HKCA President's Report for 2010-11

Whilst the world has not recovered completely from economic turmoil over the last year, the game of cricket in Hong Kong has proved resilient. It has continued to thrive and achieve some splendid new highpoints that we have never achieved before.

The moves started two years ago to focus on the Association's executive management on a more professional and transparent basis are now bearing fruit.

The national teams have been very busy during the year and have achieved some notable successes. After finishing as one of the top four teams in the ICC WCL Division 2, Hong Kong's ICC One Day Ranking is currently 20th- four places higher than last year. The Asian Games was a historical moment to see cricket competed by both men and women for the first time. The Women's Team successfully defended the ACC T20 Championship title. More encouragingly, I am so glad to see that we have a young U19 team coming up strongly and ready to take on any team in the near future.

The successful staging of the ICC WCL Division 3 in Hong Kong in January 2011 demonstrates to the cricket world that Hong Kong has the capability of hosting international competitions and events. ICC announced in February that its Annual Conference was to be held in Hong Kong in June 2011. ACC will also having its AGM in Hong Kong during the ICC Conference week.

The domestic leagues were eagerly contested at all levels. The inception of the T20 Tournament proved to be a success.

Women's cricket and junior cricket remain extremely buoyant and full of enthusiasm and support.

The Association's finances show a healthy surplus. Administrative costs dropped by 5.7%. However, in view of the future expansions, staff costs may have to be increased in the coming years.  Hopefully these extra costs will be absorbed by additional government funding.

Into the future the underlying thrust must be to increase the popularity of the game at grassroots in the local Chinese community because in the end that is the only way the game will grow and from that, in time, all will flow.

On the whole a good year, due to the efforts and enthusiasm of many, with excellent groundwork laid to move the sport forward in Hong Kong. This needs to be continuously pursued with energy and determination.

Our national teams were extremely active during the year and have on the whole done very well indeed.

The national men's team performed creditably in the ICC WCL Division 3 by beating PNG in the final to clinch top spot and secured a place in Division 2. Despite some disappointing results Hong Kong Men's team finished fourth in the tournament and entered the ICC High Performance bracket.

The Sixes team played very well at the HK Cricket Sixes but the overall result was not at par with the previous year.

The U19s have done marvelously well in finishing 4th in the ACC U19 Elite Cup.

The Women's U19 team is coming along well and the women's senior team performed magnificently in the ACC T20 Championship by beating China in the Final. I am particularly proud of this women's final in Kuwait because over 80% of the players in the Final were Chinese girls.

With the financial assistance from the title sponsor, the KARP Group, and the considerable help of an "M" mark Grant from the Hong Kong Government the annual HK Cricket Sixes tournament was successfully staged at KCC.

(deleted one sentence as we had eight teams last year as well) The tournament was beamed to 80 million viewers around the globe and was acknowledged as the most successful we have yet staged.

The most remembered matches in last year's Sixes would no doubt be the final between Pakistan and Australia, and the demonstration match between China and Hong Kong Development Team.

We are blessed to have Po Kong Village Road Main Ground available from 2010 albeit on a share basis with rugby, football and the public.

The turf pitches at Mission Road were available for play from October 2010 onwards.  It is of utmost importance for the Association to keep the turf pitches at Mission Road as a going concern.

Po Kong Village Road Reservoir lease is due to be signed and hopefully we can begin re-turfing in summer time and have the ground up and running in the next season.

The practice nets at Po Kong Village Road Main Ground would be available for booking in July 2011.  Clubs without their own practice facility can make use of these nets for practice at very reasonable charges.

A very special thanks to Mr Rodney Miles in lining up St Stephen's College at Stanley.  The Association has a reasonable agreement with the school in using its ground for women's cricket.  The ground was used extensively for this purpose in the last season.

Other possible sites are being explored as a matter of urgency but, as I have said before, it is a painfully slow process.

Unfortunately Kai Tak can only be used for another one and a half years before MTR takes it back for construction of a new station.

The Association has employed for the first time a full-time groundsman to look after the grounds that are under our maintenance responsibility.  This is a measure to release the financial pressure from the participating teams otherwise the maintenance costs would have to be borne by them.

The number of teams in all leagues  grew during the last  season, the Saturday League  hosting  19 teams,  an increase of 1 team,  the Sunday league  hosting  11 teams , an increase of 2 teams, and the Women's league increasing by 1 team to 6 teams.

The increase in Junior and Schools cricket along with the great demand for places in the Challenge League means that finding enough venues to host the games will continue to prove a challenge for the administration.

The introduction of the ResultsVault system by HKCA in 2010-11 has provided improvements in the way players, fixtures, results and statistics records are managed. This has given an unprecedented access to  the huge amount of statistical information available to players, coaches and clubs. Further benefits will be derived from this when the system is rolled out to Clubs in 2011-12.

Saturday League Champions - Pakistan Club 
Sunday League Champions - Pakistan Association 
T20 Cup Winners - JKN LSW 
Women's League Champions - HKCC Willow Wielders

Congratulations to all the winning teams!

The Junior League continued to thrive, with competitions played at U11, U13, U15 and U17 age group levels. Schools Leagues competitions were also organised for Junior Boys and Senior Boys.

The HKCA continues to look at ways to integrate its junior cricket programs with the senior competitions. The structure and format of the HKCA senior competitions are being reviewed with an aim to provide better opportunities and pathways for player development. These reviews are expected to filter into the junior programs and we hope to announce some exciting developments in this area in the near future.

2010-11 Winning Teams:

U11 League Champions - HKCC Sharks
U13 League Division 1 Champions - HKCC Scorpions
U13 League Division 2 Champions - LSW Lions
U15 League Division 1 Champions - LSW Lions
U15 League Division 2 Champions - HKCC Ramblers
U17 League Champions - LSW U17s
Secondary School (Senior Boys) Champions - Delia Memorial School (Broadway)

The Playground League was competed by 16 schools.

Primary School Playground League Division 1 Winners - Li Cheng Uk Government Primary School
Primary School Playground League Division 2 Winners - Sir Ellis Kadoorie(s) Primary School
Primary School Playground League Division 3 Winners - Yaumati Kaifong Association School

I am delighted to report that the Women's League was completed smoothly in the last season. I am much encouraged by the level of interest and enthusiasm and considerable skill being shown in women's cricket and we are starting see some real achievements.

I would like to thank the ACU&S and other HKCA members who continued to serve as umpires and scorers during the year. They do an extremely important often thankless job and we are fortunate to enjoy their continuing support.

HKCA has continued to play a significant role in the affairs of both ICC and ACC through our representation on these bodies.  Dr John Cribbin has served on the ICC Chief Executives Committee and Mr Dinesh Tandon in the ACC Finance Committee.  We are grateful for the financial support and advice we receive from both bodies.

With our strong link with the Chinese Cricket Association, the HKCA will continue to play a significant role in the development of cricket in this great nation.

In addition to ACC and ICC we must of course thank the HK Government which provides us with financial support via the Leisure and Cultural Services Department whose staff also provide advice and guidance.  LCSD has also supported us in the provision of grounds.

We are also grateful to our sponsors and to the many companies that support the HK Sixes event and contribute to its success.

Karp Group Ltd.
PCJ Jeweller (P) Ltd.
Unirich Jewellery Ltd.
Jet Airways
StrawberryNet
Standard Chartered Bank
Accenture company Ltd.
Agility Logistics
Allen & Overy
Arrow Asia Shipbrokers Ltd.
Somerley Limited
Boase Cohen & Collins
BT Hong Kong
Cantor Fitzgerald
Chun Wo Development Holdings Limited
Generali International
HBZ Finance Limited
J.P. Morgan
Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd.
Sea-Air Logistics
Turf Solutions
Kashmir Transport-Soundvox
Amsus HK Ltd.
Carlsberg
Dukes
Eaton Hotel
Essential Fine Wines
Gatorade
Pak China Trade Int'l Co.
Gkool Sabkool
Igor's Group
Uppal Hospitality
Monadock
Pepsi
Prisim Watches
Montgomery
Subway
Virgin Atlantic
Imran Sports International
Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW)
Home Affairs Bureau
Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Brand Hong Kong

I would like to thank the Executive Committee for their work and in particular to acknowledge those members stepping down this year:

Mr Simon Scanlon

I would also like to record our thanks and appreciation to the HKCA staff who all worked very hard for the sport during the year.

Danny Lai, Charlie Burke, Wilfred Wu, Ching-wai Li, Ron Brierly, Travis Pittman, Tabarak Dar, Najeeb Amar, Sher Lama and Jawaid Iqbal.

Capt. Shahzada Saleem Ahmed
President