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National Cricket Squads Announced

With an extensive series of matches scheduled for later in the year the Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) have announced the men’s National Squad and National ‘A’ Squad for 2016-17.

The Hong Kong team will tour Ireland and Scotland in late August and September. They will play Ireland in a First Class, Intercontinental Cup match and two Twenty20 Internationals. Scotland will then host two One Day Internationals in Edinburgh where Hong Kong will attempt to retain the Braidwood Cup. Hong Kong will also face Kenya in a World Cricket League Championship clash in November.

HKCA Director of Cricket Charlie Burke is very optimistic about the squads: “It is a very clear sign by the selectors that they have selected players based on performances and also with one eye on the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers which will be played in 2018.”

“The young squad is vibrant, enthusiastic and dedicated. It’s always nice to have a few fresh faces which lifts everyone. The squad will be the most competitive I have seen in my time in Hong Kong, this only encourages me with the fact we have some big tours coming up later this year, and the importance of domestic performances,” added Burke.

National Squad
Afzal Tanwir 阿夫扎 (Pakistan Association) *
Ahmed Nadeem 簡均倍 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC) *
Arif Imran (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Ahmed Tanveer 廷伊華 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Atkinson James 艾堅遜 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Barkat Waqas 高域斯 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Chapman Mark 查普曼 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Caddy Ashley (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Carter Christopher 基斯卡達 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Shah Ninad 沙利勒 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Shah Kinchit 金赤沙 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Kapur Raag 卡普華卡 (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Hayat Babar 巴巴凱逸 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CCc) *
Lamplough Giacomo 積卡姆 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Li Kai Ming 李啟銘 (HKCA Dragons) *
Mehmood Adil 亞迪 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Mcaulsen Cameron 麥國麟 (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Khan Ehsan (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Khan Nizakat 穆罕默德汗 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Khan Aizaz 艾扎茲 (Pakistan Association) *
Nawaz Ehsan 納瓦茲 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Rath Anshuman 阿舒曼華夫 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Khan Waqas 瓦格斯汗 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Subramanyan Jhathavedh (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Wasif Shahid (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Sodhi Kabir (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
*Contracted Players

National ‘A’ Squad (including Under-19s)
Bukhari Daniyal (Pakistan Association)
Bhimsaria Sunny (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Gorawara Adit (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Khan Akbar 簡卡巴 (Vagabonds CC)
Khan Anas 安納斯簡 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Khan Mohsin 甘莫斯 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Khan Mohammad (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Lulla Ansh (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Manglik Ahan (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Mohammad Saad 馬力山 (Vagabonds / Pakistan Association)
Mohammad Haroon Arshad 哈利 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Mohammad Huzafah (Pakistan Association)
Mohammad Awais 艾小文 (USRC-MCC)
Mulchandani Ravi (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Robson Angus (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Sharma Vishal (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Sheopuri Tej (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Singh Karandeep (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Singh Simandeep 冼文迪 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Umar Mohammad (USRC-MCC)
Zafar Sikandar (USRC-MCC)
Ur-Rehman Ateeq (Kowloon Cricket Club)

Source: Hong Kong Cricket Association

HK Cricket Match Reports: Monday 2 May, 2016

Saturday Championship – Monday, 2^nd May 2016

Division 2
In a match played at PKVR Park on Labour Day, Laguna Gully CC beat Lamma CC by 97 runs.

Laguna Gully CC v Lamma CC
Laguna Gully opted to bat first after winning the toss and they got away to a good start with Rohit Garg (30) and Mangesh Mulgaonkar (30) putting on 58 runs for the first wicket. Both openers fell in quick succession in a flurry of wickets that saw Laguna Gully go from 0/58 to 4/81 as Tom Woods grabbed three wickets. Abhishek Desai held the innings together with his season’s best score of 75 and with Pranav Shah hitting 41, Laguna Gully reached a final total of 9/206 from their 35 overs. Woods added another wicket to his haul to finish with figures of 4/39 from seven overs.

The Lamma reply never got going as four of the top five batsmen fell for single digit scores. From 4/29 and then 6/48, there was no coming back for Lamma and their only highlight was 34 from Richard Abbott, batting at number 7. Lamma’s innings was wrapped up for 109 in the 28^th over with Shubam Metha claiming 3/18 from five overs for Laguna Gully.
At PKVR Park: Laguna Gully CC 9/206 from 35 overs beat Lamma CC 109 from 27.5 overs by 97 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 30 April, 2016

Saturday Championship – 30^th April 2016

Division 2
As the season runs down to its conclusion, there are only a handful of fixtures remaining in the Saturday Championship Division 2. Matches scheduled at Mission Road over the past couple of weeks have been moved to PKVR Park.

SCC Lancers v HKU
There was only one match played on Saturday at PKVR Park where SCC Lancers beat HKU by six wickets in a tight finish.

HKU batted first after winning the toss and they made 9/178 from their 35 overs. The bulk of their runs were scored in a fourth wicket partnership of 88 runs between Ankit Suri who hit 42 and Chamila Panduwawala who top scored with 49. Best of the HKU bowlers was Rahul Tonapi who claimed 3/41 from seven overs.

The SCC Lancers reply got away to a good start with the openers putting on 39 runs for the first wicket however, three quick strikes by the HKU bowlers set SCC Lancers back to 3/57. A 94-run fourth wicket partnership between Uday Shetty (58) and Asif Ismail (56*) set up the win for SCC Lancers, who got over the line with eight balls to spare.
At PKVR Park: HKUCC 9/178 from 35 overs lost to SCC Lancers 4/181 from 33.4 overs by six wickets.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 1 May, 2016

Sunday Championship – Sunday, 1st May 2016

There were two games in the Sunday Championship with KCC Templars moving themselves into a strong position to claim the 2015-16 title following a dominant win at home while Scorpions thumped Vagabonds at PKVR Park.

KCC Templars v Pakistan Association
At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Templars stormed to a seven-wicket victory over leaders Pakistan Association to put themselves in the driving seat to win the 2015-16 title.

Pakistan Association opted to bat first after winning the toss but they lost wickets early and never recovered to post a challenging total. The Templars opening bowlers made inroads as Pakistan Association slipped to 3/34. Ahsan Abbasi steadied the Pakistan Association innings with a solid 45 while Manjinder Singh struck a few boundaries at the end to finish on 30 not out but they were dismissed for 171 in the 40th over. Imran Arif was the pick of the Templars’ bowlers with figures of 3/31 off nine overs.

The Templars’ reply got off to a disastrous start with their top three batsmen dismissed with only nine runs on the board. But from there it was one-way traffic as Chris Carter and Ryan Campbell reeled off the remaining runs in an unbroken third wicket partnership worth 166 runs. Carter finished unbeaten on 51 while Campbell struck 104 not out with victory achieved in 22.4 overs.

Templars victory means they will claim the 2015-16 title if they can beat Vagabonds in the last match of the season. Should Templars lose or if the match is abandoned then Pakistan Association will win the title.
At KCC: Pakistan Association 171 from 39.5 overs lost to KCC Templars 3/175 from 22.4 overs by seven wickets.

HKCC Scorpions v Shaffi’s Vagabonds
At PKVR Park, HKCC Scorpions thumped Shaffi’s Vagabonds by 171 runs in a match reduced to 48 overs per side due to a late start.

Batting first after winning the toss, Scorpions scored 3/269 from their 48 overs with Rory Caines (32) and Raag Kapur (73) building a strong foundation to their innings. James Redmayne (62*) and Giacomo Lamplough (71*) continued the momentum for Scorpions with an unbroken fourth wicket partnership worth 120 runs.

While the Scorpions’ batsmen had thrived, their Vagabonds counterparts struggled. Mark Wright and Matt Rafter grabbed two wickets each as Vagabonds slumped to 3/4 and then 5/25. Three run-outs didn’t help their cause and Vagabonds were eventually dismissed for 98 in the 25th over with Adil Jahangir’s 30 the only batting score of note.
At PKVR Park: HKCC Scorpions 3/269 from 48 overs beat Shaffi’s Vagabonds 98 from 24.2 overs by 171 runs.

Hong Kong T20 Blitz

The four teams that will compete in the inaugural Hong Kong T20 Blitz have been revealed following a successful auctioning off of the franchises.

Rude Bar Island Warriors, Kowloon Cantons, Hung Hom JD Jaguars and Lantau GII Galaxy Riders were the names chosen by their respective owners to compete in the tournament run by the Hong Kong Cricket Association over the 28th and 29th of May.

The four teams will play each other once with the final to be held on the Sunday afternoon on the 29th of May.

The Island Warriors are run by the owners of a sports bar (Rude Bar Stock Exchange) in Wyndham St and placed the top bid in the silent auction that will earn the franchise first pick in the player draft.

“The format of cricket is tried and tested which always attracts a lot of people,” Warriors marketing manager Amanda Folcarelli said. “By starting this in Hong Kong it will put the region a step closer to the global cricket world and help the development of its young players. We as a business will also gain lots of untapped clients from the HK cricket fraternity which is good for us too.”

The Kowloon Cantons are made up of a syndicate of 10 owners and will wear the colour blue with their slogan “Cricket, Passion, Faith”. The Cantons will have a derby match with neighbours the Hung Hom JD Jaguars, who are owned by Jedi Dia a company with close family ties to Hong Kong national team player Kinchit Shah. The Jaguars will play in Pink and Black. And the fourth team will be the Lantau GII Galaxy Riders, who are owned by Indian businessman Suresh Khandewal. The team will play in Black and white.

Hong Kong Cricket Association Marketing and Commercial Director Max Abbott said the announcement of the teams was an exciting step for event organisers. “Now that we have the names, the tournament is really starting to take shape and we can start to promote these franchises. It will be up to the teams to build their fan base now and us as an Association to get Hong Kong excited about this tournament.” Abbott continued “It’s looking likely we will have some big name signings to announce as overseas players, which will prove that we want this to be a high quality cricket tournament. Our aim is to sell the ground out at Tin Kwong Rd Recreation ground for both days when tickets go on sale next month.”

The draft will be held on April 28, which include players being selected from the Hong Kong squad and the domestic Premier League.

T20 Blitz
Date: 28-29 May, 2016
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: tbc

HK Cricket Match Report: Women’s Twenty20 Cup – 24 April 2016

Women’s Twenty20 Cup – 24 April 2016

HKCC Cavaliers v HKCC Willow Wielders
The two HKCC women’s teams played a rescheduled derby game to bring the curtain down on the 2015-16 Women’s League and T20 Cup season.

Cavaliers won the toss and put the Willow Wielders in to bat first. The Cavaliers bowlers struck early and had the much-vaunted Willow Wielders batting attack struggling at 4/29 with Mariko Hill not out 17. Sara Young was the only other batter to reach double-figures and Willow Wielders finished their 20 overs on 7/87. Ruchitha Venkatesh and Alvina Tam claimed two wickets each for the Cavaliers.

In reply, the early run out of Natural Yip dented the Cavaliers chances but a solid 22 from Emma Lai had them sitting pretty at 2/51. However, Emma’s dismissal saw the Cavalier’s innings collapse to 75 all out. Chan Sau Ha and Annie Ho picked up two wickets each for the Willow Wielders.
At HKCC: HKCC Willow Wielders 7/87 from 20 overs beat HKCC Cavaliers 75 from 19.3 overs by 12 runs.

The Willow Wielders victory saw them sweep the Women’s League and Women’s T20 Cup titles for the 2015-16 season. The Willow Wielders have now won seven consecutive Women’s League titles and four consecutive T20 Cup titles.

Women’s Sixes 2016 – Day One

Women’s Sixes: Day One Review – 17 April, 2016

There were runs and wickets aplenty on the opening day of the 2015-16 Women’s Sixes played at PKVR Reservoir on Sunday, 17^th April 2016.

HKCC and CCC are the two unbeaten teams after the first day’s play while DLSW have one win and one loss. The KCC and USRC teams are yet to register a win.

In the first match of the day, HKCC easily beat USRC by 37 runs. Ruchitha Venkatesh top scored with 15* in HKCC’s total of 3/48. In reply, USRC could only score 11 runs with Marian Lamplough claiming two wickets.

The second match saw DLSW account for KCC by four wickets. Keenu Gill, Reenu Gill and Renee Montgomery all reached double figures in KCC’s innings of 4/42 but three run-outs hurt their chances. Shanzeen Shahzad made good use of the short third-man boundary in scoring a quick-fire 20 that helped DLSW to victory in 3.5 overs.

USRC were back in action in match three and they put up a much-improved performance in losing to CCC by 26 runs. Pat and Cynthia batted through the innings as CCC reached 0/53 off their five overs. Pat hit 21 not out. Although the USRC women struggled to score runs off the bat, they still managed to reach a final total of 1/27.

HKCC continued their impressive start to the competition with a 16-run victory over KCC. Natural Yip and Chan Sau Ha both retired on 21 runs apiece as HKCC racked up 0/54 from their five overs. In reply, Keenu Gill retired on 21 and Reenu Gill hit 14 but their efforts were not enough to overcome the HKCC score as KCC finished on 1/38.

There was an exciting finish to the day’s play with CCC beating last year’s champions DLSW by two runs. The CCC openers Kary Chan (18) and Pull To (20) put on 54 runs for the first wicket as CCC posted the day’s highest score of 2/61. DLSW’s reply started well enough with Shanzeen Shahzad striking three boundaries. However when she retired, CCC came back into the game as the other DLSW batters couldn’t sustain the run-rate. Sacrificing their wickets so that Shanzeen could come back to bat, DLSW reached 5/50 with two balls remaining. Shanzeen returned to the crease and struck the penultimate ball for six but she failed to connect cleanly on the last ball and the DLSW innings finished on 5/59. Shanzeen finished unbeaten on 31, the day’s individual highest score.

Match Summaries:
Match 1: HKCC 3/48 in 5 overs beat USRC 3/11 in 5 overs by 37 runs.
Match 2: KCC 4/42 from 5 overs lost to DLSW 1/44 in 3.5 overs by 5 wickets.
Match 3: CCC 0/53 from 5 overs beat USRC 1/27 from 5 overs by 26 runs.
Match 4: HKCC 0/54 from 5 overs beat KCC 1/38 from 5 overs by 16 runs.
Match 5: CCC 2/61 from 5 overs beat DLSW 5/59 from 5 overs by 2 runs.

Source: HK Cricket Association

Women’s National Cricket Squad Announced

A 17-player national squad for the 2016-17 season has been announced by the HK Cricket Association.

The squad was selected after an extended trial and Director of Cricket and Head Coach of the women’s squad Charlie Burke is delighted about the selection: “The commitment and effort of the open squad players has made it really tough for the selectors to pick the National Squad. It is great to see a number of the players performing so well in club cricket such Shanzeen Shahzad has scored nearly 600 runs and taken 26 wickets in both forms of the game, Kary Chan has scored just under 500 runs and taken a few wickets.”

“Three of our players have played senior Men’s cricket during the season including Emma Lai, Pull To and Mariko Hill. We are as hungry for success and strong as we have ever been in the time I have been involved in Hong Kong Cricket and with the next 5 months of hard training before the Indian tour. We will be a hard side to beat”

“Our goal is to qualify for the Women’s World Cup and we will work as hard as ever to achieve this goal,” Burke said.

The women’s squad have an exciting 2016 to look froward to with a pre-tour to India in September and the ICC-Asia Women’s T20 Championships in October. The competition there will include China, Nepal and Thailand with the winners going to the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.

2016-17 Hong Kong Women’s National Squad:
Ka Man (Betty) Chan
Ka Ying (Kary) Chan
Lemon Cheung
Yasmin Daswani
Jenefer Davies
Ishitaa Gidwani
Keenu Gill
Mariko Hill
Sin Yee (Cindy) Ho
Lau Ping (Amanda) Kwok
Marina Lamplough
Wing Kai (Emma) Lai
Sidra Nasreen
Chan Sau Ha
Shanzeen Shahzad
Yee Shan (Pull) To
Ruchitha Venkatesh