FOR the sake of progress and developing the game among the Chinese, the Hong Kong Cricket Association are willing to be labelled Shylocks. They are asking for their pound of flesh - in the form of a fee to sanction the proposed exhibition game between world one-day champions Pakistan and a Rest of the World XI in mid-March. 'We have no objection to the game being played at all . . . but only if the organisers put money into the development of the game in Hong Kong,' said HKCA chairman Peter Slack. The HKCA's bargaining point is that they control the only ground in Hong Kong where the match can be realistically played on the day. That ground is the Kowloon Cricket Club. And on March 19, the scheduled date, KCC is booked by the HKCA for the Rothmans Cup final. The Hong Kong Stadium has also been put forward as an alternative venue. But it is learnt that the promoters would prefer to play at KCC than at the stadium. Hopefully, the sanction fee will not become a sticky issue. No one, in the interest of cricket, locally, will want to prevent intrepid promoters Everest Worldwide from staging the match. Slack says the HKCA will be more than happy to work hand-in-hand with the promoters although they have still not got in touch with the local governing body. 'We got $400,000 from the organisers of the Hong Kong Sixes this year for the development of cricket. While we are not saying that we want this amount of money, we will still be looking for a sanction fee.
