ACC announces two new tournaments in busy 2012 schedule

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has announced two new tournaments in a very busy schedule for 2012. New on the calendar are the ACC Under-19 Asia 2012 and the ACC Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup 2012 - both featuring teams from Hong Kong.

The ACC will be organizing no less than eight tournaments in 2012, while ICC events will add a further four tournaments to the calendar. Hong Kong teams will feature in six of those tournaments.

The six ACC/ICC tournaments in which Hong Kong teams will feature in 2012 are:

• ACC Under-19 Women's Championships 2012 - Kuwait, 1-10 February 2012
• ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2012 - UAE, 13-24 March 2012
• ACC Under-16 Elite Cup 2012 - Malaysia, 2-23 May 2012
• ACC Under-19 Asia Cup 2012 - Malaysia, 23 June-1 July 2012
• ACC Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup 2012 - China, 22-31 October 2012
• ACC Trophy Elite 2012 - UAE, November-December 2012

The new ACC Under-19 Asia Cup 2012 tournament will pit Hong Kong's best youngsters against Under-19 teams from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar and Sri Lanka. Matches will be played in Malaysia in June 2012 to coincide with the ICC Annual Conference being held in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur at the same time.

In the other new event, Hong Kong, who are the current ACC Women's Twenty20 champions, will join teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Nepal in the ACC Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup 2012 which will be played at the Asian Games cricket stadium in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou during October 2012.

"Our men need as much cricket as possible in the lead up to the ICC 2014 World Cup qualifiers. We must expose our top 20 or so players on a big stage to see who has it and who doesn't."Charlie Burke, Hong Kong National Coach

Reflecting on the busy schedule ahead, Hong Kong National Coach Charlie Burke said "It is a huge year ahead for our National players both underage and seniors with some prestigious tournaments including Asia Cup for U19 Men's and Women's teams."

He added, "We now have a elite pathway which starts with our Emerging Squads at U13 level all the way up to the Men's and Women's squads. It now means those players committed to developing their game will be rewarded, as the old 'just turn up and be selected prior to a tournament' days are in the past."

"Our U19 Men have been training since September and our U19 Women's squad will be announced shortly with trial games on 28th and 30th December against our Emerging Squad U15 boys," said Burke.

"Our men need as much cricket as possible in the lead up to the ICC 2014 World Cup Qualifiers. We must expose our top 20 or so players on a big stage to see who has it and who doesn't. The women are very keen for the Asia Cup later in the year and again it will be those players that are committed that will get that massive opportunity to play."

"The ACC continues to give our squads wonderful opportunities that we are grateful for that. We will showcase Hong Kong's cricket talent in a packed 2012 calendar," concluded Burke.

Related links:

• ACC Announcement of 2012 Schedule
• 2012 Schedule