The Hong Kong 2000/2001 season differed slightly this season from previous years in that the Sunday Plate was not contested this year. The lack of grounds was again a problem but the mild winter ensured that few games were affected by bad weather and the season was concluded on schedule by the end of March.

Saturday League

Sixteen teams contested the league with the Hong Kong Cricket Club (HKCC) sides Witherers and Gap Ramblers, Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) sides Tartars and Crusaders and independent side Kai Tak making the early running. These five teams maintained their form throughout the season but Tartars showed greater consistency and managed to win the title by 14 points over Crusaders and Witherers who finished joint second, both having identical records.

Saturday Cup

League form was reflected in the Saturday Cup with Tartars and Witherers having comfortable passages through to the final at the KCC. Home ground advantage however did not help Tartars, and Witherers snatched a nail-biting 2 run win in the final over.

Saturday Plate

League wooden spoon team Police enjoyed better form in the Saturday Plate competition and reached the final at the HKCC where they met the schoolboys of Islanders who had enjoyed a fine season in the league. On the day Police proved to be too strong and ran out winners by 4 wickets.

Sunday League

Having lost out in the league to Little Sai Wan last season, the Pakistan Association were determined to improve on their showing and duly did so from the first week of the competition and led the table from start to finish. During the course of the season the Pakistan Association lost just once to the Yamano Friends' XI who finished second with a much improved performance over previous years. No other team offered any real hopes of contesting the league which the Pakistan Association won by 56 points.

Sunday Cup

Vagabonds proved to be the surprise package in this year's competition. Shrugging off indifferent league form which saw them finish 8th out of a 9 team league, they made their way to the final at the HKCC against a powerful KCC Hornets side. An exciting match saw Vagabonds confound the odds by defeating Hornets by 2 wickets with an over to spare and their first trophy win since 1994.

There is good news and bad news for the 2001/2002 season. A new ground will hopefully become available for next season, however one of the current grounds will be withdrawn from use owing to development of the area. As a result the HKC a is unable to accept the three applications it has received to join the Saturday League. This is disappointing but shows that this is a healthy demand for cricket and that interest in the game continues to grow.

International

The issue of Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card holders being eligible under the ICC 'citizen" category has now been successfully resolved.

An excellent showing by the Hong Kong team at the ACC Trophy in Sharjah saw them reach the final and thereby qualify for the Asia Cup, to be played against the Asian Test Nations. This represented a fabulous achievement and Hong Kong's rahul Sharma was named Player of the Tournament.

Hong Kong enjoyed reasonable success in the Tuanku Ja'afar tournaments. Hong Kong claimed the senior competition in Thailand and reached the final in all of the junior age levels.

Development

The Development Programme under the guidance of Gavin Erasmus, has managed to build on the growth of the past few years. Local supermarket chain 'Wellcome' has agreed to help fund a three year development programme which will mean a significant injection of funds.

The Playground League continues to make great strides with 32 teams competing in only the second year of its operation. The HKCA primary school development programme has also witnessed exceptional growth and is now the cornerstone of the HKCA Development Programme.

Support by the local Chinese media has helped to make the Elementary Centres a resounding success with the Cantonese speaking 5 outdoor and 6 indoor locations around Hong Kong being regularly oversubscribed.

A significant development in the junior league programme has seen the introduction of an Under 11 Junior League as a feeder to the existing Under 13, 15 and 19 leagues and a web-site dedicated entirely to Junior Cricket.

Overall statistics for 2000 show participation in HKCA Development Courses as having risen by 66% over figures for 1999.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd