Young Hong Kong cricketers give several reasons for optimism while their senior counterparts show what should have been
- Senior Hong Kong team beat second string ‘A’ side by 70 runs, after setting a total that would probably have got them into the T20 tri-series final
- Junior team players give head coach Simon Willis much to think about before he names his squad for April’s ACC Premier Cup
Hong Kong cricket provided a window into the future when a corps of emerging talents seized opportunities to impress for the second-string ‘A’ team against their senior counterparts on Wednesday.
Daniel Mapp, a willowy right-arm bowler who turned 16 only last month, claimed the scalp of opener Martin Coetzee in his first over.
The all-round wild card Rajab Hussain took the prize wickets of Anshy Rath and Babar Hayat in his two overs, and late-blooming opening batsman Jason Lui, 30, cracked 58 from 40 balls as the ‘A’ team mustered 165 for seven to lose by 70 runs.
Hong Kong had posted a daunting 235 for four.
What head coach Simon Willis would have given for his side to amass a 200-plus total against Papua New Guinea on Tuesday. Instead, they crumbled to 121 all out and thumped by 10 wickets.
That loss condemned Hong Kong to an early-morning game with their understudies, prior to PNG crushing Nepal by 86 runs in the tri-series final later in the day.
