ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

match but in both games they started well and showed much promise. Used to one-day cricket, they lacked the application and concentration to maintain the effort over several days. Nor did they have the bowling resources to trouble more experienced batsmen. Too much of their bowling was medium pace; they had no attacking fast bowler and no penetrative spin. They simply could not dismiss the opposition. The batting was stronger with Pearson Best demonstrating his ability as easily the country’s most accomplished cricketer, their only player both to score over 100 runs in the two matches and maintain a strike rate over 60.0. Ryan Bovell also batted well and was the most successful bowler. Steve Gordon, their only player with previous first-class experience – he had played two matches for Jamaica – batted well in the first innings of their opening game but thereafter disappointed. All three of these players were born outside the country and learned their cricket elsewhere in the Caribbean. It was perhaps unfortunate that the country’s opportunity to participate in the tournament came when their cricket was in transition and the base of local players was still being established. Five players born in the Caymans in the 1980s were used in the tournament but, of these, only two were still in the national side five years later. One, Marc Chin, never represented the Caymans again. Since 2005, the country has retained its position as the fourth best in the Americas without ever seriously threatening to break into the top three. HONG KONG Played Won Drawn Lost Won on first inns Lost on first inns 2 0 0 1 1 Highest team total 184 v United Arab Emirates Sharjah 2005 Lowest team total 91 v Nepal Kirtipur 2005 Highest individual total 46 A.G.Gunthorpe v United Arab Emirates Sharjah 2005 Best bowling analysis 5-16 Ilyas Gul v United Arab Emirates Sharjah 2005 Best wicketkeeping 4 c Nasir Hameed v Nepal Kirtipur 2005 Hong Kong took part in the 2005 competition when they replaced Malaysia as the third country in the Asia Group. They were handicapped by being forced to play both their matches away after the ICC ruled that there was no suitable home ground, which was somewhat of a disappointment as the Asian Cricket Council had permitted the Hong Kong Cricket Club ground to be used for home matches in the 2005 Fast Track Country Tournament. In both games, Hong Kong were unfortunate to encounter pitches which favoured pace bowling and their batsmen proved unable to cope. In four innings, not one player reached a half-century and no one obtained a strike rate above 50. Rahul Sharma, their most experienced batsman, was also unavailable for the first match. In contrast, the bowlers performed well. Afzaal Haider and Khalid Khan provided an effective pace attack and, when conditions permitted, were well supported by the off spin of Ilyas Gul. The latter had a good all-round record since he was dismissed only once in three innings. His performance was perhaps surprising given his somewhat moderate record for Hong Kong as a whole – he never again took five wickets in an innings in a career extending from 2002 to the present. Whereas Afzaal Haider was one of Hong Kong’s most successful bowlers – in a much shorter career (2004-2008) he took five wickets in an innings four times. Although the captain, Tim Smart, was listed as the wicketkeeper, Nasir Hameed occupied the position in the second game, performed well, and for the next five years became the side’s regular keeper. Hong Kong’s appearance in the Intercontinental Cup came at a time when the team was in transition between one based strongly on an expatriate presence from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to one dominated by players originating from the Indian sub-continent. None of the squad that played in the Intercontinental Cup was born in Hong Kong. 272 Countries