Hong Kong Cricket Sixes: How it all began

Cricket had been played in Hong Kong since 1842. The Interport Matches – a long-standing contest with Shanghai that later featured other teams – could be quite intense in the 19th century. But as other teams took giant strides in the 20th century, Hong Kong got left behind.

They became an ICC Associate Member and played in the ICC Trophy in the 1980s, but their cricketers lacked the opportunities to lock horns against the best in the world. That needed to be addressed. The local fans, many of whom were expatriates from cricket-playing nations, also wanted the cricketing flavour.

To counter this, Hong Kong launched the Cricket Sixes in the 1990s. They invited “international” sides from around the world. Exhibition matches were common in the era when there was not as much money in cricket, but virtually no tournament managed to host an “international” cricket competition every year.

Unlike Kerry Packer’s World Series in the 1970s or the Rebel tours of South Africa in the 1980s, the boards had no problem releasing the cricketers for the Hong Kong Super Sixes. Thus, what began as a small tournament with personalised rules expanded into a galaxy of stars of the game who represented “national” sides in rules specifically designed for the tournament.

The competition was held every year between 1993 and 1997, then again from 2001 to 2012 before it came to a halt amidst the growth of franchise-based T20 leagues. Since 2017, the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes has been played only in 2017 before making a comeback in 2024.

What are the rules of the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes?

The tournament is played under the Laws of Cricket, but with some differences:

1. Every team has six cricketers (hence the name of the version).

2. Every innings is of five overs, and no one is allowed to bowl more than one over. Overs are of six balls each (except in the final, where they constitute eight balls).

3. Wides and no-balls count for two runs.

4. If a batter reaches 31 runs, they have to retire immediately, and can resume if and only if the side is bowled out (every other batter is either dismissed or retired).

5. If a team loses all five wickets, the unbeaten batter is allowed to continue. The last batter to be dismissed continues as the permanent non-striker. Thus, every side has to take six wickets to bowl out the opposition.

Hong Kong Cricket Sixes 2024: Schedule

The 2024 edition will feature 12 teams, a jump from the eight teams of the previous editions. The entire tournament will be played between November 1 and 3, 2024.

Hong Kong Cricket Sixes 2024: Squads

Australia: To be announced
Bangladesh: To be announced
England: To be announced
Hong Kong: To be announced
India: To be announced
Nepal: To be announced
New Zealand: To be announced
Pakistan: Faheem Ashraf (c), Muhammad Akhlaq, Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Hussain Talat, Aamer Yamin, Shahab Khan
Oman: To be announced
South Africa: To be announced
Sri Lanka: To be announced
UAE: To be announced

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.