Boundaries, bouncers and beer ... it could only be the Sixes

Drummers beat their drums while dancing girls grace the pitch during breaks in play, balls whiz overhead at lightning speed, cricket obsessed ball-boys whack water bottle tops with their signed souvenir bats in between games, nationalistic fervour and flag waving is everywhere ... it's the Hong Kong Sixes, the biggest drawcard on the local cricket calendar.

The idea of compressing a cricket match into a five-over flurry dates back to 1985 and a friendly, but competitive, match between the Kowloon Cricket Club and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.

'We simply took the laws of cricket and jiggled them about. We started from the basic premise of six players, five overs and only four fielders,' said tournament director Glyn Davies

'Such a radical change means we still have things happen on the pitch that aren't in the rulebook. When this happens, we simply adapt the rules for the following year. This year we have nine international teams rather than eight which has brought about some new challenges.'

But the appeal of the game was clear, said Davies. 'The international players can really strut their stuff in sixes. There's the basic element of ball, bat and field, but there's only 30 balls. It's fast and it's ultra-competitive.'

This maverick version of the international game was first staged in 1992 when the Hong Kong Sixes was launched.