G’day Tokyo Wombats Cricket Club and welcome back for the 2007 season. From a playing perspective we’re looking like having a busy start to the season. Practise games starting March 18th, the legendary Chiang Mai 6s in early April, the start of the J1C in mid-April and the Kobe Challenge at the end of May, so we’ll be hitting the ground running come mid-March lads!
I’m delighted to again have Burkey as our V.C. and Coach. Please support and get behind him this season and don’t be afraid to ask for advice whenever you think you need it because he has a wealth of cricketing knowledge and experience.
Some personnel changes this season with Gez and Zulu leaving Japan and moving onto blonder, colder things in Gez’s case(Finland) and quieter things(Hervey Bay) in Zulu’s case. Both were top players and blokes and their presence will be greatly missed. However, the club is delighted to welcome 2005 Golden Wombat winner, Alex “The Body” Koolhof back into the fold after his studies in Oz. He’s a top bowler and will no doubt be a perfect replacement for Gez Brady. Also, rumours abound that Jammer will be resuming his glittering career with the Wombats and uping his official van beer drinking record.
Last season was obviously highly successful, winning the inaugural J1C Championship, The Pacific Cup, The Hardy’s Ashes and we easily accounted for Kobe in the Kobe Challenge. From a team success perspective we couldn’t have done any better. This season our goal must be to go back-to-back in the J1C. I think we can all agree that the J1C functioned well last season and playing all games on the best pitches in Japan, at the scenic Fuji grounds really made for good quality cricket. A personal goal of mine is to put our very best team on the park for all J1C fixtures so to give the Japanese teams really good competition. The more exposure they get to good quality cricket the more the Japanese will improve and develop. The Pacific Cup is also an important fixture for our club as it means playing competitive games at the delightful Shizuoka ground against quality opposition in the Shizuoka Kytes. Winning this comp again in 2007 is vital in securing us extra games on top of our J1C committments the folowing season. In a first for the club we’ll be playing a day/niter this season. Following on the success of the inaugural Kobe Challenge of 2006 we’ve been invited back for another weekend of cricket on May 26th and 27th. The day/niter will certainly be a unique and exciting opportunity and I’m defineately looking forward to that weekends cricket and festivities. The facilites and hospitality afforded to us in 2006 was just top class so let’s really support this event and make it enjoyable for everyone involved. This seasons tour has the potential to be one of the highlights of our clubs history!
As you can see we have a big season ahead of us and again I’d like T.W.C.C. to lead the way in sportsmanship, fair play and respect for the game of cricket, through socialising with the opposition, respecting eachother and remembering we’re playing “the gentlemens game!”
also want players to simply enjoy their season. Take cricket in Japan for what it is: An opportunity for us to get out of Tokyo, play the game we love and share some beers with mates post game, nothing more. We aren’t playing for anything other than pleasure so don’t take it too seriously if something doesn’t go your way on the field. The cricketing karma gods always even things up in the end! At the same time our club culture demands we play to win so for the 80 overs I’m representing the Tokyo Wombats each weekend I’ll be giving 100% to our winning cause and I expect every other person who puts on the T.W.C.C. shirt to do the same this season.
Finally, I deeply appreciate you guys allowing me to lead the team in 2007. It’s a tremendous personal honour to lead such a fantastic team and group of cricketers. I guarantee I’ll do all I can to make this season as enjoyable and as successful as ever. Go hard in season 2007 Tokyo Wombats!
Cheers,
Chuck