Australia's intention to send a golden oldies side to the Hong Kong Sixes has led to the tournament's organisers dumping the country - the current one-day champions - from the popular event to be held on November 1-2 at the Kowloon Cricket Club.
'We have decided not to invite Australia because of their reluctance to send a representative team to Hong Kong,' said Mike Walsh, chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association.
Australia have been replaced by New Zealand in the eight-team tournament. Other changes will see the United Arab Emirates, who have been here for the past two years, also not being invited. Organisers are looking at the West Indies, Kenya, Holland or Scotland to replace the UAE.
'The three big teams from the sub-continent, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, will be back again. They will be joined by England, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong and one other team yet to be confirmed. It will be a strong competition,' Walsh revealed.
Last year, Australia sent a team who included former Test players Craig McDermott and Colin Miller and a number of other lesser known faces. One such player, Tasmanian Dene Hill, proved to be the star of the Sixes as he won the Player of the Tournament Award for his explosive batting - although Australia finished bottom of the field.
Ever since the HKCA won recognition for the Hong Kong Sixes from the International Cricket Council - back in 2001 - the onus has been upon the various cricketing boards to send teams to the tournament. In the early days of the event, organisers used to pay players appearance fees, which resulted in big name stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Arjuna Ranatunga - among others - turning up. The lure these days is prize money of $2 million.
