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Ahead of the Women’s East Asia Cup bc spoke to Hong Kong’s new opening batswoman Yasmin Daswani about cricket, life and the desire to score her first century.
How did you start playing cricket?
I started playing in 2006 when my mum and I joined the HKCC Cavaliers. I was 12 and my mum wanted to us do a “mother daughter activity” together. Growing up in Hong Kong, my brother and I had little/ no connection to our Indian roots, and my mom thought that cricket (as one of the sports India excels at) would give us some connection to our heritage!
What skills do you need to make it as a cricketer?
A common misconception is that cricket involves a lot of standing around. Nowadays, in order to make it as a professional cricketer you need to be fit, strong, have good hand-eye coordination and stamina. Cricket involves diving around to stop the ball, sprinting between wickets as well as bowling, batting and throwing.
What does playing for Hong Kong mean to you?
I am honored to to represent Hong Kong. This is my home and it always gives me goosebumps seeing the Hong Kong flag at games.
Are HK women’s cricketer’s amateurs or professional? What do you do to pay the bills?
HK women cricketers are currently amateurs and are unpaid. We are hoping to change this by performing well in the next few tournaments, as doing so could secure vital funding for women’s cricket as a sport.
Earlier this year I worked at Cricket Hong Kong as a High Performance Assistant. I loved this role as I was able to get involved in tournaments such as the T20 Blitz and Netherlands Series. As we have gotten closer to the women’s tournaments, however, I have preferred to work more flexibly as an English tutor to support myself financially.
Best moment as a Hong Kong cricketer
Being awarded Player of the Tournament at an Under 19s tournament in Singapore.
What’s the state of women’s cricket in Hong Kong today?
Having come back to Hong Kong after being abroad at University, I was pleased to see how women’s cricket has progressed while I was studying. The number of participating teams has increased to a point where we now have a second development league. This is ideal as it provides a pathway for younger players.
While this is positive, the teams in the top league are still not as competitive as we would like them to be. Many clubs are still reliant on one or two national players—once these players are out a batting collapse usually follows. More needs to be done to develop younger players and to give them the opportunity to play at a high level- particularly since there is no longer an ACC Under 19 set up.
In addition, women’s cricket in Hong Kong is limited by a lack of facilities. Women are not able to play/ train on turf wickets regularly, which puts us at a disadvantage given that international games are usually played on turf.
With the long gaps in the international schedule how easy / difficult is it to improve and create a team feel?
There are significant gaps in the women’s international schedule- our last tournament was in September 2016! With such long gaps it is hard to build momentum and to keep motivated.
Our team has excellent rapport, however, and we drive each other to improve by encouraging friendly competition among ourselves- you should hear the sledging that takes place during league games! It really helps that we all get along so well, as even when we don’t have tournaments we are extremely active and push each other to train hard.
What are yours / the team’s aspirations?
Personally I want to score a century, my current highest score is 95. Team wise our current aspirations are to place first in the East Asia Cup and to qualify from the November World Cup Qualifiers. Doing so would give us HKSI points and would allow us to be paid as professional athletes. This would be life-changing, particularly as many players currently have to balance a full time job with the arduous demands of training-often at unsociable hours before and after work.
Do you feel you’ve reached your potential as a cricketer, or could you get better by perhaps playing overseas?
I took a hiatus from cricket while at University, and have found that since coming back I have been able to look at my game with a fresh pair of eyes. As the standard of women’s cricket in countries like Australia and England is much higher, I do believe that I could enhance my game by learning from more experienced female players abroad.
What advice would you give to women who are interested in playing cricket in Hong Kong?
Now is such an exciting time to be coming to the sport! Women’s cricket is developing rapidly with the ICC committed to provide more funding and structure in future years. For the first time ever we are able to watch every ball of every game in a Women’s World Cup, and the coverage for women’s cricket is only going to grow.
For youngsters wanting to represent Hong Kong in the future – I would say go for it 100%. Cricket is a such a sociable, fun sport and it cultivates a culture of respect towards your teammates, the opposition and the umpires. I have made lifelong friends playing cricket and will always treasure my years playing in and for Hong Kong.
What are your plans going forward?
I am currently on a (second!) gap year having finished university and secured a law job in London. I have been really lucky as my firm have been understanding of my cricket aspirations – they have allowed me to defer my start date until I have finished playing in the upcoming tournaments. In September 2018 I will start my job, however I will continue to play cricket with the Finchley Gunns in London. After I finish my training contract I want continue to play for Hong Kong!
Women’s East Asia Cup 2017
Date: 21-24 September, 2017
Venue: HKCC, KCC, Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: Free
More info:
21 Sept – HKCC
22 Sept – KCC
23-24 Sept – Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground