Hong Kong's seven-strong squad for this weekend's Sixes have already hit gold. The players have struck a deal with the association rewarding them with half of the prize-money they win at the Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong Sixes which starts tomorrow at the Kowloon Cricket Club.
The players are in line for the biggest payday of their 'professional' career as they could win US$40,000 if they lift the Cup championship by beating teams such as Pakistan and India. Hong Kong are guaranteed a purse of US$5,000 even if they lose all their matches in the eight-team tournament.
Hong Kong have always pulled off wins over the more illustrious sides - the last time the event was played in 1997 Hong Kong beat South Africa and India - and will be setting their sights much higher than a last-place finish.
'If they finish first they will get half of US$80,000. The prize-money for coming last is US$10,000. The team will receive half of whatever amount they win and it will be split between seven players. It is not bad at all,' said Mark Burns, Hong Kong Cricket Association operations manager, yesterday.
'The players had proposed that 50 per cent of the prize-money be given to them. The HKCA executive committee agreed to their proposal,' Burns explained. The squad is captained by HKCC Optimists' Stewart Brew and comprises Adam Smith, Tim Smart, Ian Hodgson (all from HKCC Scorpions), Rahul Sharma (KCC Templars), Amar Najeeb (Pakistan Association) and Hussain Butt (Vagabonds). Only Brew and Sharma have represented Hong Kong at the Sixes before.
This agreement between the Sixes squad and the HKCA is unlikely to go down well with other members of the national squad, who are still waiting for monies promised since playing in the International Cricket Council Trophy in Canada earlier this year and the Asian Cricket Council Trophy last November. Already one member of the team has gone on record to say he will not represent Hong Kong in the future as he was out of pocket after playing for Hong Kong in the ICC Trophy.