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Rob Woollard

The launch of a star-studded eight-a-side cricket tournament which will be the richest in the history of the sport has been met with dismay by Hong Kong Cricket Association officials.

 The nine leading cricket nations will compete in a Super 8s tournament in Perth in October, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) announced yesterday.

 ACB chairman Denis Rogers said the winner of the three-day event at the WACA Ground would take away A$400,000 (US$260,000) out of the total of A$500,000 up for grabs.

 It will be the first Super 8s international contest to bring together all the sport's top countries - Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

 The launch of the tournament is an ominous sign for Hong Kong, which is hoping to launch a 'CricketMax' tournament in September in place of the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.

 'CricketMax' is a different version of the short game and if the Australian tournament goes ahead it will reduce the chances of top players appearing in Hong Kong.

 Peter Slack, chairman of the HKCA, said he was disappointed that Australia had chosen to go ahead with the tournament and questioned the ACB's need for the competition.

 Slack said 'CricketMax' was expected to get endorsement from the International Cricket Council as the official form of short cricket and said he hoped Australia would support the Hong Kong tournament.

 'I'm disappointed that Australia feels it necessary to hold a tournament like this. These sort of events are ideal for places like ours where we are trying to develop the game,' Slack said.

 'It's our understanding that 'CricketMax' is going to be adopted by the ICC as the short-form of the sport and that was why we have opted for it . . . although we had heard that Australia were in favour of eights.

 'I don't know why a country like Australia, which already has Test cricket and one-day cricket, wants or needs to hold an eights tournament. Probably because they've got a sponsor who wants to put it on, but I suppose you would have to ask them,' he said.

 The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes - which had established itself as the biggest short-form cricket in the world - was shelved this year in favour of a four-team 'CricketMax'.

 The eights tournament will be held from October 2-4. Its director will be former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who said he had been delighted with the initial response from overseas players.

 'I am confident we will have 50 of the world's best players here,' he said. 'We are offering a bigger winners' purse than has ever been available in the sport before.

 'Each of the players in the winning team will take about 40,000 Australian dollars for only six hours' involvement. They will need to play in only three games to win.'  There will be four two-hour games - some under lights - on each of the first two days and a semi-final and final on the third.

 Apart from the reduction from 11 to eight in the number of players, the Super 8s format allows each team only 14 overs' batting. The ground area is reduced and hits over the boundary, which earn six runs in normal cricket, count for eight.

 Lillee said TV could take the event to 188 million people in 52 countries.



Dismay as Aussies launch Super 8s