The Chiba Sharks have long been admired for their junior programs and smart recruitment policy, and these were evident once more as their younger players stood up in a one-sided match against Sano Cricket Club.

Making their Sharks debuts were the Reynolds brothers, Nick and Dan, who reside in Australia but have played in Sharks Junior teams for a number of years, and it was Nick who made the decisive contribution.

Winning the toss and batting first Dhugal Bedingfield and the newly promoted Vivek Singh put on 53 for the first wicket, before six wickets fell for just 61 runs leaving them in a sticky patch.

Reynolds, coming in at 85/5, steadied the ship first in partnership with Yosuke Higashimoto and then with the youngest player in the current Japan squad, Marcus Thurgate. These two gave a glimpse of the future with a dynamic partnership of 63 in double quick time as Reynolds blasted 67 from just 50 deliveries and Thurgate a run-a-ball 28*.

Ultimately the Sharks were all out in just 33.5 overs, but a total of 211 always looked like a testing one for Sano, and it was a test they failed dismally. Vivek Singh, opening the bowling as well as the batting, dismissed their entire top four and finished with figures of 5/19 as Sano crumpled to 55 all out and a crushing defeat by 156 runs.

Another bonus point win for Sharks gives them breathing room at the top, while Sano, after an improvement in recent weeks, must now regather themselves as they aim to hang on for a top four finish and the play-offs.

The defeat for Sano opened the door for the Tigers to move into 3^rd place, and they proved up to the task with a battling win against Wyverns.

As the Sharks had done, Tigers won the toss and opted to bat; marching to 212/8 from their 40 overs. Tigers were heavily indebted to an innings of 93 from 89 balls from Sabaorish Ravichandran, who was able to cut loose after some initial tight new ball bowling from Satoshi Nakano (3/52) and Shodai Yamada (2/24).

Wyverns looked determined to take up the chase and despite some early wickets, Koji Iwasaki played a gem of an innings to keep them right in the hunt. Ably supported by Yoshi Uehara (30) he made his way to 79 from 67 before Manoj Bhardwaj got one through him.

That dismissal signified the end for Wyverns as their last six wickets fell for just 20 runs as Bhardwaj (4/35) destroyed the lower order, leaving them 182 all out as the Tigers earned a 30-run victory.

In the other fixture of Round Nine there was a setback for the Tokyo Wombats as their very winnable match against Paddy Foleys, due to be played at the Fuji grounds, became the first match of the season to fall foul of the weather, meaning the teams shared the points.

There will be a break from JCL fixtures this weekend but a full complement will take place on the 9/10^th July.

A good week for Wombats was ended with a comfortable win over Wyverns, thanks to yet another half century for Alex Patmore.

Wombats entered the match in positive mood after the news in the week that their defeat against MAX the previous weekend would be reversed due to the MAX team all arriving 30 minutes late for the game at Fuji and as such the JCL Committee ruled the game should be called a forfeit.

Patmore and Rasika Ethulgala put on 103 for the second wicket as Wombats batted first, but their dismissals at the hands of Raheel Kano precipitated a rapid collapse; losing their last nine wickets for just 52 runs.

A score of 186 all out would require some good bowling to defend, which is just what they produced as Wyverns were dismissed for just 100 in a mere 22 overs to secure an 86-run win which also earned Wombats a bonus point.

For MAX the week started badly and ended worse, as they were easily rolled over by Chiba Sharks. Missing their usual captain Makoto Taniyama, who inexplicably chose to play for his university instead, the team came up short in all departments.

Vinay Iyer batted gainfully for his 44 at the top of the order, but received little support and a total of just 99 from 29.2 overs always looked short. Dave Lollback was the star with the ball, picking up 4/15 in a rare bowling performance from the former captain.

The Sharks had few issues knocking the runs off as Dhugal Beddingfield and Paul Grant, the new opening partnership that has revitalised the Sharks batting, put on 74 for the first wicket before Tsuyoshi Takada (19* from 13) finished the chase off with a flurry of boundaries. A win by seven wickets also earned them a bonus point which keeps them on top of the table, level with the Tokyo Wombats.

In the final tie of the round between Sano and Tigers Cricket Clubs, it was Sano who came out comfortably on top to move up to third in the table as they start to build momentum after a slow start to the season.

Raj Pardan gave the outstanding performance, smashing 87* from just 80 deliveries coming in at number seven, to lift his side to 223/9 in their 40 overs. He followed that up with 3/22 from seven immaculate overs.

Tigers captain Ragesh Nair fought hard in the chase, scoring 47, but it was not enough as his team rolled over for 156 in 35.1 overs handing Sano a win by 67 runs.

Round Nine takes place on June 25th and will feature a bye for MAX to give them time to recover from a bad week, while Sano take on the Sharks at Sano 3, Wombats face Paddy Foleys at Fuji and Tigers take on Wyverns at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

Newly promoted Tigers Cricket Club pulled off the result of the season so far with a 64-run victory over Tokyo Wombats, to end their unbeaten start to the season.

Despite the defeat Wombats stay top of the league table, but were left stunned after a brilliant start at Fuji turned sour with some brutal hitting by Tigers lower order.

Batting first the Tigers slipped to 71-5 inside 15-overs, but were rescued initially by Ramamoorthy Balasubramanian, coming in at number seven to hit an enterprising 58 from 56 deliveries.

He was outdone however, by Divyanshu Srivastava whose unbeaten 54 from 35 lifted the Tigers to 258/7 from their 40 overs as they took 94 from the final 10.

In reply a rare failure from Alex Patmore meant that a significant score was needed from elsewhere. However a watchful 49 from Jarrad Shearer was as good as it got as Captain Ragesh Nair dismissed both openers on his way to season best figures of 4/29 and Wombats succumbed to 194 all out.

A third win from five matches puts the Tigers 4^th in the table and this is a result that will make the rest of the league look at the newcomers a little differently from now on.

With Wombats dropping points the Chiba Sharks had an opportunity to make up ground after their defeat to the Tokyo-based club last week when they took on bottom of the table Paddy Foley’s at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

In a match with freakishly similar scores to the contest at Fuji, the Sharks closed the gap on the top to just 0.5 points with a 64-run win of their own.

Wholesale changes at the top of the order worked a treat for Sharks who had 169 before the fall of their second wicket. Fresh opener Paul Grant (67) put on 123 with former Japan international Prashant Kale, who later became the second player this season to fall on 99.

A score of 257/8 was always going to be a challenge for Paddy’s, who were short of two batsmen, but half centuries from two of their own top three kept things interesting.

Ali Raza (51) and Kamran Syed (58) were making a decent fist of things before Samoa Women’s Captain Regina Lill’i broke the partnership and Tsuyoshi Takada proceeded to run riot with the lower order grabbing 4/40 as Paddy’s folded for 193.

At Sano Three MAX Cricket Club continued their rejuvenation with a comfortable 121-run win over a depleted Wyverns. Although both teams were missing regulars who had inexplicably chosen to represent their University Team ahead of their Clubs, it was MAX who were least affected.

Former internationals Supun Nawarathna (50 from 35) and Hanif Khan (47 from 33) made light of the bowling to lead MAX to 228/8 from their 40 overs, only Raheel Kano causing any issues as he collected 4/52 from his eight overs.

The chase never came to life at Takuro Hagihara again restricted the top order with 2/15 while Vinay Iyer secured the win as he grabbed three of the last four wickets to go down and finish with 3/25 and secure his team a bonus point.

This weekend the JCL will take a well-earned break as the Japan Premier League launches across Kanto, but Round Seven promises much with the Sharks and Tigers clashing in Sano, Wombats and Max repeating the 2015 final, and strugglers Sano and Paddy’s looking to improve their season.

The top two teams in Division One clashed at Fuji last weekend, with both teams protecting unbeaten records thus far.

What promised to be a tight contest proved however to be anything but, as Tokyo Wombats demolished the Chiba Sharks in ruthless fashion.

Yet another half century from Captain Alex Patmore at the top of the order set Wombats on their way to 114/1 at the halfway stage, only for the Sharks to then enjoy their best part of the day.

Vivek Singh dislodged the obdurate Patmore on his way to 4/30, and as wickets tumbled it was left to Gavin Beath to slug three maximums as his run-a-ball 46 made sure the hard work of the top order was not wasted and carry Wombats to 216 all out.

Faced with a target that was challenging but not impossible, the Sharks collapsed at the top and never recovered. Yusry Mohideen started the rot by dismissing two of the top three before Rony Taluqdar made sure there would be no recovery by taking 5/14 as the Sharks were dismissed for just 90 inside 20 overs giving Wombats the win by 126 runs plus a bonus point.

An extra touch of class was shown at the end with both teams coming together to join in a rendition of Happy Birthday in honour of Sharks 12^th man Kris Bayne; proving the spirit of cricket is alive and well.

While defeated finalists Wombats have been in fine form this season, the 2015 Champions MAX CC have struggled. A victory against the Tigers last week seems to have renewed confidence and they followed up with a crushing win against the hapless Paddy Foley’s, who remain at the foot of the table after four straight defeats.

Paddy’s batted first and struggled to 112 all out from 34 overs at Sano Three with Makoto Taniyama the pick of the bowlers taking 3/16 from his allotted eight overs.

The chase was over in the blink of an eye as Hanif Khan took just 35 balls to smash an unbeaten 82* including four sixes and 11 boundaries. Opening partner Amigo Kobayashi simply watched on at the other end as the 10-wicket win was secured in just 10.4 overs to grab MAX a bonus point win.

In the final match of the round, played at the SICG, Wyverns beat Sano to earn their second win of the season and leapfrogged their opponents in the table, thanks to a bonus point.

The win was gained in similar fashion to the previous round – bat first and put runs on the board. This time it was Raheel Kano, promoted to open the batting against his former club, who anchored the innings on his way to 70, ably supported by Ken Okoshi (36) in a strong opening stand.

The total of 213/7 proved too tall for Sano, who were then put to the sword by another former player. Shodai Yamada ran through the top order, taking 4/30 and meant that Wyverns were always in control of the match. The winning margin of 90 runs drops Sano to 6^th in the table after being dismissed for 123 in 28 overs.

Round Six will all take place this Saturday, May 21^st as Wombats return to Fuji to take on Tigers, sharks will want to bounce back against Paddy Foley’s at SICG and the rejuvenated Wyverns and MAX face off at Sano Three.