Asia Cup: Debuts for Hong Kong and UAE deferred

The Asia Cup's Associate entrants, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, were formally advised last week of the tournament's postponement.

As had been widely speculated, the event, to be held in Pakistan from April 15-30, was deferred to a date to be set, either later this year or 2002.

This follows the late rescheduling of a one-day series in Sharjah involving India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The new date for the final of the Sharjah tournament is April 20, five days after the original starting date of the Asia Cup.

The Asian Cricket Council will discuss the scheduling of the Asia Cup at its January 27 meeting in Calcutta.

Hong Kong Cricket Association Operations Manager, Mark Burns, welcomed the move.

"It allows us to focus on the ICC Trophy and gives a couple of guys more time to become residentially qualified," Burns said.

It will also give the HKCA a little more time to find a replacement for national team coach, Adam Hollioake, who will be unavailable for the ICC Trophy due to county commitments with Surrey.

Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates qualified for the Asia Cup as finalists of the Asian Cricket Council Trophy, contested by the region's Associate and Affiliate member.

Meanwhile, in the 'Did I Really Say That?' Department, it seems BTTW was a little bit premature in its December 17 article regarding Hong Kong's proposed move to the ICC's Asian Development Region from its East Asia-Pacific zone.

The article implied that Hong Kong's transfer to the Asian region was a formality. It has emerged that a recommendation made in December by the ICC's Development Committee backing Hong Kong's transfer was dependant on several associated issues being resolved.

The ICC Development Manager Andrew Eade said yesterday the world governing body was taking a long term view in clarifying Hong Kong's status.

"Hong Kong's case has highlighted the need for the question of the borders between the two development regions (Asia and East Asia-Pacific) to be looked at and we will be asking for input from members in both regions."

The ICC's Executive Board can defer making a decision at its next meeting in Melbourne next month, regardless of whether the other issues are clarified.