Sporting History in the Making as Hong Kong Women's cricket team play China in Shenzhen

A small piece of sporting history will be made on 24 June when the first ever international cricket match between Hong Kong and China will take place at Shenzhen University Stadium, Shenzhen.

This will be an important warm up match as both sides are currently preparing for the Asian Cricket Council Womens' Cricket tournament to be played in Malaysia from 11 - 17th July. The winners of this 8 nation tournament are expected to be invited to compete in the Asia Cup versus the Test playing nations later in the year.

"Everyone in the Hong Kong team is excited at the chance to play against China in Shenzhen at cricket, that will be special," said Hong Kong Team Manager Mark Burns.

"The Hong Kong squad has been training hard over the last several months in preparation for the ACC Women's tournament," continued Mr Burns.

China was recently accepted into the International Cricket Council as an Affiliate member and it was recently confirmed that cricket would be one of the official sports at the 2010 Asian Games to be staged in Guangzhou.

The Hong Kong team are training three times a week in preparation for the ACC tournament and will also play a series of practice matches in Hong Kong.

Neisha Pratt will again captain the Hong Kong squad as she did on the last international series in Pakistan in September 2006.

The 14 player squad selected is:

* Neisha Pratt (captain)
* Renee Montgomery
* Samantha McIlwraith
* Georgina Chiu
* Chan Sau Ha
* Betty Chan
* Kylie Knott
* Keenu Gill
* Emma Phillips
* Kaori Iida
* Sarah Eames
* Ishitaa Gidwani
* Godiva Li
* Kristine Wong

The 4 reserves are:

* Shaminda Wickramasinghe
* Reenu Gill
* Mariko Hill
* Marge Cheung

Coach: Lal Jayasinghe
Manager: Mark Burns