“Our fans deserve to witness two quality sides that have played in some great battles”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
More international cricket will be coming to the shores of Hong Kong after it was confirmed that Papua New Guinea will play a three-match ODI series in the first week November.
The ODI series, which will be played at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Mong Kok, will be wedged between Hong Kong’s tour of Ireland and Scotland in August and their trip to Kenya in mid-November.
In 2014, Papua New Guinea made their ODI debut in a two-match series against Hong Kong in Townsville and went on to win the series 2-0.
Hong Kong director of cricket Charlie Burke expressed his delight at the series having come to fruition and made it clear that the series will help prepare Hong Kong for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in 2018.
“PNG and Hong Kong have both progressed through the divisions together over the last few years,” he said. “It was only in 2010 when we met in Division 3 and since we have both emerged to register some excellent results World Cricket League and World Cup qualifiers.
“Our fans deserve to witness two quality sides that have played in some great battles as well as an opportunity to host PNG, who put on a great series in Townsville. The bigger picture is to continue preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in 2018.”
While the series comes in the midst of a busy schedule for Hong Kong, head coach Simon Cook believes that it will help test his side both physically and mentally.
“We have played PNG a lot over the years and the players have detailed knowledge of each other which always makes for an interesting series,” he said. “They have some good players that can take the game away from you if you let them so we will have to be on top of our game to beat them.
“As we speak our players are currently in a strength phase of their training program which is going really well so we should be seeing a faster, stronger and more durable Hong Kong squad leading into this really busy six-month period.”