Left Field: The Hong Kong cricket team have done well, but will not be able to play on home soil
The city have broken into the top layers of the international game, but they will not be able to play on home soil
Enough time has been lost ruminating about the possibilities of providing Hong Kong cricket with a ground that meets international standards, both in size and facilities.
The preliminary announcement last week by the International Cricket Council of a busy schedule for the top associate countries, including Hong Kong, over the next two years, has once again raised the question of when the government will lift its head out of the sand and realise that in cricket we have a great way to not only foster a healthy sport in this city but to also help propagate the game on the mainland.
Cricket is the poor relation, having to beg for grounds capable of hosting an international
To borrow terminology from the game itself, Hong Kong is not playing "test" cricket as far as ground requirements are concerned. It is in Twenty20 mode. We need a ground now. We cannot wait years before the government decides to start work on a venue.
It is crucial for the continued momentum of the most successful team sport in this city - some might claim rugby sevens has the right to this title having won two Asian Games silver medals, twice been crowned Asian sevens champions and having played in every World Cup - but it is hard to argue against world rankings.
Hong Kong are 15th on the list in limited-overs cricket, behind the 10 test-playing nations, and Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates. No other team sport has such a high world ranking. As such, it is a shame cricket is the poor relation, having to beg for grounds capable of hosting an international match.
None of the three main grounds in Hong Kong - Hong Kong Cricket Club, Kowloon Cricket Club and Mission Road - can host an international. The first two simply due to their postage stamp-sized boundaries and the latter because there are no supporting facilities for umpires, scorers, media etc.
With elevation to the top level, Hong Kong will feature in the Intercontinental Cup - four-day matches - against Ireland, Scotland, Afghanistan, UAE, Namibia, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea. These will be either home or away from 2015 to 2017. Similarly in limited overs cricket (50 overs and Twenty20) Hong Kong will face a hectic calendar over the same period of time. As things stand, Hong Kong will have to play all their fixtures away.
What a shame. The best way to raise the profile of a sport is to host big events. Getting teams like Ireland and Afghanistan to play here would do a huge deal of good not only for the game locally, but it could also work in promoting the game in China. The China national team could be invited to train with the top associates when they arrive in Hong Kong, and then watch them in action. This would not only help the game on the mainland, but also build bridges.
The ICC is keen to push the game in China and it would be great if Hong Kong could become the gateway. without an international ground, such goals will remain a pipedream.
It is time the government made good on their promises. In 2011, then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen pledged cricket would have a home to be proud of. The Home Affairs Bureau was given the task of identifying a suitable venue and short-term, medium-term and long-term plans have been put in place. In the short term, a landfill site at Gin Drinkers Bay in Kwai Chung has been earmarked for cricket. The medium-term plan is to turn the former Vietnamese boat people detention centre at Whitehead in Ma On Shan into a full-sized international ground. The long-term plan is for the proposed Kai Tak sports complex to include cricket.
All well and good, but things are moving at a snail's pace - just look at the dreary progress over Kai Tak.
We have spent enough time talking about obstacles. For instance, work on the Whitehead venue cannot start until 2017 because a car park on the site has a lease until then, but surely the government can get around this and get cracking?
The Hong Kong national team have done well in recent times and are now part of the ICC's high-performance programme. They get annual funding of around US$400,000 from both the ICC and its Asian counterpart.
If Hong Kong is to reap the benefits, then it must be able to host international matches. Apart from giving home ground advantage to our players, it will also help boost the profile of the game. The government must take strike immediately.
