The 2018-19 Domestic Season kicks off this weekend with a mix of Junior, Men’s and Women’s cricket, and here is what you can look forward to:

Juniors

The Under-11 League gets underway with a Hong Kong Cricket Club Derby – the Pumas taking on the Dragons at HKCC on Saturday 9:30 AM in a Pool 2 matchup. The U-11 League is 8-a-side and 16 overs, contested under Pairs Cricket rules. Only Pool 1 plays with the leather ball, while Pools 2 and 3 use a rubber ball. A total of 24 teams across 8 clubs are taking part, with the bulk of the games set to take place after 15^th September. This fixture is a good opportunity for these two teams to get an early leg up on their competition.

The U-17 League starts this weekend too with the first round of the brand new T20 League. Introduced just this season, the U-17s will all play two rounds of T20 cricket with one round of 35 over cricket in between. In the Premier Division, last season’s champs DLSW Tigers face off against PACC at Mission Road (Saturday 9:30 AM), while USRC take on the HKCC Nomads at Gin Drinkers Bay (Saturday 9:30 AM). This will be the first official CHK League game to be played at GDB, and will hopefully be the start of a long and fruitful relationship between the Hong Kong cricket community and its newest venue. The Elite Division gets underway the following day, with DLSW Lions taking on last year’s runner up Lantau Lion at Gin Drinkers Bay (Sunday 1:30 PM). With 6 teams from 5 clubs taking part, this weekend is set to be a fine showcase of the brightest talent in our senior most age group.

Women’s

The Women start their season with the first round of the T20 Cup at PKVR Reservoir on Sunday. At 8:20 AM, the SCC Divas make their T20 Cup debut against the HKCC Willow Wielders. The SCC Divas were the dominant champions of the Women’s Development League last season, and the T20 Cup provides them an opportunity to step up and compete against a higher level of competition. At 11:20 AM, defending champions KCC Maidens play last season’s runner-ups DLSW Wasps, in what should be an exciting top-of-the-table clash. Then at 3 PM the HKCC Cavaliers face USRC Women. The Cavaliers will look to find the form that saw them win the T20 Cup in 2016/17, whilst the USRC Women will look to demonstrate the improvements they’ve made to their game in the off season.

Men’s

The Men’s season starts with a set of Saturday League fixtures. In Division 2 the newly relegated SCC Lancers play the Borrelli Walsh Centaurs at PKVR Park (12:35 PM) and will be looking to start their run back to Division 1 with an emphatic win. At the same time, last season’s third and fourth place finishers face off at Mission Road – Taipans vs DLSW Spartans (12:50 PM). Both teams narrowly missed out on promotion last season, and so this fixture promises to be an exciting clash between two hungry sides. In Division 1, the newly promoted Lamma CC get to play USRC/MCC Championship – winners of last season’s Saturday League KO Cup – at Gin Drinkers Bay (1 PM). Lamma will be looking to show they belong, while USRC will look to extend the winning streak that saw them win the Saturday League KO Cup.

The Sunday League season starts with just 1 game – DLSW DTC Mobile facing KMF Vagabonds in a Division 2 fixture at Mission Road (9:20 AM). Both teams finished last season in the lower halves of their respect leagues – DLSW DTC Mobile being relegated to Division 2 in the process- but are both loaded with young exciting prospect. This match-up will prove to be an exciting, competitive affair between two teams determined to make a statement.