Asian Games: HONG KONG SHORTLIST 20 FOR ASIAN GAMES

The Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) has shortlisted a squad of twenty players for both the men's and women's teams for the upcoming 2010 Asian Games in November in Guangzhou. The final 15 will be selected at the end of August.

The victorious Hong Kong team, 2008 ACC Trophy Elite

Most players in both teams have already played in previous ACC tournaments. HKCA have also selected local Chinese players from their recruitment camps. The men's team feature many players who have represented Hong Kong previously at age-group and senior ACC tournaments. Hong Kong were winners at the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite and 2009 ACC U-19 Elite Cup, participants at this year's ICC U/19 World Cup 2010 and they finished third at the 2010 ACC Trophy Elite. Below is the men's squad list:

Men's Squad:

James Atkinson

Shakeel Haq

Niaz Ali

Aizaz Khan

Vikash Vaswani

Asif Khan

Irfan Ahmed

Nadeem Ahmed

Najeeb Amar

Ilyas Gul

Roy Lamsam

Alex Smith

Khalid Khan

Nick Lau

Jason Lui

Zafaran Ali

Lai Kai Ming

Chan Ka Ming

Siegfried Wai

Sean Brierly

HKCA General Manager Danny Lai says, "Eligibility of players is the main concern for our teams. The majority of our men's team are Hong Kong passport holders and the others are born in Hong Kong."

Hong Kong women's team, 2009 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship

The Hong Kong women's team have performed well at ACC tournaments. They were winners of the 2009 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship, semi-finalists at the 2008 ACC U-19 Women's Championship and semi-finalists at the 2007 ACC Women's Tournament losing to eventual winners Bangladesh.

Some of Hong Kong's players who have played in previous ACC tournaments are not eligible for the Asian Games as they are expatriates. The recruitment camps were successful as close to 50 players have emerged from them. Mr. Lai said, "The players from the camps are undergoing intensive training and we are hopeful that some can make it into the squad. The idea is to also strengthen the existing base of cricket and we are happy with the results. We are looking to make this a policy for the future of Hong Kong cricket – to get more local people playing for the national teams."

Women's Squad:

Keenu Gill

Betty Chan

Annie Ho

Chan Sau Ha

Anastasia Yip

Connie Wong

Godiva Li

Amanda Kwok

Mariko Hill

Jaswinder Kaur

Kristine Wong

Ishitaa Gidwani

Smita Chhetri

Yasmin Daswani

Manpreet Kaur

Janet Cheung

Alvina Tam

Iris Tse

Carrie Cheung

Virginia Wong

Natural Yip

Yoyo Kwok

Hong Kong have been training under new coach Charles Burkesince May and are one of six teams so far to confirm their participation in either the men's or women's event. Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be fielding men's and women's teams while Thailand and Japan have confirmed a team for the women's event. The deadline for teams to confirm their participation is June 30th 2010.