0     0     0     3     0     30     319     14     379     *5.99*

** ** *Hua Hin Sixes Tournament April 14 - 18 2008* ** It's that time again for Tom K's Songkran sixes tourney in the sun near the beach. As usual many Parrots will be flocking to the world class Dusit Resort for a week of cricket, cricket and more beer. All Parrots are welcome, nay urged, to attend and Parrots can get room discounts and Tom always finds room for Parrot players to participate. It's a great week and one of the few cricket events in the world where the wives and girlfriends actually claim to have a better time than the men. A very appropriate week for wives and families. Let me know if you need more info and if you'd like to play you can join me., DC, Joseph, Nick, Prez, Justin, Strunky, JD, Tom and Tom just to name a few of the many Parrot members who will be in attendance.   *Sponsors:* ** As always our sponsors have been a huge help and offer great encouragement.   *Phoenix Consultants Ltd -* we've not lost since these guys have been on board - imagine what they can do for your money!!   http://www.phoenixconsultantsltd.com/