The Sixes started in 1992 but it’s been seven years since the last tournament, so here’s a brief guide to what’s going on!
It’s just like traditional cricket and all the regular laws of game apply except that each match only takes around 50 minutes to complete.
Why? As the name suggests the game is six players per side compared with the usual 11, which means once the bowler and wicket-keeper are in position there aren’t many fieldsmen that the batting team need to evade to hit lots of boundaries, so scoring should be fast and furious.
Each team faces five overs each, and everyone (except for the wicketkeeper) is required to bowl one over each.
Batsmen are forced to retire at 31, but can come back in once all other batsmen have been dismissed or have retired. This can make for some interesting situations at the end of the innings with the lower-order taking risky singles knowing that if they are out, their in-form batsman can come back in.
This year at the Hong Kong Sixes, eleven international teams plus hosts Hong Kong will play 30 matches over three days. The teams are split into four pools, with the results determining the seeding positions for the knockout matches.
Finals day includes four quarter-finals, with the four losers heading into the plate tournament, while the remaining four teams compete for the major title.
There’ll also be a women’s exhibition match on Sunday.
South Africa are the defending champions and they will face Hong Kong in the opening game at 8:30am on Friday morning.
Hong Kong will be captained by Nizakat Khan.
Hong Kong Squad:
Nizakat Khan (Captain), Ehsan Khan, Benny Singh Paras, Imran Arif, Jason Lui, Sahal Malvernkar, Zeeshan Ali
HK Cricket Sixes
Date: 1-3 November, 2024
Venue: Kowloon Cricket Club
Tickets: $1,200, $700, $600, $350 from HKticketing
