President's
Report 2001-2002
INTERNATIONAL
Hong Kong has participated
in many international tournaments staged locally and overseas during the
year, and achieved remarkable results :
- U13 Team winning
the 2002 South East Asian Championship in Singapore this March proved
the success of the HKCA junior development programmes over the years.
Enormous publicity was generated as a result and helped to lift the
profile of cricket in the local community.
- The Association
successfully staged the U15 South East Asian Championships in December
2001. Hong Kong came Second in the tournament.
- The U19 Team was
Runner-up in the East Asian Pacific World Cup in Fiji.
- The Hong Kong
Senior Team won the Senior South East Asian Championships 2001 in Bangkok.
They also participated in ICC Tournament in Canada but the result was
disappointing with the team being eliminated in the early rounds.
HONG KONG
CRICKET SIXES
The Hong Kong Cricket
Sixes event was successfully staged at Kowloon Cricket Club in November
with teams from South Africa, India, Australia, Pakistan, United Arab
Emirates, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong. A recently signed three year sponsorship
deal with Cathay Pacific and Standard Chartered Bank ensures the event
is now a permanent fixture on the Hong Kong Cricket calendar.
DOMESTIC
- Another successful
season. 16 teams participated in the Saturday League. However because
of the non-availability of the DBS ground for much of the season, the
final league placing was based on a 15 team format with the few fixtures
completed by DBS being discounted.
- Sunday League
comprised 9 teams but was curtailed once the Championship winning team
was decided in order to commence and complete the Sunday Cup within
a reasonable time scale.
- Sunday Cup started
right away following the conclusion of the League. Champion was decided
after an exciting and close match between Little Sai Wan CC and Scorpions
with the former clinched the title.
JUNIOR CRICKET
- 26 junior teams
participated in four divisions of the Junior League in 2001 –
2002 season.
- HKCA reached an
understanding with the Hong Kong School League Association in the coming
season to supplement each other in fixtures so that young players could
play more regularly providing them a greater chance for improvement.
- The Association
is intending to introduce a U17 Junior League in the coming season.
- The Playground
League was in its third year. 46 teams with over 400 students took part
in the tournament. It is particularly pleasing to see local student
standards rising and it should be recognized that some players in the
Hong Kong Junior National Teams came from the Playground League.
- The Association
is planning to start a Secondary School League in the coming academic
year.
- The Junior Player
Pool proved to be successful and will continue in the next season.
- Super Team became
the fourth club qualified as a Community Sports Club and started to
receive government subvention.
GROUND AND
FACILITIES
- The Association
successfully secured Tin Kwong Road Sports Ground as a designated ground
for National Squad training. Training nets are being planned to be built
on the ground by LCSD.
- A training ground
for Super Team has been secured at the Hong Kong Sports Institute on
regular basis.
- Permission has
been received from the Hong Kong Sports Development Board to install
training nets at the Sports Institute.
- The LCSD has granted
permission to the Association to use its Indoor Sports Complexes in
various districts in the territory for running all year round training
centres.
- A ground breaking
match at Po Kong Village ground was held in March. Junior matches such
as the Junior Sixes were also been played in Po Kong Village. Seeding
of the ground will begin in due course. The Association is attempting
to negotiate with government for permanent use of that ground.
COACHING
CENTRES AND SCHOOLS VISITS
- The LCSD Elementary
Training Centres continued to attract more than 1200 participants annually.
- 51 demonstrations
to schools were conducted in 2001/2002, double the previous year.
STAFF
There have been several
important staff changes during the year. Mark Burns and Ravi Nagdev resigned
after a number of years of excellent service. They have been replaced
by Danny Lai as General Manager and Charly Lam as Sports Development Executive
who with Rahuman Farcy, Simone Kwan, Ron Brierly, Lal Jayasinghe and the
other coaching staff continue to provide a strong team to support the
work of the Association.
Terry Smith
President
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