HKCA CEO Tim Cutler says Hong Kong’s ICC World Twenty20 campaign has had a profound impact on the development of cricket in the city. Speaking in a live interview on Hong Kong Cricket’s Facebook page, Cutler revealed the recent performances of the men’s team would bring with it many benefits. “We are back into consideration for entry back into the Hong Kong Sports Institute as an Elite Tier B sport, which means funding both for programmes and players. We had Hong Kong’s English language radio station send a representative there, and lots of feedback from other TV stations and newspapers throughout.” During the first round of the World Twenty20, the opportunities for Associates to play in international matches was a hot topic. “At the moment, the cycle has been rolled down for a while in terms of the World Cricket League and the World Twenty20 qualification pathway and the Intercontinental Cup. I think it’s really down to the Associates, like ourselves and Scotland did with the recent Braidwood Cup, to see how we can find additional opportunities to play more cricket, and then how we can find commercial opportunities there as well.” “There is a big fence between Associates and the full members. With the increased funding for Afghanistan and Ireland, I see them as two members standing on a box looking over that full member fence. But there is still very much a big block there. The difference between Associates and Full Members has come down to no gap whatsoever, definitely in the shorter form of the game. Even in the World Cup we saw some matches go towards the Associates too.” “Even with the increased funding, Afghanistan and Ireland probably cannot afford the full member series themselves. From the sounds coming from the ICC Board and from Shashank Manohar the new chairman, things are heading in the right direction.” Recalling his experience at the World Twenty20, Cutler said: “We were there at the world stage, lots of people talking about us, lots of messages of support coming from all around the world. The disappointment was not so much at losing, it’s just that I don’t think the world got to see the best of Hong Kong cricket. A lot of guys are very talented but we did not necessarily see that.” Although Hong Kong’s World T20 campaign has ended, it is still an exciting time ahead for Hong Kong Cricket: “Hopefully we are going to announce a franchise-based Twenty20 league, a short and exciting run fest, in May. The national teams will go into a training block leading to tournaments in the last quarter. The women’s will play in the qualifiers for the ACC Women’s Asia Cup. The men’s will go off to Ireland for the Intercontinental Cup tie, and then off to Africa playing against Kenya in the World Cricket League Championship. Both of them are very important rounds for us considering where we are in both competitions.” “Facilities is always number one, we need to have more opportunities for people to play cricket here. We are about to sign the land license for a facility that will give us three new grounds for next season. We have also got an exciting time coming up in the way we are structuring our players’ contracts, and how we are going to take that forward to create some genuine and professional sportsmen in Hong Kong.”
Watch the full interview here: https://goo.gl/0eEsUO