Hong Kong Cricket Sixes could make return in 2024 as officials call on government to improve ailing sports facilities
- Local cricket association chairman Burji Shroff hints at event being held alongside the Hong Kong Blitz
- Shroff says city needs better grounds and practice facilities to keep up with its international competitors
The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes could return this year, but officials said the government needed to invest more in facilities as they outlined plans to rejuvenate the sport in the city.
Since it was last staged in 2017, the competition has fallen victim to a combination of the coronavirus pandemic, and an overcrowded international and domestic cricket calendar.
Burji Shroff, the chairman of the local cricket association, raised the prospect of the sixes happening in conjunction with the Hong Kong Blitz, a T20 tournament that attracted a number of overseas stars when it was played from 2016 to 2018.
The marquee events would spearhead efforts to grow cricket’s popularity and profile in Hong Kong, but Shroff said the city needed better grounds and practice facilities to keep up with its international competitors – and that the governing body needed “government support and one major sponsor” for its sixes ambition to be realised.
“We would then go to the [global governing body] ICC, and request some dates, which generally are in October or November,” Shroff said. “We could have the Blitz a few days before, which would give us an expanded window for quality cricket.”
Shroff said the sixes, which had previously featured some of the sport’s top players, had been “viewed worldwide as one of the best tournaments”, a status he hoped to recapture.
Without more international-standard facilities, however, Shroff believes Hong Kong could be “left behind”.
The only venue in the city capable of hosting international cricket is Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, in Kowloon, and even that is inadequate for the demands of the modern game.
Nor is Cricket Hong Kong, China (CHK) helped by the limited access to the ground, which falls under the control of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
“The current facilities, and number of hours allotted to us, at Mission Road are not enough to maintain our competitive edge in international cricket,” Shroff said. “Some of the Asian countries we used to beat quite comfortably are now on the same level, or slightly above us. They have more grounds, government subsidies and professional players.”
Shroff said minimal competitive action for Hong Kong, as a result of limited use of the small ground, had partly contributed to the team slipping outside the top 20 of the global T20 rankings.
“Playing as much as possible is crucial to success in any sport, and the more we play, the better results you will see,” Shroff said. “To do this, we need the support of the government.”
An extensive search for space to develop a second international arena in Hong Kong was ongoing, but a proposed development in Ma On Shan had “not come to fruition”.
While Shroff said he was hopeful of finding a venue, he acknowledged that space was “at a premium in Hong Kong, and to develop a ground for international cricket is a huge commitment”.
“Again, we need government backing and sponsorship,” he added. “What we are looking for is quite unique … you need a wicket, a good outfield and good drainage.”
Among the objectives specified by CHK’s strategic plan for 2018-2023, established before Shroff’s tenure, which began in 2022, was the desire to “make cricket accessible for all who want to play”.
“We are coaching in schools and universities, and when you’re young, you can play on artificial grounds,” Shroff said. “We want to make people aware of the sport and create interest. Again, as it grows, we need more facilities and more funding.”
