Hong Kong cricketers ready to do battle in Africa
Jamie Atkinson's warriors take on hosts Namibia in opening match of Intercontinental Cup
Hong Kong will take another step on Sunday towards playing test cricket in 2018 when the Jamie Atkinson-led team take on Namibia in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in Windhoek.
The opening match in the two-year programme drawn up for the top eight associate teams has drawn a lot of attention, with ICC chief executive Dave Richardson saying the "the ICC Intercontinental Cup is now the platform for emerging nations to fulfil their ambitions of playing test cricket".
The side that wins the round-robin league (four-day matches) will play the bottom-ranked test team on the ICC test team rankings in a Test Challenge in 2018. Ireland, the reigning I-Cup champions and four-time winners, will start as favourites.
It will be fantastic to see the strongest associate members face off in an exciting competition that will showcase world cricket's growing pool of talent
The other countries in the competition are Afghanistan, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates.
"It will be fantastic to see the strongest associate members face off in an exciting competition that will showcase world cricket's growing pool of talent," Richardson said.
Led by Nicolaas Scholtz, the squad also includes veteran all-rounder Gerrie Snyman who has scored two double centuries in the competition - both against Kenya - and will include a number of players who feature in the second tier of South Africa's first-class domestic competition.
"We are looking forward to hosting Hong Kong and to play good competitive cricket," Scholtz said. "It is the first time they will be playing in Namibia, and I truly believe they will enjoy our warm Namibian hospitality."
Hong Kong can expect the heat to be turned up on what is expected to be a fast and bouncy pitch, but this could suit the medium-fast duo of Tanwir Afzal and Haseeb Amjad, who are both fresh from leading Hong Kong to a 102-run victory over Gauteng XI in Johannesburg before the team arrived in Namibia.
"We stopped over in South Africa just to get used to the conditions and adjust to the time zone and to walk away with two wins is a bonus," head coach Charlie Burke said. "The wickets here have a bit of bounce and pace and our bowlers did very well."
Skipper Atkinson was also upbeat. He said: "The Intercontinental Cup gives Hong Kong a chance to play first-class cricket on a regular basis. It provides a pathway for the best team in the competition to eventually try to play against a test-playing nation at the end of the cycle and we are raring to go after the pre-tour in South Africa."
Hong Kong will play Namibia in two one-day matches on May 15 and May 17 as part of the WCL Championship.
