They say you make your own luck. Yet, Charlie Burke has been a talisman for Hong Kong cricket. Just look at the evidence. Ever since the Australian came on board as national coach, Hong Kong have gone from strength to strength on the international scene.
We are ranked 20th in the world in one-day cricket if you take the International Cricket Council's World Cricket League structure as the barometer. Hong Kong won the Division Three crown in a tournament that was hosted here before finishing fourth in Division Two. If you take the 10 test-playing nations and the top six in Division One, it amounts to Hong Kong being ranked 20th. This is the highest ranking ever by Hong Kong in team sports on the international stage. And who engineered it? None other than Burke.
Now he has taken Hong Kong into uncharted waters once again with the senior team reaching the final qualifiers for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka next September. The tournament is a relatively new one on the world scene. This is the furthest Hong Kong have gone towards qualifying for that event.
The Asian qualifying campaign began badly when hosts Nepal defeated Hong Kong, scampering to the winning run on the last ball. But one of the biggest strengths of Burke is that he does not panic and is a superb motivator. His calm approach helped put Hong Kong back on track and subsequent wins over Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman helped the team reach today's final of the Asian tournament.
The goal was to finish in the top four in Kathmandu and Hong Kong have done that. The Jamie Atkinson-led side will now travel to the UAE in March to play in the 16-team world qualifiers and will come up against the likes of Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands and Canada - the big boys of the associate world of cricket.
Unfortunately, only two will qualify from this tournament for Sri Lanka. The ICC had originally planned to have a 16-team World Twenty20 that would have meant room for six associate countries. But having been forced to go back on the decision to make the World Cup (50 overs) a 10-team tournament - only for the full members - and instead revert to a 14-team event, the ICC hit back by reducing the teams for the World Twenty20.
It's a pity, as Hong Kong would have fancied their chances if six teams, instead of two, progressed next March. Yet, anything can happen in sport and, right now, Hong Kong can savour the satisfaction of being in the thick of another major international event.