A little piece of home ... in Asia.
HOWZIT HONG KONG !
As South Africans living in Hong Kong, it seems that the Hong Kong Sixes is a tournament that does not feature on most of our radars.  I
copied the following off the Sixes website:

Six-a-side cricket is the quickest, most fun-filled version of the glorious old game – a feast of world class players, thrilling matches, huge
hits and spectacular catches.The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is the longest-running, best-established and most high-profile sixes
tournament in the world.It offers two days of fast and furious action in a festival atmosphere – 10 international teams, 45-minute clashes,
global TV coverage and almost US$300,000 in prize money up for grabs.
First played in 1992, the tournament is fully sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and backed by the boards of the test-
playing nations.Stars who have taken part include Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve and Mark Waugh, Viv Richards, Andrew Flintoff,
Adam Gilchrist, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Wasim Akram.  Adding to the excitement is the exotic venue: Kowloon Cricket Club, situated in
the heart of Hong Kong with the teeming city’s skyscrapers providing a breathtaking backdrop. England, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri
Lanka, India and South Africa – all have triumphed at the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.

With this in mind, I applied to attend the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes and I hope to bring you an un-biased, sports-fan-point-of-view from
the media-stand right at the Kowloon Cricket Club. This, Ladies and Gentlemen... is the Hong kong Sixes.
The Hong Kong Sixes

For the uninitiated (and the rugby guys among us) Sixes is to cricket what Sevens
is to rugby. It's s shortened, naturally faster and more exciting version of the game.
Two sides of 6 players play a maximum of 5 overs (30 balls) each, with each player
except the wicketkeeper having to bowl an over. The Final is played over 5
eight-ball overs. There are a few more technical rules that govern the game, but the
above is Sixes in a nutshell.

The Hong Kong Sixes consists of eight of the best cricket-playing nations in the
world that includes:

South Africa (winners in 1995, 2006)
Sri Lanka (winners in 2007)
Pakistan ( winners in 1992, 1997, 2001, 2002)
India (winners in 2005)
England (winners in 1993, 1994, 2003, 2004)
Australia
Hong Kong
All Stars*

* The organisers selects an All Stars team made up of some of the best exponents
of Twenty20 and ODI (One Day International) cricket. This allows the tournament to
be graced by names such as Warne, Lara, Vaas, to name but a few.

The 8 teams are divided into 2 Groups, Bradman & Sobers with the top 2 in each
Group going through to the play-offs.                           
The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes                                                                                                                     Home
Results of Day 1

The Proteas performed well during the round-robin stage, playing 3 games, winning 2.

Game 2:   South Africa vs. Pakistan....... SA won by 5 wickets

Game 6:   South Africa vs. India.............. SA won by 12 runs

Game 10: South Africa vs. England....... England won by 15 runs

At the end of Day 1, South Africa tops the Bradman Group with 4 points and goes into the play-offs having to face hosts Hong Kong,
Australia and England in their quest to win the HK Sixes for the 3rd time.
Results of Day 2

Day 2 started out rosy for the Proteas when they beat a fired-up Hong Kong side
by 14 runs. However, an hour and a half later they succumbed to the Aussies by
17 runs. Things were going pear-shaped for our boys and they needed to beat
the Poms if they wanted to stay in contention for the title of HK Sixes 2008 Cup
Champions.  It was not to be as they went down to the English side albeit by only
4 runs.

At the end of the Cup Round Robin, South Africa had to be content with third place
overall, which means that the Poms were to play the Aussies in the Cup Final.

England                  6 points       
Australia                 4 points
South Africa           2 points
Hong Kong            0 points

The HK Cricket Sixes finished on one of the most exciting (and closest) Finals I
have ever seen.  The two teams finished tied, which put England through as
Champions because of the fewest wickets lost. Eish! Talk about an "eina" Final.

South Africa went home with US$22 000 in prize-money (Australia US$33 000
and the Cup Champions England US$88 000). Not too shabby for 2 days' work!
If you plan on attending HK Sixes 2009 and would like to buy tickets, let us know well in advance and
maybe we can help you out. Keep visiting Howzit Hong Kong! for all the latest on the HK Sixes 2009.
Click the PLAY button to see some action from the Hong Kong Sixes 2008 Tournament.