Amidst the big name signings being announced for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, the men's team have arrived in Dubai ahead of Associate Cricket's newest tournament - The Desert T20.
Participants joining Hong Kong are Afghanistan, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, and the UAE.
Hong Kong played their first warm-up match of the tournament against a local team in Dubai and won by 6 runs, with Anshuman Rath starring with 80 runs at the top of the order.
Coach Simon Cook says the tournament marks the start of a long road of fixtures in 2017.
"This tournament is the start of our WT20 campaign and as such this is a good opportunity for players to really stand up and nail down a spot in the side in a role that they want," Cook said.
"We have worked hard over the last 12 months to create a bigger playing pool and we are now in a position where if players are not doing their jobs they will not play and the next players will get a go. This has created more competition for places and therefore a better more competitive environment." "We will play our strongest team in each fixture and it’s up to the players to take responsibility and accountability for their performance in their own role. If they can’t do that then we will look at other players who will be able to fulfil that role." Hong Kong have been drawn in Group B with Scotland, Oman and the Netherlands with the first match against the Scots on January 14 in Abu Dhabi.
"I don’t tend to look at the groups or who we have been drawn against because it can make you lose focus on the job at hand," Cook said.
"The job is to beat the team that is in front of you on any given day. If you do that more often than not, it doesn’t matter who’s in what group."
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