When Sanath Jayasuriya walks out to bat in the first ever international Twenty20 game played on Hong Kong soil on Friday at the Kowloon Cricket Club, he could be heralding a new dawn for the Hong Kong Cricket Association.
The Sri Lankan legend might have one last blast at the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes next weekend, but in the process he and the rest of the Woodworm All Stars could play a crucial role in cementing Hong Kong as a future destination for international T20 fixtures. All that will depend on how successful the 'extra' game is.
For the first time, the Hong Kong Sixes will feature a Twenty20 match - the All Stars against a Rest of the World outfit - on the opening day of the tournament, which has been expanded to three days and features 12 teams. The HKCA looks at it as an experiment for the future.
'We are sowing the seeds for the future by having this Twenty20 game. If this is well received, we can build on it and take it to the next level where we can perhaps have another tournament [Twenty20] in addition to the Sixes,' said Dinesh Tandon, Hong Kong Cricket Association chairman.
Tandon has visions of Hong Kong one day hosting a proper Twenty20 tournament between national teams, with the ultimate aim being to link it to the game's development in China, something which could gain wide currency among senior officials at the International Cricket Council.
'Yes, this is an experiment. But in no way are we looking at replacing the Hong Kong Sixes with a Twenty20 tournament even though the ICC had initially said they preferred us going down this route,' Tandon said.
'The Sixes is very unique to Hong Kong and is the only tournament of this profile in the world. But having said that, if we can commercialise this event, we can then think of having another tournament, a Twenty20 event, in Hong Kong at some other time of the year,' Tandon added.