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Follow UsWhat’s the most enthralling and exciting format?
T20, you reckon? You are a Gen Z. For the Millennial, it is the Hong Kong Sixes, a high-octane five-over-a-side format that managed to catch cricketing fans’ attention from 1993-2017. It has seen many legends of the game - from Shane Warne to Brian Lara - to the modern-era David Warner and co - bring the locals to fill the stands.
Amid the riveting Test fixtures and the end-to-end 50-over contests, the Sixes was quintessentially modern, with results in just an hour. Never would you sit at the venue wondering when the batter was going to try to hit a six.
If you are still wondering what all the hype is about a tournament that isn’t even recognised, we have former players explaining it. Let’s start with former Hong Kong skipper Aizaz Khan, who was part of the squad that made the final in 2009.
“Being an all-rounder during the Sixes is definitely most valued. To be able to bowl under pressure and execute deliveries such as slower balls and Yorkers do come in handy. With the bat, of course, playing five overs a side, big hitting is a skill that you absolutely need to be successful,” Aizaz told Cricket.com.
The last edition of the Sixes was played in 2017, after which Hong Kong hosted three seasons of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz — a tournament known for giving Sandeep Lamichhane his first big break. However, once that ended, Hong Kong’s opportunities to rub shoulders with some top names in world cricket was gone. At the same time, it showed the world that they have the ability to go toe-to-toe with some of the best cricketers in the world.
Current captain Nizakat Khan believes that the Blitz paved the way for many cricketers like himself to get an opportunity in other franchise leagues like Canada’s Global T20 League.
“We played 2-3 seasons [Blitz], which benefitted a lot of the players like me, Babar [Hayat], due to which most of the players got picked in the GT20. It was a proper franchise cricket tournament in Hong Kong, but unfortunately, due to some reason, it is not happening, but we are hoping the T20 Blitz and Sixes will be the two major tournaments in the country moving forward. I am sure Cricket Hong Kong is working in that direction,” Nizakat told Cricket.com.
Hong Kong lost their One-Day International (ODI) status in 2018 and have since struggled to regain it. Year 2019 was the last when the country hosted any sort of franchise league. Was there any connection between the two?
“Playing against high quality and experienced players gives our local players fantastic exposure and shows us what it takes to be successful in the sport. Being successful in this tournament [Sixes] against global superstars will push us to improve and motivate us to get to the next level,” Aizaz reckons.
The absence of a high-profile franchise tournament has deterred the development of a lot of these Hong Kong talents. This is despite them having a domestic T20 tournament (Hong Kong Premier League T20) akin to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India). But the biggest problem for them is to find a way to get these talents to brush shoulders with international superstars.
Could they learn from a high-profile tournament like the Indian Premier League (IPL) to help them plan for the future?
Hong Kong's wait to play another World Cup took a massive hit when they finished third in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 Asia Qualifier A behind Malaysia and Kuwait. As a result, they have failed to make it to the Regional Final, which would have given them a chance to play in the T20 World Cup for the first time since 2016.
Despite this, the country has seen several top talents like Anshuman Rath, Mark Chapman, Kinchit Shah, and of course, Nizakat and Aizaz rise through the ranks. As recently as a few weeks back, Ayush Shukla entered the record books when he bowled four maidens in a single T20. Aizaz puts the players' recent success down to the association's hard work and efforts.
“In recent years the association has definitely worked very hard to give all Hong Kong players facilities to improve their game. There has been great improvement in facilities and opportunities for all our players. Over the next couple of years, as the sport grows globally, I think that Hong Kong can be a country where several international tournaments can be hosted, and players from all over the world can come and showcase their talents,” Aizaz said.
While acknowledging that the infrastructure is getting better, Niazkat is hopeful that the government also steps forward in giving them what they need to become a formidable unit.
“The facilities are getting better. Now we get three times turf training on the weekdays, and on the weekends we play on turf premier league all-stars, the Sunday leagues,” he said.
“We are hoping that the government gives us a proper ground to train full-time and become a very good and strong team going forward,” he further added.
What about the locals, though? Barring a handful of countries, every other associate team are heavily dependent on expats, largely from the subcontinent, to drive them forward. The sport needs active participation from the local community to survive and thrive.
“What we really need to do is to penetrate the local Chinese population, for whom cricket has never taken off,” former SCMP sports correspondent Nazvi Careem, who has covered many editions of the Sixes, Blitz, and other international matches, said.
“It took decades for rugby to bring up Chinese players good enough for the representative team. While the quality of players in Hong Kong has gone up tremendously over the past 20 years, I'm not sure how much growth there is in terms of depth and grassroots development.”
Cricket Hong Kong (CHK) has evidently taken steps to ratify that.
“CHK has announced a mostly Chinese team to play in the All Chinese Cricket Championship. This is a great step forward and offers more local players the chance to play at representative level,” he further added.
The return of the Sixes is certainly a step in the right direction for Hong Kong, who once again look to be among the top associate nations in the world. The three-day tournament is certainly not the solution, but it could very well be a pedestal through which Hong Kong reach greater heights.
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