West Island School left-handed batsman Colin Bridges captains a 14-strong Hong Kong under-13 squad who left yesterday on a ground-breaking tour to Perth.
Bridges, who also bowls leg-spinners, is one of three players who are older than 13. But they have been included to stiffen the team who will play five matches, including a representative game against a Western Australian age group team.
'We have included a couple of older players because we wanted to take a competitive side. We also wanted to use this tour as a build-up for December's under-15 Tuanku Ja'afar tournament which will be played in Hong Kong,' coach Steve Atkinson said.
The Hong Kong youngsters will play five matches on tour with the highlight of their stay coming when they play kanga cricket during the break between innings at the day-night match between state sides Western Australia and Tasmania at the WACA.
'It will be a good experience for the boys,' said Atkinson.
The tour, the first time a Hong Kong representative team is visiting Australia, is being sponsored by Qantas Airlines.
