Sports | Cricket tournament proceeds despite morning typhoon
How many to win?” a Hong Kong cricketer called out.
“Brother, you are dreaming,” came the reply from the Taipa Thunder batsman during the second semi-final match in yesterday’s single-day cricket tournament.
Eight teams from Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong Province convened at the grounds of Hou Kong Middle School – in spite of the morning’s typhoon – to compete for the tournament’s title. Despite the difficult conditions, each team’s camaraderie was on full display yesterday.
Teams of mixed South Asian players – hailing from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal – took turns batting and bowling in miniature-length cricket matches on a makeshift, waterlogged pitch.
The Macau Pirates had been eliminated earlier in the first semi-final match against Hong Kong’s Green Eagles, leaving all hopes of a Macau champion with Taipa Thunder, considered the top team at the Macau Cricket Association (MCA).
They were up against Hong Kong’s Vagabond Cricket Club, a far more accomplished team with a veteran cricketer among their eight players.
Standing against a score of 57, the Vagabonds were confident that they could squeeze three more runs out of the last four balls.
Due to the typhoon and accompanying heavy rains yesterday morning, the tournament started about two hours late.
Fortunately, the Hong Kong teams had traveled to Macau the previous night and thereby avoided being held up by the T8 typhoon alert in the neighboring SAR, which normally halts all ferry transportation. Meanwhile, the hardy Guangdong teams made it to Macau yesterday morning with no issues, organizers reported.
“The teams said that they were willing to play in any conditions,” MCA president Adnan Nasim told the Times. After the two-hour delay, the tournament proceeded mostly as planned.
“The teams from Hong Kong and Guangzhou wanted to play no matter the weather [… and were] prepared to wait no matter how long it took,” he added.
To accommodate all of the scheduled matches, the number of balls per over had been reduced from six to four, but there remained five overs per innings.
This might also have proved fortunate. Even with the reduction from six balls to four in each over, by the late afternoon most had disappeared onto the school’s roof.
“We prepared 120 balls – tennis balls wrapped in tape – and we now have just 20 left,” said Nasim as a Vagabond batter hit another ball over the pitch’s barrier. “Now, I think most of them are on the school’s roof.”
The Vagabonds, coached by an ex-professional cricketer, scored the last three runs in what turned out to be a relatively close game, and secured a place for themselves in the final. After defeating Taipa Thunder, the Vagabonds ultimately lost to their fellow SAR inhabitants, the Green Eagles.
“[Taipa Thunder] are a good team, and I thought they would get to the final,” said Nepali-born coach Sher Lama, who formerly played in the Hong Kong national team and has coached the city’s national women’s team. “But they had one over with a lot of wide bowls… one over can change the whole game.”
The next MCA event will be held in December. According to Nasim, the event will feature a similar tournament and will once again invite Hong Kong and Guangzhou teams to participate.
Nasim said that he hopes the Macau cricket clubs that are not currently affiliated with MCA – such as the British and Australian teams – will also join the event in the future. He is considering hosting a qualifying round for the Macau teams over the weekend before the tournament, in order to cut their number from five to three.
