Sport | Cricket |
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Jurisdiction | Hong Kong |
Abbreviation | CHK |
Founded | 1968 as HKCA |
Affiliation | International Cricket Council |
Affiliation date | 1969 |
Headquarters | Causeway Bay |
Location | Hong Kong Island |
Replaced | Hong Kong Cricket Association |
Official website | |
www |
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Cricket Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港板球) is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Hong Kong. Its current headquarters is in So Kon Po, Causeway Bay. Established as the Hong Kong Cricket Association in 1968, CHK is Hong Kong's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an associate member having been admitted as a member of that body since 1969. It is also a member of the Asian Cricket Council.
On 23 April 2015, Australian Tim Cutler was appointed as Hong Kong Cricket's first chief executive, tasked with making Hong Kong a shining light among the associates and building bridges with the government as well as the International Cricket Council.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42), and it was around this time that the first recorded cricket match was played in the colony; in 1841. Ten years later, the Hong Kong Cricket Club was formed, while in 1866, Interport matches were established against Shanghai. In 1890, a further series of matches were started, against The Straights, and Ceylon. Two years after this, the Hong Kong cricket team was returning from one such match against Shanghai, when the ship they were travelling on, the SS Bokhara, was caught in a typhoon, and sank. All but two members of the cricket team, along with 114 others, drowned.
An organised domestic cricket league was first established in the 1903–04 season, and was won during its inaugural year by the Army Ordnance Corps. In 1966, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) visited Hong Kong for the first time, on their return from a tour of Australia and New Zealand. The Hong Kong Cricket Association was granted associate membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1969, and a few years later, the domestic structure was altered, with the First and Second Division being replaced with Sunday and Saturday Leagues, respectively.
In 1982, the Hong Kong national cricket team made they first appearance in the ICC Trophy, and finished fifth in their group of eight, recording two wins, against Israel, and Gibraltar. Interport matches continued until 1987, until the final one was played, against Singapore. In 1992, the first Hong Kong Cricket Sixes tournament was contested, and was won by Pakistan.