Hong Kong are one of the eight Associate nations taking part in the inaugural Desert T20 tournament. The seven-day competition will be played in a round-robin and knockout format, beginning at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Cricket Stadium on the 14 January before culminating in Dubai for the final on the 20 January. In the round-robin section Afghanistan, Ireland, Namibia, UAE are in pool A and Hong Kong, Netherlands, Oman and Scotland in pool B, the top two team qualify for the semi-finals.
Hosts the Emirates Cricket Board commented that “The aim of the tournament is to provide an opportunity for teams to play more competitive T20 cricket. Each of the participating countries are very close in ICC T20I rankings, so we expect the quality of cricket to be very strong.”
Talking about the team selection Director of Cricket Charlie Burke said “It’s great to have Cameron McAulsan in the squad. He’s a good young all-rounder who has been playing well at school in New Zealand and going to be a very crucial player for us going forward. He’s a great all-round athlete and been close to selection for some time now.”
“Waqas Barkat has gone back and done what’s been asked, which is to work on his leg spin and he will be useful batsman in the middle order. He was a top order batsman previously for us but struggled for runs and developed his bowling. There’s not a lot of leg-spinners around so we challenged him to work on it. He’s done well and has been very economical this season. While Anshuman Rath and Ehsan Nawaz are also back in the squad after being unavailable for the Australian Tour due to study commitments.”
Hong Kong Desert T20 Fixtures
14 January: Scotland v Hong Kong (Zayed Cricket Stadium)
16 January: Oman v Hong Kong (Zayed Cricket Stadium)
18 January: Netherlands v Hong Kong (Dubai International Stadium)
20 January: Semifinal 1 A1 v B2; Semifinal 2 A2 v B1 (Dubai International Stadium)
20 January: Final (Dubai International Stadium)
After the Desert T20, Hong Kong will remain in Dubai for two One Day Internationals (ODIs) against Scotland and UAE. The ODI’s are in preparation for the ICC WCLC matches against The Netherlands at Tin Kwong Road in February.
Hong Kong Squad
1. Nadeem Ahmed (DLSWCC); 2. Tanveer Ahmed (KCC); 3. Waqas Barkat (KCC); 4. Chris Carter (KCC); 5. Kyle Christie (CHK Independents XI); 6. Babar Hayat (Captain, DLSWCC); 7. Aizaz Khan (V. Captain) (KCC); 8. Ehsan Khan (DLSWCC); 9. Nizakat Khan (HKCC); 10. Waqas Khan (DLSWCC); 11. Cameron McAuslan (HKCC); 12. Ehsan Nawaz (KCC); 13. Anshuman Rath (HKCC); 14. Shahid Wasif (DLSWCC)