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HK Cricket Match Reports: Women’s League 9-10 January, 2016

Women’s League – 9th January 2016

HKCC Cavaliers v DLSWCC Wasps
At PKVR Reservoir, HKCC Cavaliers earned a bonus point after beating DLSWCC Wasps by 110 runs.

Mary Henderson top-scored for HKCC Cavaliers with 41 after they elected to bat first upon winning the toss. Cavaliers reached 7/163 from their 35 overs with Natural Yip and Emma Lai also making useful contributions.

In reply, DLSWCC Wasps were dismissed for 53 in 15.5 overs with Alison Siu picking up 3/13 from five overs.
At PKVR Reservoir: HKCC Cavaliers 7/163 from 35 overs beat DLSWCC Wasps 53 from 15.5 overs by 110 runs.

Women’s League – 10th January 2016

Willow Wielders v KCC Maidens
In a rare Women’s League match at HKCC, hosts Willow Wielders continued their unbeaten run this season with a six-wicket victory over KCC Maidens.

The KCC Maidens batted first after being sent in by the Willow Wielders and they struggled early and were soon reduced to 5/30. But some useful middle-order resistance by Renee Montgomery (24) and Godiva Li (22) lifted them to a total of 103 in 28.4 overs. Marina Lamplough was the pick of the HKCC bowlers with 3/7 from her five over spell.

Marina then struck 34 and with Chan Sau Ha contributing 23, HKCC Willow Wielders ran out comfortable winners in 21.1 overs for the loss of just four wickets.

The Willow Wielders victory ensured they retain the Women’s League title for the 2015-16 season – their sixth successive league title.
At HKCC: KCC Maidens 103 from 28.4 overs lost to HKCC Willow Wielders 4/104 from 21.1 overs by six wickets.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 9 January, 2016

Saturday Championship

Saturday Championship Division 1

CCC Jing Sung v HKCC Witherers
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, CCC Jing Sung scored a 39-run victory over competition leaders HKCC Witherers.

Mark Wright top-scored for CCC Jing Sun with 65 as the Craigengower team reached 8/185 from their 35 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Ciaran McAssey was the pick of the bowlers for HKCC Witherers, claiming 3/21 from his seven over spell.

Charlie Bright led the Witherers reply with 39 but didn’t receive enough support from his teammates and from a seemingly strong position of 3/99, their run-chase petered out at 146. Matt Rafter (3/21 from 7 overs) and Gianluca Lamplough (3/32 from 6) did much of the damage with the ball for CCC Jing Sun.
At HKCC: CCC Jing Sun 8/185 from 35 overs beat HKCC Witherers 146 from 33.4 overs by 39 runs.

Pakistan Association v Centaurs
At PKVR Park, Pakistan Association moved up to fourth on the table with an eight-wicket thrashing of Centaurs.

Batting first after winning the toss, Centaurs got away to useful start and looked well placed at 1/76 with opener Keith Hemshall scoring 41. Thereafter Centaurs wickets tumbled regularly and they were eventually dismissed for 138 with Mohammad Saad picking up 4/32 from 5.4 overs, including a hat-trick to wrap up the innings.

The Pakistan Association openers put on 53 runs for the first wicket with Daniyal Butt going on to hit 32 and Mehtab Ali scoring 31. Akbar Khan then got them home in the 17th over with an unbeaten 53.
At PKVR Park: Centaurs 138 from 34.4 overs lost to Pakistan Association 2/143 from 16.3 overs by eight wickets.

Saturday Championship Division 2

Laguna Gully v Kai Tak
At Mission Road, Laguna Gully enjoyed a bonus point victory over Kai Tak.

Kai Tak won the toss and elected to bowl first but they found themselves chasing leather on the much- improved Mission Road outfield. Shekhar Sharma hit 73, Vikram Thareja 50 and Keyurkumar Patva 33 not out as Laguna Gully amassed 6/224 from their 35 overs.

In reply, Kai Tak could only muster 9/148 from their 35 overs with Pranav Shah claiming 4/24 from seven overs for Laguna Gully.
At Mission Road: Laguna Gully 6/224 from 35 overs beat Kai Tak 9/148 from 35 overs by 76 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 10 January, 2016

Sunday Championship

Pakistan Association v HKCA Dragons
Reigning champions Pakistan Association had little trouble dispatching HKCA Dragons by 375 runs at Mission Road on Sunday.

Opting to bowl first, the Dragons conceded 5/412 from their 50 overs with Tanwir Afzal hitting 61, Aizaz Khan 93, Skhawat Ali 41 and Ahsan Abbasi finishing on 142 not out. Dragons skipper Ady Lee was the pick of the Dragons bowlers, picking up 3/76 from his ten over spell.

The Dragons batsmen had a poor outing, with only one player reaching double figures in a rout that saw them dismissed for just 37 in 15 overs. Mohsin Khan benefitted most with 5/2 from two overs, including a hat-trick to finish the game.
At Mission Road: Pakistan Association 5/412 from 50 overs beat HKCA Dragons 37 from 15 overs by 375 runs.

Hong Kong to host Scotland in Braidwood Cup Series

The new year starts a with a treat for local cricket fans as Hong Kong play at home, for first time since 2011, as the host Scotland in the Braidwood Cup. The series features the first One Day International & First Class Cricket matches on Chinese soil

In a nod to the visitors and as recognition of Hong Kong’s Scottish heritage, and deeply rooted, though perhaps surprising, cricketing links, the Hong Kong Cricket Association has created an overall series prize, the Braidwood Cup, for the incoming tour. The Cup is named after Scottish expatriate William Drew Braidwood, who founded the Craigengower Cricket Club (CCC) in 1894, the second oldest such club in the territory after the Hong Kong Cricket Club (est. in 1851).

The Braidwood Cup will feature eight days of world-class cricket including the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup match, two One Day International (ODI) matches played as part of the ICC World Cricket League Championship and two Twenty20 (T20) Internationals.

Hong Kong have made giant strides on the international scene since they last played at home 5 years ago, securing ODI status in 2014 after finishing third in the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier and gaining T20 International status in 2013 after qualifying for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.

“We’re a different team now to that of 2011,” said HKCA Director of Cricket Charlie Burke, “The players have worked hard for the past five years and we are a much different side. We’re excited about the Braidwood Cup as the players have not had the chance to play in front of our home crowds in several years.”

Hong Kong’s strengths at present revolve more around short form cricket, with Scotland seemingly having the upper hand in the impending Intercontinental Cup clash.

“Scotland have played about 400 games of First Class cricket, compared to Hong Kong with two. Their players are heavily involved in County Cricket in the United Kingdom, so they have more experience in the format, but we have nothing to lose and I’m sure the team will play that much bigger in front of their families and friends,” said Burke.

The First Class, Intercontinental Cup (I-Cup) is the ICC’s Test Cricket pathway tournament, featuring the best eight teams outside of the top 10, or test playing nations.

The winner of the three-year, single round, I-Cup series will play a home and away “test challenge” against the lowest ranked test side. If the I-Cup winner is successful in that series, they will qualify as a Test nation for the next four-year cycle, allowing them to compete in the sport’s highest echelon of the traditional, five-day form.

After the conclusion of the I-Cup, Hong Kong will host two ICC World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) matches. The WCLC is contested by the next eight teams outside of the twelve-team top-tier ODI nations, which includes Associate members Afghanistan and Ireland. The games will be played in the same 50-over ODI format as the World Cup.

The WCLC matches are a priority for Hong Kong as it is the primary pathway for teams to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) in the United Kingdom in 2019. Following the conclusion of the WCLC in 2017, the top half of teams will advance to the CWC qualification tournament in 2018.

Hong Kong (world ODI ranking 15th) is currently first on the World Cricket League Championship table, while Scotland (ranked 13th) is fourth after the tournament’s second round.

“We’re focusing pretty heavily on the World Cricket League Championship’s ODI matches as they format is more conducive to our strengths at the moment than four-day cricket and they offer an opportunity for us to play in the World Cup,” said Burke. “Our goal for the Series is to hold our position at the top of the WCLC table and to prepare for the upcoming World Twenty20.”

Hong Kong who have qualified for the World Twenty20 in India in March-April 2016, are in the same pool as Scotland, along with Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in Group B.

After the WCLC matches, two Twenty20 Internationals will be held as the Association concludes the Series with some big-hitting entertainment for the fans. The final weekend of the competition will also feature exhibition games of HKCA women’s and youth cricket, showcasing the strength of the game in the SAR.

Hong Kong will revel in the opportunity to play at home for the first time in over three years, promises Burke: “We have a young, exciting team, whose average age is just 20 years old. Most of these players have never had the opportunity to represent Hong Kong in front of their families and friends so this is a huge occasion for them; I expect it will be an emotional lift for the players.

“Scotland is a very good side. They’re aggressive and their batsmen like to put bowlers under pressure. The combination of their batting strength and our bowling attack is going to make for some exciting cricket. It will be a good contest between two of the strongest associate nations in world cricket,” Burke added.

“It is great to be able to play at home. There is a definite home advantage in cricket, more so than in other sports because of the importance of the playing surface and how those surfaces differ in every country. The players are familiar with Mission Road, they play a lot of club cricket there and train there as well so there will be no excuses” said Burke.

Burke’s sentiment was echoed by HKCA Chief Executive Officer Tim Cutler who thanked the Government for its continued support: “We’re hugely thankful to the Hong Kong Government and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department for all of the work that they have put into Mission Road to bring it up to international standard. We now have a home for cricket and are intent on ensuring that our team, with one of the highest world rankings of any Hong Kong sport, has more opportunities to play at home to help grow the local game”

“William Drew Braidwood’s name is a fitting choice for this historic trophy,” Cutler added, “Besides founding CCC, a club that welcomed members from all corners of the community. Braidwood is also credited with initiating discussions in 1903 to establish the first formal cricket league in Hong Kong; the competition for which the HKCA was formed to administer in 1968. Remarkable achievements by a remarkable man,” Cutler concluded.

The Hong Kong Cricket Association is intent on making Mission Road the home of Hong Kong Cricket and has confirmed that all of the Braidwood Cup Series matches will feature free admission to the public areas of the ground.

HKCA Braidwood Cup Series
All matches will be held at Mission Road Cricket Ground
ICC Intercontinental Cup: Thursday – Sunday, 21-24 January
ICC World Cricket League Championship: Tuesday & Thursday, 26 & 28 January
Twenty20 Matches: Saturday – Sunday, 30-31 January

Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 9 January, 2016

Censorship, Intimidation and Harassment of SCMP Reader

It’s ironic that while on it’s front pages the SCMP vociferously advocates for press freedom and the release of Bo Lee and his fellow disappeared. The reality within it’s own pages is that of censorship, intimidation and harassment of any reader who dare criticise or question an SCMP employee. The exact type of actions that the SCMP would have its readers believe it looks to expose in others. The hypocrisy is sad.

On the 1 January the SCMP’s Kevin Kung spent 16 hours, working until 1am, on a story about the New Year’s Day Youth Rugby Tournament at HK Football Club. By his own admission he didn’t stay until the end of the tournament. A sterling effort you might think, except that the published article, a massive 250 or so words, quite simply ignores half the participants. Focusing solely on the boys rugby, reading his original story you’d never know that half the rugby played that day was by girls.

Linda Olson the administrator and driving force behind the Women’s Rugby Hong Kong Facebook group enquired politely of Mr Kung about the gender bias in his article.

“I am wondering why you only reported on boys’ rugby in the article below?
The headline makes it sound as if only boys took part.
The article itself makes no mention of the girls who played.
The video includes only brief coverage of girls rugby (the U12s team and captain).
This is unacceptable.
Nearly a quarter of rugby players in Hong Kong are girls/women and it is the most rapidly expanding demographic here.
Please ensure that your coverage is more inclusive in future..”

The article’s author Mr Kung replied and made some edits to ‘improve’ the online version of the article:
1. “Girls” was added to the sub-headline making it gender neutral.
2. A photo with caption of Gracie Hood (GH) was added.
3. An extra paragraph added to the end of the article mentioned the U19s girls’ game (but did not name the Captain as they had with the boys game) and GH being named Best and Fairest of the match.
Mrs Olson notified the WRHK Facebook group members of the changes and thanked Mr Kung for making them, at the same time providing a quantitative analysis of the gender imbalance of the SCMP coverage.

Mr Kung however had also cc’d in SCMP Sports Editor Noel Prentice who then fired off an intimidatory and threatening email to Mrs Olson which he cc’d to senior figures at the HK Rugby Union AND Mrs Olson’s employer!!!

Mr Prentice’s email is quite astounding in it’s arrogance, tone and less than full disclosure of facts.

“I take exception to you accusing my reporter and SCMP of sexist coverage when Kevin has gone out of his way to cover rugby and the New Year’s Day tournament. He spent 16 hours compiling the online and print coverage so please have some respect.

SCMP is a great supporter of rugby and we give what many consider a niche sport a disproportionate amount of coverage. (bc’s note: why, because the HK Rugby Union pay the SCMP a lot of money to write about local and international rugby). And we have also gone out of our way to cover the emergence of women/girls in the game and the opportunity they have been afforded.

We do not have the resources to give blanket coverage to any sport and all sports and events are judged on their news value.

We also strive to be fair and balanced and I would expect you to also adhere to these principles when delivering any gender bias lectures to the students of Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong.” SCMP’s Noel Prentice

If it takes Mr Kung 16 hours to write a 250 or so word article it does explain a lot about why the SCMP print edition is so thin and lacking in content compared to years past. Joking aside Noel Prentice’s email is factually mis-representative of Mrs Olson’s enquiry and comment; neglects to mention that the HKRU pays the SCMP lots of money to ‘support’ the writing and publishing of stories about rugby; and extremely patronising of the fairer sex “the emergence of women/girls in the game and the opportunity they have been afforded” and by assuming that boys rugby coverage is of value, while coverage of girls youth rugby has no news value.

If the original article was to quote Mr Prentice “Fair and balanced” then Mrs Olson wouldn’t have needed to contact Mr Kung and could have used the story to show how the media was covering girls and women’s rugby in the same detail as men’s rugby. That it didn’t make any mention of 50% of the tournaments participants makes it unbalanced not fully accurate and a perfect example of gender imbalance in the media – the subject of Mrs Olson’s frustration and her class.

Why Mr Prentice also cc’d Mrs Olson employer, in what appears to be a blatant intimidation attempt to damage her professional standing and work relationship with her employer – while at the same time looking to censor the use of SCMP content in an education setting – is something the SCMP failed to answer when bc emailed them asking for a comment.

Read the full email conversation here – email addresses have been removed to protect people’s privacy.
Read about women’s rugby in bc magazine and here on the Women’s Rugby Hong Kong facebook group.

Spain 57-0 Hong Kong @ Madrid – 19 December, 2015

The Spanish national women’s rugby team beat Hong Kong 57-0 yesterday in Madrid to sweep the first ever series between the two teams. Spain beat Hong Kong 59-12 in the opening match on 15 December.

Despite a score line that was less flattering than the opening encounter, Hong Kong’s performance was much improved in yesterday’s official test match. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Spanish XV also clearly understood the importance of the tie, and upped their intensity to a level unseen in the opening encounter – blitzing Hong Kong with nine unanswered tries on the day.

Spain entertained their home support with an impressive 80 minutes of frenzied physicality in a game that was played at admirable pace by both sides. While Hong Kong’s offense was effectively stymied, defensively it was a much-improved result with all of the team committed to the effort.

In the end, Spain simply proved too big, too fast and too skillful – underscoring the experience gap between the two sides with Spain having played in multiple Women’s Rugby World Cups and over 120 test matches.

Spain brought all of their size, physicality and speed across the line into play on a surprisingly sunny and firm ground for Madrid in December.

The unrelenting onslaught made Hong Kong’s determined defensive display that much more impressive on the day, as did the fact that prime offensive threat Aggie Poon Pak Yan was out due to injury. Poon’s replacement at fullback, Adrienne Garvey, had a solid outing, putting in some memorable tackles to halt the frequent Spanish attacks.

Captain Chow Mei Nam once again led from the front in a superb effort that was cut short in the first half due to injury but it was simply next woman up for Hong Kong throughout the encounter. The team effort was encouraging with some of the team’s most recognisable stars having quiet afternoons.

Spain demonstrated their intent to put Hong Kong to the sword from the opening kick-off when they opted for a scrum on Hong Kong’s 22-metre line despite having a perfectly kickable penalty opportunity. Hong Kong’s scrum and defence held on that occasion – as it did throughout much of the first half – but it was the first of what would ultimately be too many attacking forays for the hosts on the afternoon. Somehow Hong Kong withstood Spain’s frenzied attack for the first 30 minutes, allowing only 12 points to the visitors in an excellent defensive performance.

Despite not having the chance to show much offensively, Hong Kong had sustained periods of possession – demonstrating a vastly improved structure from day one. Most impressive was the fact that these patches of possession invariably came as Hong Kong tried to work the ball from deep in its own half, showing excellent composure while doing so.

Ultimately the size and physical intensity of the Spanish defence proved too strong and the constant pressure lead to some loose passing on occasion that turned over Hong Kong’s possession. With the pace and frequency of Spain’s attack it was always a question of how long Hong Kong could hold and ultimately the levee broke, as Spain crossed over for two more tries in quick succession shortly before halftime, giving the hosts a 24-0 lead at the break.

Spain crossed over for five tries in the second half with flanker Paula Medin collecting a brace and scrumhalf Patricia Garcia adding six conversions and a fine solo try to help Spain reach its total of 57-0.

Considering Spain’s pedigree the team’s improvement was more obvious than the score line indicated. “We improved both individually and collectively from the first game to yesterday, in particular our defence in the tighter channels as well as our overall game structure,” said Hull.

The original idea behind the test series was to gauge Hong Kong’s strength outside of the region and that objective was achieved. While there still remains much to improve on that front, Hong Kong’s performance yesterday bodes well for next season’s Asia Rugby Championship matches against Kazakhstan and Japan.

In fact, Spain were an ideal opponent for Hong Kong, matching the solid tactical skills, pace and ball handling of Japan with the direct physical engagement of Kazakhstan. One senses that the true results of the Spain series are likely only to be seen in next season’s Asia Rugby Women’s Championship in April.

Coach Hull agrees: “Spain has been a huge learning and development opportunity for the team and we will use this as a starting point for the 2016 Asian championships and build from there.

“I’m proud of the players. They showed great character and a real understanding of what is required to play at this level. Whilst we did show some improvement match to match, this week has been useful to highlight what is needed in the longer-term for us to play at this level,” added Hull.

With Hong Kong having marked its first ever test against non-Asian opposition, the squad will no doubt be hungry for the chance to put the lessons learned from Madrid into action in Asia and once again on the world stage.

Hong Kong v Spain
1. Lau Nga Wun, 2. Royce Chan Leong Sze 3. Lee Ka Shun, 4. Cheung Shun Han, 5. Chow Mei Nam (Captain), 6. Melody Li, 7. Christy Cheng Ka Chi, 8. Amelie Seure, 9. Sham Wai Sum, 10. Rebecca Thompson, 11. Cheng Tsz Ting, 12. Colleen Tjosvold, 13. Natasha Olson-Thorne, 14. Lau Sze Wa, 15. Adrienne Garvey,
Substitutes: 16. Winnie Siu, 17. Karen So, 18. Ku Hoi Ying, 19. Claire Forster, 20. Cheng Ching To, 21. Lo Wai Yan, 22. Stephanie Cuvelier, 23. Mak Ho Yee.

Raul Garcia’s photos from the second test match
https://picasaweb.google.com/107614371220763372643/EspanaVsHongKongTestMatch02

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 12 December, 2015

Saturday Championship

Saturday Championship Division 1

HKCC Gap Ramblers v KCC Saracens
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, HKCC Gap Ramblers left it late to beat KCC Saracens.

Saracens won the toss and elected to bat first and had Saumil Shah (49) and Simondeep Singh (68) to thank for them reaching their total of 7/182 from 35 overs. In reply, Gap Ramblers lost both openers with only 23 runs on the board but a third wicket partnership of 135 runs between David Varley (59) and George Clarke (73) got them close and they eventually achieved their victory with four balls and six wickets to spare.
At HKCC: KCC Saracens 7/182 from 35 overs lost to HKCC Gap Ramblers 4/184 from 34.2 overs by six wickets.

KCC Tartars v KCC Crusaders
In the last derby match of the season at Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Tartars beat KCC Crusaders by 55 runs.

Saeed Farooq was the only batsman to master the green tinged wicket and his innings of 53 was the stand out batting performance from either side as Tartars reached 8/155 from their 35 overs. Tartars’ bowlers then bossed the second innings with Afzaal Haider claiming 4/30 from 5.2 overs while Ateeq Ul-Rehman (3/26) and Waqar Dawood (3/20) also got into the wickets.
At KCC: KCC Tartars 8/155 from 35 overs beat KCC Crusaders 100 from 29.2 overs by 55 runs.

Saturday Championship Division 2

Lamma v USRC/MCC
At PKVR Park, Lamma scored a bonus point victory over USRC/MCC.

Lamma elected to bowl first after winning the toss and they reduced USRC/MCC to 3/34 after opener Syed Ibraz hit 31 of those runs. Sikandar Zafar (40) then dominated a 61-run fourth wicket partnership that got the score to 4/95 before another flurry of wickets saw them slump to 6/97. USRC/MCC, still going at a rate of knots, were eventually dismissed for 123 in just 18.3 overs. Brenton McDonald was Lamma’s chief destroyer, claiming 6/20 from 4.3 overs.

Lamma got off to a solid start in the second innings with the openers putting on 58. Haider Bukhari was first wicket to fall, having scored 30. Ian Beck followed with a fine 50 as Lamma reached 5/108. It was a proud day for the McDonald clan as the father and son combination of Royce and Brenton saw Lamma home in the 24th over for their fourth win of the season. Usman Mohammad was the best of the USRC/MCC bowlers, claiming 3/16 in five overs.
At PKVR Park: USRC/MCC 123 from 18.3 overs lost to Lamma CC 6/124 from 24 overs by four wickets.

DLSW Spartans v CCC Hung See
There was another bonus point victory at the Police Training College in Aberdeen where DLSW Spartans defeated CCC Hung See 88 runs. Spartans’ opener Haseeb Muhammad dominated proceedings with a fine 115 as they posted a score of 204 all out in 35 overs. Twelve-year-old Dhruv Sodhi claimed the bowling honours for Hung See with 5/40 from seven overs.

Hung See got away to a slow but steady start and they looked well placed to push on after reaching 1/46. However, a mini-collapse saw them slip to 4/51 and from there they never recovered. Hung See’s middle and lower order batsmen managed to see out the 35 overs as they totaled 6/116. Hari Virani (3/21) was the best of the bowlers for Spartans.
At PTC: DLSW Spartans 204 from 35 overs beat CCC Hung See 7/116 from 35 overs by 88 runs.