Hong Kong head coach Willis says side cannot afford passengers in bid to compete with best, after Oman semi-final loss
- Hong Kong suffer five-wicket defeat by Oman in ACC Premier Cup semi-final, after setting hosts meagre 131 target
- Team left to rely heavily on experienced batting pair of Nizakat Khan and Babar Hayat with rest of side failing to contribute
Simon Willis praised the fight mustered by Hong Kong to take their ACC Premier Cup semi-final against hosts Oman to the wire, but said his side cannot afford to carry passengers against the strongest associate nations.
The head coach will join city officials in conducting a review of performances in Oman, where his team managed wins against Malaysia and Qatar, but were well beaten by Saudi Arabia and Nepal before their semi-final loss.
Having missed out on the chance to qualify for the Asia Cup, which will now come down to straight fight between Oman and United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong must beat Nepal in Saturday’s third-place play-off to at least earn a spot in the second-tier Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
Hong Kong limped to 130 for 9 in their last-four encounter on Friday, on a wicket where a score of around 150 would have been par. Oman slumped to 65 for four in reply, but an unbeaten 62 from Aqib Ilyas guided them home with five wickets and four balls to spare.
“I was proud of how the players fought in the field, we have spoken a lot about competing rather than participating, as individuals, and in the two games [against Malaysia and Oman ] we did that,” Willis said. “To still be in the game in the final over was an outstanding effort.”
Willis said reams of data compiled during the tournament would guide the Hong Kong review, where the selectors, Nizakat Khan, the captain, and senior players would be asked to contribute.
“We will discuss what worked well and what didn’t, learn from those experiences, and come up with a plan for the future,” Willis said.
“We have to be honest with ourselves. and find solutions to make us a better team. If I had the answer to exactly what needs to change, the job would be easy. But the first thing is that we need 11 players who are competing.
“We cannot go out there with seven or eight, because these other teams are pretty much full-time professionals, and playing a lot of cricket against better teams.”
Willis said he maintained “a lot of faith” in a batting line-up that in Oman relied heavily on Nizakat, and the explosive Babar Hayat, with Aizaz Khan’s 37 against Qatar the highest score from outside those two.
He also said any criticism of Martin Coetzee would be harsh, after the opening batsman scored 29 runs in four innings, with a top score of 12, at an average of 7.25.
“Martin was playing with a groin injury throughout the tournament, and suffered a back spasm against Oman,” Willis said.
There was also a staunch defence of bowler Ayush Shukla, who disappeared for 43 off 3.2 overs against Oman, and went for 42 from his four overs in the shock loss to the Saudis.
“Ayush has been one of our top players for a long time, everybody has good days and bad days, [the semi-final] was one when it did not go so well.” Willis said.
“He takes on the challenge of bowling in the power play and at the death, which are the hardest times to bowl, and is a key player for us.”
But Willis also acknowledged that in small city with few players good enough to compete at the associated level, he did not have the luxury others had when it came to drawing from a wider pool of talent.
“But we have one or two coming through, and given the right help and support they could be very successful in the future,” Willis said.
“We have had a talent pathway for only around three years, and any development system takes time [to produce players], so we need to be patient.”
Hong Kong have no competitive cricket until August’s T20 World Cup qualifiers, and are currently finalising plans for a preparation tour.
“The players’ performances when they had their backs to the wall showed they care,” Willis said.
“But we cannot flick a switch and expect it to happen. It has to be a habit, we have to do the right things every day, then we will be a more consistent, winning team.”
