Organisers of next week's (April 14-18) Phuket International Cricket Sixes, being staged at Karon Beach, Phuket, today announced that the recently retired captain of Australia, Karen Rolton, will headline the Women's Division newly introduced at this year's tournament.
"I'm really looking forward to playing in Phuket at the Sixes. Phuket is a great place to visit andto be able to play cricket there too is fantastic," said Ms Rolton who captained Australia from 2006 until 2010.
During her career she won two World Cups and was named Player of the Final at the 2005 World Cup. She played in 14 Test matches during which she became Australia's highest run scorer, and played a world record 141 One Day Internationals for her country. She was named the first ICC female Player of the Year in 2006.
"I can see that the Phuket Sixes and ACST are helping to push forward the development of cricket forward and the new Women's Division of the Phuket Sixes tournament is another step in the right direction," continued Ms Rolton.
Ms Rolton will play in the tournament for the Custom Cockatoos team flying into Phuket from Adelaide, Australia. Managed by the Thamm family, the Cockatoos will be fielding teams in both the Open and Women's competitions, having made their successful debut at the Phuket Sixes in 2009 when they won the Spoon Division.
Tournament Director of the Phuket Sixes Mr Brad Tarr of the Asian Cricket Sixes Tour said, "It's fantastic that one of the highest profile women's cricketers of all time is coming to play in Phuket.
"We aim to raise the profile of women's cricket in Thailand and across Asia and believe the introduction of the new Women's Division to the Phuket Sixes tournament will help achieve that," continued Mr Tarr.
The Cockatoos will be competing against women's cricket teams from Singapore and Thailand for the honour of lifting the Women's Division title for the first time.
Also playing at the Phuket Sixes will be the former Australian Test player Trevor Chappell, of the illustrious Chappell brothers, who has recently been coaching the Singapore national men's team.
For further information about the Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2010 see www.phuketsixes.com or email Mark Burns at mark@cricketsixes.com
About Karen Rolton
Bat: left hand high order
Bowling: left arm medium
ODIs: 141 (highest score 154* vs Sri Lanka, 2000)
Tests: 14 (highest score 209 vs England, 2001)
Honours include:
Australian Women's Cricketer of the Year 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
ICC World Female Cricketer of the Year 2006
Australian Captain 2006 - 2010
Women's World Cup winner 1997, 2005
About the Phuket International Cricket Sixes
Title: Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2010
Dates: 14 – 18 April 2010
Venue: Karon Stadium, Karon Beach, Phuket, Thailand
Format: up to 30 cricket teams from Asia Pacific & Worldwide compete in Cup, Plate, Bowl, Spoon and Women’s Divisions in the popular six-a-side match format.
Additional Activities:
Phuket Beach Cricket Sixes, Sixes Welcome Reception, Sixes Gala Awards Dinner, T20 Fundraising Match for Junior Cricket
Website: www.phuketsixes.com
Media Contact: Mark Burns (mark@cricketsixes.com)
Overview:
* Winner of international awards from the ICC and ACC and first held in 2004, this is the seventh staging of this popular annual international club cricket tournament played next to the beautiful Karon Beach.
* The popular Sixes Beach Cricket Tournament kicks the event off in a fun way on Karon Beach on Wednesday 14th April.
* A record number of teams, supporters and officials from Australia, UK, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, China will fly in to compete in the tournament plus teams from Thailand and Phuket.
* New for 2010 will be a Women’s Division which features up to five women’s teams from around the region.
* Defending champions of the main Sixes tournament are the Bahrain Apsara Camels who defeated CBB Postels in the 2009 Cup final.
* The annual T20 Fundraising match will be held again under floodlights at Karon Stadium featuring all the best players in the tournament. Funds raised at the match will be contributed by the tournament to the development of junior cricket in Phuket.
About the Asian Cricket Sixes Tour (www.cricketsixes.com)
The Asian Cricket Sixes Tour promotes, organises and markets international award winning club cricket events at fantastic locations across Asia Pacific. Founded in 2000 with just one event, the annual Tour now comprises of tournaments in nine locations across the region including Phuket, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, New South Wales, Pattaya, Shanghai, Chiang Mai and the Philippines. The tournaments, which attract clubs and cricket celebrities from around the world and have won major awards from the International Cricket Council and Asian Cricket Council, have a core philosophy of 'friendship through cricket'; they also raise funds and attract practical support for cricket development and local charities in their locations.
At ACST tournaments teams can be sure of a fantastic and rewarding overseas tour