England to defend Hong Kong Sixes title

Matthew Maynard, a six-time veteran of the Hong Kong Sixes and an assistant coach to England for one-day internationals, will again captain the England side. They will hope to emulate last year's success when the comfortably beat Pakistan, themselves four-time winners, in the final. Dimitri Mascarenhas has been seleceted after a productive season with the ball for that won praise from his captain at Hampshire, Shane Warne.

The Hong Kong Sixes, still played at the Kowloon Cricket Club where they started in 1992 and will take place for the tenth time this year on November 6-7. The teams will be competing for a prize fund of US$260,000, with the winners taking away US$80,000. Heavy international and domestic schedules have prevented Australia and New Zealand accepting their invitations to play.

England, who have won three times, will compete against Sri Lanka, Kenya and Hong Kong in Pool One, where one win will see them progress to the semi-finals. Pool Two consists of Pakistan, South Africa, India and the United Arab Emirates.

The full squad is Matthew Maynard (Glamorgan, capt), Kabir Ali (Worcestershire), Glen Chapple (Lancashire), Darren Maddy (Leicestershire), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire), Graham Napier (Essex), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire). David Graveney will act as manager.