'GOLDEN OLDIES' AIM TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK FOR KIWIS AT CATHAY PACIFIC/STANDARD CHARTERED HONG KONG CRICKET SIXES
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| Paceman Danny Morrison will lead the Kiwi challenge in 2006 © Getty Images |
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Hong Kong, October 26: Two former New Zealand international stalwarts will spearhead their country's push for honours at next month's Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes.
Making only their second appearance in the world's richest Sixes tournament since 1996, the experienced New Zealand squad includes paceman Danny Morrison and prolific batsman Craig Spearman.
They will be joined by Mark Bailey, Richard Petrie and Glen Sulzberger, all of whom have represented New Zealand in one-day internationals.
Completing the seven-strong squad at the Kowloon Cricket Club on November 11-12 are Steve Brown and Stephen Wilkins.
New Zealand, who finished third in the Cup competition on their last visit to the Hong Kong Sixes in 2003, have been drawn in Pool 2 this year.
They will open their campaign against South Africa before facing a powerful England team. The top two teams from the Pool will qualify for the next phase of the main competition.
If the Kiwis are to progress they will be looking to Morrison and Spearman to pull the strings.
Morrison, who celebrated his 40th birthday in February, succeeded Richard Hadlee as New Zealand's main strike bowler and is one of only nine Kiwis to have taken seven wickets in a Test innings. A veteran of 48 Tests, Morrison captured 160 wickets, placing him fourth on the all-time list of leading wicket-takers for New Zealand in Test matches.
Meanwhile, Spearman is one of the heaviest scoring batsmen to emerge from New Zealand. He represented his country in 19 Test matches and 51 one-day internationals, the last of which was in 2001.
One of only 12 Kiwis to have accumulated more than 10,000 first-class runs, Spearman has starred for Gloucestershire in the English Country Championship in recent years. In 2006 he was once again the county's leading run-scorer, notching five hundreds in the process.
He wrote his name into the record books in 2004 when he scored 341 against Middlesex, the highest score by a Gloucestershire player, breaking a 128-year-old record previously held by WG Grace.
New Zealand's only Sixes silverware to date came in 1996 when they defeated Australia in the final of the Bowl.
Clive Howard, Chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA), said: "New Zealand were one of the surprise packages when they last played in the Hong Kong Sixes in 2003, winning all three of their pool matches before losing to England in the semi-final.
"We're delighted that they'll be back this year, giving us a total of eight Test-playing nations in the tournament."
In this year's nine-nation event, that carries a first prize of US$100,000 and total prize-money of US$280,000, Pool 1 consists of Australia, India and West Indies, while Pool 3 is made up of Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Hong Kong.
Among the big-name players already confirmed for the tournament are Nicky Boje and Lance Klusener of South Africa, Darren Gough and Dominic Cork of England, West Indians Carlton Baugh and Dwayne Smith and Pakistanis Imran Nazir and Yasir Arafat.
Tickets for the 2006 Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes are in high demand. For ticket information, visit www.hksixes.com.
New Zealand Kiwis Squad: Mark Bailey; Steve Brown; Danny Morrison; Richard Petrie; Craig Spearman; Glen Sulzberger; Stephen Wilkins. Manager: Michael Hogan.
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The 2006 Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes will take place at Kowloon Cricket Club, 10 Cox's Road, Kowloon on November 11-12. Special tickets are priced at HK$550 and include reserved seating, a lunch box for both days of the event and an Official Programme. Two-day passes cost HK$300 for adults and HK$150 for children aged 14 and under, went on sale from Monday, October 9 at the following outlets: Hong Kong Cricket Association (Tel: 2504-8102); Kowloon Cricket Club (10 Cox's Road, Jordan, 2367-4141); Hong Kong Cricket Club (137 Wong Nai Chung Gap Road, Happy Valley, 2574-6266); Dot Cod Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar (Prince's Building, Central 2810-6988); The Viceroy (Wanchai 2827-7777); Gaylord Restaurant (Tsim Sha Tsui 2376-1001) and Bayside Brasserie (Stanley 2899-0818) . For further inquiries please visit www.hksixes.com or call 2504-8103.
Provided by the Hong Kong Cricket Association. For further information, please contact Charles Lau or Novan Tang at (852) 2504-8101. |
