The Hong Kong T20 Blitz was a cricket competition in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

that was first played in 2016. The inaugural event consisted of four franchised teams playing in a

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

format only. Kowloon Cantons and Woodworm Island Warriors were joint winners of the inaugural DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz after rain washed out finals day. In July 2019, the competition was cancelled, due to ongoing financial issues.

History

The

Cricket Hong Kong Cricket Hong Kong () is the official Sport governing body, 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 r ...

(CHK) announced their plans for the event in April 2016, stating they would invest in a Twenty20 cricket league for the development cricket in

as well as in nearby countries. The competition would launch with four teams playing in a Twenty20 format.

announced that DTC Mobiles will sponsor the tournament. Before the second season, Leonine Sports Group acquired the Woodworm Island Warriors, changing the name to Hong Kong Island (HKI) United. A new fifth franchise was also added and named City KaiTak.

Teams

Cricket Hong Kong announced the four hosts for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz League in April 2016, with hosting rights awarded for the first years of the competition. Team names, along with the fixtures and venues for the 2016 season, were announced in April 2016. The allocation of domestic players was decided by a draft held on April 28, 2016. All four franchises also subsequently signed a number of international players.

Tanwir Afzal Tanwir Afzal (born 12 June 1988) is a Hong Kong cricketer. He played for Hong Kong in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. He made his One Day International debut against Afghanistan in the 2014 ACC Premier League on 1 May 2014. In May 2015 ...

, captain of the

Hong Kong national cricket team The Hong Kong national cricket team is the team that represents independent Hong Kong in international competition. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1969.

, was selected as the first pick in the inaugural draft for tournament by Woodworm Island Warriors. Since 2017 a fifth team has been added & five Chinese players were taken up by the five franchises in their squad, although as of 2018 they are yet to be given any significant role or opportunity in the playing XI.

Tournament results

Format

The 2016 event took place on 29 and 30 May. The four teams played each other once in a round-robin format, followed by a finals day. All the matches were played at Mission Road Ground,

Mong Kok Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok. Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised ...

. The 2017 event took place from 8 to 12 March. The five teams played each other once in a round-robin format, followed by a finals day. All the matches were played at the Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok.

Media coverage

Coverage of Hong Kong T20 Blitz 2016 was broadcast live on

Hong Kong Cricket Association Cricket Hong Kong () 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 I ...

’s

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. Dean Jones, Jack Richards and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

’ Katherine Loughnan were hosts and also part of the commentary team.Dean Jones to headline coverage of DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz
/ref>

International broadcasters

References

External links

{{Twenty20 leagues Hong Kong domestic cricket competitions 2016 establishments in Hong Kong Twenty20 cricket leagues Sports competitions in Hong Kong Sports leagues in Hong Kong Sports leagues established in 2016 Recurring sporting events established in 2016 Cricket in Hong Kong