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Captain Tanwir Afzal Stars With a Century and Two Wickets

Tanwir Afzal stars to put Hong Kong in the driver’s seat as he joined Babar Hayat with a century, before claiming two wickets as Hong Kong lead host UAE by 296 runs with two days’ play remaining in ICC Intercontinental Cup match.

Despite having to wait impatiently overnight for his maiden first class century, Hong Kong’s skipper Tanwir Afzal showed no signs of nerves as Wednesday’s dust and heat gave way to rain and an unfamiliar coolness, Tanwir displayed enormous calm in his first four-day match as captain, returning to the crease a dangerous 10 runs short of the historic milestone. The skipper selectively struck the ball before charging a Raja Adeel delivery and smashing it over the boundary rope to bring up his century, and the second for Hong Kong in two days.

When the skipper was dismissed two overs later for 104, Hong Kong had 330 runs on the scoreboard for the loss of seven wickets. The skipper had shared a 47-run partnership with debutant Aizaz Khan, who led a tail-end mission to add as many runs to the board as possible, with a measured 16. Ehsan Nawaz contributed 14 and number 11 Nadeem Ahmed struck 29 before lofting the ball to be caught at long-on and ending the Hong Kong innings at 378 all out just after lunch.

After lunch and a brief rain delay, Hong Kong’s bowling attack throttled the host’s batsmen, with Tanwir leading the way, claiming two quick scalps of Asif Iqbal (8) and Laxman Sreekumar (0) within 12 overs. The bowlers continued to pile on the pressure, with debutant Aizaz Khan and Ehsan Nawaz each picking up a wicket to help restrict the UAE to 82 runs in 54 overs, and a miserly run rate of only 1.51.

Skipper and centurion Tanwir was delighted with his knock, but was quick to point out that team performance is more important than that of an individual. “It’s quite good for me, but forget my performance, it’s about team performance. And so far, the team is doing well so I am so happy, and I am looking forward to the next two days.”

Having battled heat, dust, rain and wind in the first two days, the captain said the youth of his side was one of the keys to the team’s performance. “I think we are quite lucky that we have young players, they are quite energetic and they have so much hunger. So it is really helpful, because they love to play cricket. That energy really helps us.”

He continued: “On Middle East pitches, tosses really matter, so we are very lucky that we won the toss. The UAE team are quite experienced guys in this format, and this is just our second game, so the guys have shown up really well so far.”

The captain had a surprising summary of the changeable climate conditions. “I’ve not really played in such changing conditions before. It was quite good for us weather-wise for us when we started bowling, with the cloudy weather helping seam bowlers. We have four seam bowlers, so this kind of weather actually helped up.”

Reflecting on the first two days of the match, coach Simon Cook said: “Having any sort of lead is good, and a lead of nearly 300 is excellent. We probably would have liked a few more wickets. I thought the way our bowlers stuck to their task today out of the field, taking four wickets, only going just over 1.5 runs an over, was an outstanding over on that wicket, and what we’ve got to do is make sure we capitalise on that pressure tomorrow morning and not let them off the hook.”

The coach was delighted by the way his young charges were adapting to the longer format of the game: “There’s still a bit of work to be done but showing the guys how they can bat for 120 overs is outstanding. Two centurions – brilliant. A great platform up front with Kinchit and Babar, and then also to be able to bowl with control but also with purpose throughout the 50 overs today has been outstanding. The weather has been another first for me. Dust storms yesterday and now rain in Dubai! It’s been more like an English summer’s day here, with the constant on and off, and having to stop and start. The guys have stuck at it really well and switch on when they need to.”

Twenty-two-year-old debutant and first time wicket-taker Aizaz Khan was delighted with his maiden wicket wearing national colours: “It feels really good. It’s my first game and my first wicket for Hong Kong in first class cricket. The weather was really hot yesterday, and then today with the rain, it was really good to bowl in. With the overcast conditions, the ball was doing a bit, so it was good. We are in a really good position after day two, we’re 296 runs in front. Hopefully we start again tomorrow and get a few wickets early on.”

Play continues on Friday at 0930 local time at ICC Academy 1, Dubai, UAE.

Historic Babar Hayat Century Gives Hong Kong Upper Hand

A sensational maiden first class century for Babar Hayat led Hong Kong to a commanding total of 307 for six at stumps on day one of its ICC Intercontinental clash against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai on Wednesday. On a day of many firsts, Babar Hayat’s knock of 113 was also the maiden century for Hong Kong in first class cricket and the highest individual score by a Hong Kong player in the ICC Intercontinental Cup to date.

Hayat, who battled through 83 overs of heavy dust and ever-changing wind, reached his century with a sweep over square leg for a boundary. He put on a 106-run partnership with debutant Kinchit Shah (62) for the second wicket and a 139-run partnership with skipper Tanwir Afzal (90 not out) for the sixth wicket, the highest sixth-wicket partnership of tournament to date as well as the fourth highest overall.

Kinchit was one of four young players to make their international debut during the match, and opened the batting alongside fellow debutant Anshuman Rath (9), who timed the opening ball of the match perfectly to score a boundary. Chris Carter scored seven and Aizaz Khan was still at the crease on eight at stumps.

The loudest cheers of the day, however, were for 23-year-old Babar Hayat, who was delighted with his historic achievement: “It was great out there. Scoring 100 for Hong is great. It’s the first first–class 100 for Hong Kong, and I am so proud of myself.” However, he was quick to point out that the other batsmen had also performed well: “I’m cramping a bit now and a bit stiff, but I was thinking that I should play all 96 overs, but I got out to a good ball. But Tanwir has also batted well, and Kinchit has done really well too.”

Hong Kong Coach Simon Cook was full of praise for the centurion: “It’s outstanding to see someone like Babar really put their hand up like that. We spoke in Hong Kong about what position he’d like to play, and I challenged him to come into that number three position and really make it his own. There’s a couple of other players really wanting to bat at three, so its good competition for the squad to have guys really want to make those positions their own.”

“He’s going great guns at the moment, as well as all the other batters. We had four guys get past 50 in the Nepal warm up game, and then Babar getting 70 against England and 100-odd here, we’ve got Kinchit who scored a half century here as well, and Tanwir who’s not out on 90, going into tomorrow, it’s looking pretty strong for us. Having six wickets down is good, we are just ahead in terms of the balance, and we’ll look to kick on tomorrow.”

The coach was particularly pleased with his side’s ability to adapt to the difficult weather conditions. “They’ve done really, really well. They’ve adapted themselves. It’s been very hot, the sun is a factor, the wind, the dust swirling around – for the guys who’ve spent that much time out there, Babar in particular, it’s a testament to his concentration and mental skills to see it through.”

Left-hander Kinchit Shah was equally delighted with his maiden half century: “It definitely feels good to start your first class career for Hong Kong and score some runs for the team. I was out there for a long time but I was lucky to have someone like Babar who strikes the ball well. That releases the pressure for us. He just kept reminding me that it’s a long way to go, so I just kept batting and playing my game.”

The 19-year-old said that changing weather had not dampened his desire to stay on the pitch as long as possible: “It was difficult to see at times, after lunch the umpires were worried. But we stuck at it, and we just wanted to play on and score some runs.”

Play continues on Thursday at 0930 local time (Hong Kong Time 01:30pm) at ICC Academy 1, Dubai, UAE.

Dirty Boogie Rockabilly Festival

Let’s crank up the music, embrace the fashion, the hairstyles and relive the Rockin’ 1950’s!

The Dirty Boogie Rockabilly Festival returns in full swing with an awesome musical line up.
Los Rizlaz (Japan)
The Bembol Rockers (Philippines)
The Boogie Playboys (Hong Kong)
Miss Cathy (Hong Kong)
DJ Dave “Wobbly” Ross (UK)

Live Tattoo by Starcrossed Tattoo
Live Hair Grooming by Edwin Watch X Crows Nest Barber Shop

The music. The clothes. The cars. The dancing. What’s not to love! Book now.

Dirty Boogie Rockabilly Festival
DBSFZ Rebel Society
Date: 8pm, 14 November, 2015
Venue: Grappa’s Cellar
Tickets: $280, $260 (Advance)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Opens in Hong Kong on 17 December, 2015

The Force Awakens, the latest instalment in the Star Wars saga opens in Hong Kong on the 17 December, one day before the US opening.

The film stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow.

Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt.

Megabites: The Fat Pig, Beefbar, A Slice of London

The Fat Pig
Gotta love the name, The Fat Pig by Tom Aikens (Shop 1105, 11/F Times Square, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2577 3444) opens on the 13 November. Using only local hormone free purebred free-range British Bath pigs from Wah Kee Farm in the New Territories. The menu will feature a pork-athoria of ‘ethically’ sourced dishes featuring you guessed it pigs. We’re looking forward to see what Tom does with bacon – although quality bacon served straight up will be fine. www.thefatpig.hk

Beefbar
Originating in Monaco in 2005, the last decade has seen the Beefbar expand to Moscow, Mexico, Luxembourg and now Hong Kong. The local outlet is conveniently located on the 2/F Club Lusitano, 16 Ice House Street, Central. Tel: 2110 8853. It’s website www.beefbar.hk showcases a menu stocked with beef from Australia, the United States and Japan served and prepared in a multitude of different ways. Not sure why you’d want to eat something other than beef in a restauant called beerbar but it does serve veal, chicken for those not so into bovine delights

A Slice of London
The sight of mainland tourists mingling with sharp dressed office workers ordering fish and chips in Chater Garden in Central is quite incongruous but that’s what you’ll find this week at ‘A Slice of London’. Better known as a location for rallies and protests, Chater Garden next to the recently renovated Court of Final Appeal has been transformed into a ‘pop-up’ UK High Street (minus the bookies, charity shops and traffic wardens). Ten English brands have pop-up shops for you peruse as you enjoy some quality English fish and chips from the The Chippy and a pint of cider. There are no soft drinks or coffee onsale, so bring your own.

For those in need of a selfie, there’s part of a London bus, a red English phone box and a post box. Spend $200 in any shop, get a postcard, drop the card in the postbox for a chance to win a flight to the UK.
A Slice of London @ Chater Gardens: 9-14 November, 2015 11am-10pm.

Decoding Privacy

In the twelve months since the Umbrella Movement’s street protests, one of the many topics now openly discussed locally is privacy, the right to privacy and personal data protection. Stories abound in the media, both locally and internationally, of people’s phone, text and email conversations being read, stolen, sold, published mis-used without their consent.

Among this increased awareness of privacy, locally Hongkongers are (too) slowly becoming aware of a need to protect their personal data. In the past everything about you from medical history, job resume, where you live, id card/passport numbers, bank details etc was stored on paper or digital files in separate boxes and computer systems in different buildings spread across the SAR. The emergence of the ‘cloud’ and the lax data security that many government departments and companies have in place mean that all this data is easily accessed by those who don’t have your best interests at heart.

As part of The Law Society of Hong Kong annual ‘Law Week’ privacy and decoding the importance of it figure prominently. While the discussions in “Teen Talk” section may be targeted to teenagers the information is pertinent to all – and it’s to be hoped that the Law Society will post the information and discussions online for all to peruse – especially with the spate of police prosecutions thrown out for fabricated evidence and personal data hijackings.

Aimed at enriching the legal knowledge of young people through discussions and sharing, while encouraging them to analyze law-related social issues from different perspectives. As the program, under the theme of “Decoding Privacy”, kicked off in over schools across Hong Kong Mr. Nick Chan, Council Member of The Law Society of Hong Kong said, “Teen Talk has been well received by teachers and students, and we are pleased to see that the number of participating schools hits a new high this year with 125 schools from 18 districts. Evolving from the previous all-day forum to a combined format with both physical and sedentary elements for this year’s programme, we hope the participants will enjoy the “Legal Scenario Play Competition” and the “Teen Talk Legal Knowledge Orienteering Race”. The former requires students to reflect on various real-life scenarios designed by the Law Society, including internet security, cyber-bullying, privacy issues, civil and criminal cases.”

He added, “The popularity of social media and smartphone applications may compromise the security of personal data, which young people (and many others) are seldom aware of and thus do not know how to protect their privacy. In the view of this, “Teen Talk 2015” adopted the theme of ‘Decoding Privacy’ to address the misunderstandings of young people on privacy and legal issues through discussions, and to remind them of the vulnerability of cyber space. We also want to enhance their awareness of public affairs and legal issues, and encourage them to apply what they have learnt to protect themselves and the others.”

As students of all ages have demonstrated over the last couple of years, they are the people most concerned about Hong Kong and its future. The legal system and specifically it’s impartiality is a cornerstone of that future. But so is understanding your legal rights, protecting your privacy and sadly video recording all interactions with the police. It’s to be hoped that “decoding privacy” will help people understand the value of their personal information and the need to protect their digital privacy just as much as they do their physical privacy.

Hayat and Carter Shine in Historic England Clash

An 81-run partnership between Babar Hayat and debutante Chris Carter was not enough for Hong Kong as the side lost its first ever 50-over encounter against an almost full strength England side containing Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Butler, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali by 169 runs in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Chasing 343 for victory in the historic encounter, Babar smashed 78 runs from 81 balls, including eight boundaries, to top score for Hong Kong. He was joined the crease by debutant 18 year-old Chris Carter with the score at a precarious three for 59, and the pair put on 81 runs for the fourth wicket. Carter added a composed 34 runs from 44 balls for the highest partnership of the match.

Earlier, England scored 342 runs for the loss of eight wickets, with left-hander Moeen Ali smashing top scoring with 71 runs. Hong Kong captain Tanwir Afzal led from the front and claimed two wickets for 40 runs, while Haseeb Amjad and Nadeem Ahmed also took two.

Chris Carter was thrilled with debut on the international senior stage and said, “I wasn’t expecting to play, I was 12th man, so that was awesome. It was good to play against that calibre of player.” The Hong Kong born Carter said his call up to keep wicket after a minor injury to Jaime Atkinson required enormous focus. “I don’t usually get nervous wicket-keeping, I get far more nervous batting, but that was the most nervous I’ve ever been. But you just have to be positive and put those thoughts out of your head.” He added that there was one moment of the match he will never forget, “When Chris Woakes bowled me a bouncer that I hit over mid-wicket that was pretty special.”

The match served as a warm up match for Hong Kong’s crucial ICC Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League Championship encounters against the United Arab Emirates, and coach Simon Cook was pleased with his team’s performance and said, “It’s a credit to Hong Kong really, with three grounds and 300 cricketers, to be able to produce cricketers at that level is incredible. What we need to do is continue producing the cricketers underneath, and that is part of my job. It was a huge learning curve for our players. We spoke after the match and I challenged them to think about the things to take away from the match to help them improve as players.”

England’s Chris Woakes said, “We have an important series coming and we need to hit the ground running, so this was an important game for us. I think the Hong Kong side should take credit for how it played today. We could have scored a bit more, but they got eight wickets down in the end. The way they batted showed that they can play against a strong England side. I think the future is bright for Hong Kong cricket. You have to take these experiences and learn from them, so as long as the side does that, I don’t see why it can’t move forward.”

At Abu Dhabi: England XI beat Hong Kong XI by 169 runs
Toss: England XI won the toss and decided to bat first
England XI 342/8, 50 overs (Moeen Ali 71, Alex Hales 64, Jason Roy 42)
Tanwir Afzal 2/40, Nadeem Amjad 2/58, Haseeb Amjad 2/80)
Hong Kong 173 all out, 40.2 overs (Babar Hayat 78, Chris Carter 34)
David Willey 4/43, Reece Topley 2/18, Adil Rashid 2/46)

Hong Kong XI
Tanwir Afzal (Captain), Mark Chapman, (Vice Captain), Aizaz Khan, Anshuman Rath, Babar Hayat, Chris Carter (Wicketkeeper), Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Jamie Atkinson, Kinchit Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Ninad Shah, Nizakat Khan, Waqas Barkat, Waqas Khan

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 8 November, 2015

Sunday Championship
The HKCA Dragons made their much-awaited debut in the Sunday Championship against HKCC Optimists at Hong Kong Cricket Club. The hosts opted to bat after winning the toss and they powered their way to a total of 8/335 from 50 overs, largely through the efforts of George Clarke (104), Michael Ashton (105) and Miles Richardson (41*). However, the Dragons’ bowlers will have been pleased with their first up effort as Ady Lee claimed 3/64 from ten overs while Sydney Sixers signee Ming Li picked up 2/63.

The Dragons reply got off to a promising start as they reached 1/66 when Damien Yee departed. Jonathan Foo and Ady Lee then added 76 runs for the third wicket before Foo was out for 77 with the score on 142. Ady went on to hit 47 but after his dismissal, the innings subsided quickly from 4/180 to 202 all out. Courtney Kruger destroyed the lower order as he picked up 5/31 from five overs.
At HKCC: HKCC Optimists 8/335 from 50 overs beat HKCA Dragons 202 from 32 overs by 133 runs.

At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Infidels thrashed Shaffi’s Vagabonds by 227 runs. Infidels won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Harsh Jogani scored a superb 95 before retiring hurt in the 32nd over and was unable to continue his innings. Jogani shared a 157-run partnership with Ankur Vasishta who went on to score 75, while Muhammad Khan (54) and Najeeb Amar (43) continued the momentum as Infidels finished on 344.

The Vagabonds batsmen struggled throughout and they were eventually dismissed in 34 overs for 117. Only three Vagabonds batsmen managed to reach double figures with Indunil Susitha’s 29 their best. Najeeb Amar was the pick of the bowlers for Infidels, claiming 3/12 from four overs.
At KCC: KCC Infidels 344 from 47.5 overs beat Shaffi’s Vagabonds 117 from 34 overs by 227 runs.

At Mission Road, USRC/MCC defeated DLSWCC Knights by three wickets. The Knights batted first after winning the toss and they scored 163 all out in 47.1 overs with Haroon Arshad scoring 41 and Sarfaraz Khan 32. Three USRC/MCC bowlers claimed three wickets – Balal Mohammad was their best with 3/10 while Mohammad Awais picked up 3/35 and Mudassar Hussain claimed 3/32.

The USRC/MCC batting effort got off to a reasonable start but from 1/48, they slipped to 5/85 and then 6/108 with still plenty of work to do. Furqan Tahir steady the innings with an unbeaten 35 and USRC/MCC reached their target in the 48th over. Aftab Hussain did the damage with the ball as he picked up 3/29 off ten overs.
At MR: DLSWCC Knights 163 from 47.1 overs lost to USRC/MCC 7/164 from 47.4 overs by 3 wickets.