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Prize money at stake for local trophy

For the first time in the history of the domestic game, players will vie for prize money when the Twenty20 Quaid-I-Azam Trophy takes place from February 15-17 at Mission Road.

The booty is small - HK$40,000 - but local cricket chief Clive Howard hopes this could be the start of something new and is fully behind the initiative brought forward by the Consulate General of Pakistan.

'This is a proposal brought forward by the Pakistan Consulate and we are working closely with them to make it a success,' said Howard, chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association. The prize money will be an incentive for the local players and I hope this event will be held annually and that it will grow in the future,' Howard said.

'Tournaments like these are good for the local game.'

Six teams will take part split into two pools of three with the winners meeting in the final. The teams are Hong Kong Cricket Club, Kowloon Cricket Club, Pakistan Association, Little Sai Wan, Millennium and SubCont Cricket Club.

The winners will take home HK$25,000 with the runners-up getting HK$10,000.

The player of the tournament will receive HK$5,000. 'The passion and love for the game is shared by people in Pakistan and Hong Kong. We hope this tournament will in the future attract teams from overseas and that it will be an international event,' said Jawad Ashraf, tournament director.

Apart from providing players with the chance to win money, the tournament will also offer new Hong Kong coach Aftab Habib an opportunity to look at players capable of making an instant impact as Hong Kong look to qualify for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou when cricket (Twenty20) makes its debut as a medal sport.

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