All-Stars prove a huge hit with students

	Students and staff from St Margaret's Primary School in Sham Shui pose with the All-Stars © Hong Kong Cricket Sixes

A group of Hong Kong school students were bowled over today (Wednesday, 5 November) when their regular cricket class was visited by four of the biggest names in the game.

Australian great Justin Langer, England bowler Matthew Hoggard, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and South African all-rounder Tyron Henderson were a huge hit at St Margaret's Co-Ed English Secondary and Primary School in Sham Shui Po.

The quartet - members of the All-Stars team taking part in this weekend's Hong Kong Cricket Sixes - joined in the fun and games as they batted and bowled with the delighted youngsters.

After a breathless hour-long session, the players signed autographs and posed for photos with the star-struck students.

"It's a great experience for us to see the kids out here enjoying themselves, which is what cricket is all about," said Henderson, the all-time leading wicket-taker in Twenty20 cricket.

"We're so used to seeing the professional side of the game yet this is how we all started out - playing in the school yard or on a field with our friends, that's how we learned to enjoy the game."

Cricket has been part of the sports curriculum at the school for around seven years with youngsters being taught the basics of the game by Hong Kong Cricket Assocation coaches. The older students are in a team that plays in a secondary schools league.

"They start at age six with twice-weekly sessions which are obviously a lot of fun and they go all the way up to senior secondary players," explained John Gaffney, an English teacher at the school and also vice-captain of Lamma Cricket Club.

"At the senior level the majority of the players are Indian, but we have six local Chinese playing at junior secondary level and the majority of players in primary one and two are Chinese."

The school visit was the first stop in a busy build-up to the Sixes for the All-Stars. Later on Wednesday they were due to conduct an All-Stars Masterclass for the Hong Kong national women's team at Mission Road Cricket Ground in Mong Kok.

On Thursday (6 November) some of Hong Kong's best young players will benefit from the All-Stars' advice in a Junior Clinic at the Hong Kong Cricket Club.

The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes will take place at the Kowloon Cricket Club on Saturday and Sunday (8-9 November).

The All-Stars have been drawn in the Sobers group alongside defending champions Sri Lanka, Australia and hosts Hong Kong.

The Bradman Group will be contested by India, Pakistan, England and 2006 Sixes champions South Africa.

Tickets for the 2008 Sixes - priced at $780 for adults and $450 for children - are on sale at the following locations:

The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is fully sanctioned by the ICC and is the sport's longest-running, best-established and most high-profile sixes tournament.

Players who have taken part over the past 16 years include Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve and Mark Waugh, Viv Richards, Andrew Flintoff, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram.

The tournament is organised and promoted by the Hong Kong Cricket Association's commercial arm, China Cricket International Limited.

The HKCA's proceeds from the Sixes will be ploughed directly back into cricket development in Hong Kong.

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ENDS

Released on behalf of the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes by Two Up Front.

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Niall Donnelly
Two Up Front
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Email: niall@tuf.com.hk