User:Campbell Anderson/sandbox

PROPOSED NEW PAGE IN TRIAL MODE (6.0)

NOT ON PUBLIC VIEW YET.

= = = = = = = = = =

The Hong Kong Cricket Club is a long-established cricket and private recreation club in Hong Kong.

Founded in 1851, the HKCC is located at Wong Nai Chung Gap, a short distance from the city's central business district. It has over 2,400 members and cricket is the primary club pursuit.

HKCC has received multiple civic and community awards for its contributions to cricket and the Hong Kong international sporting community, a commitment underlined by both the HKCC President (since 2021) and HKCC Chairman (since 2022). The HKCC Patron (since 2017), former England cricketer Mike Gatting, described the club as a haven that continues "...to receive many plaudits from around the world."

In addition to cricket, the HKCC runs sports sections for (in alphabetic order) croquet, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, squash and tennis. It also supports other sports including golf, snooker, table tennis and ten-pin bowling. Outdoors HKCC facilities include a cricket ground, adjacent to lawn bowls and croquet greens, plus three tennis courts and a 25m swimming pool. Indoors facilities include a cricket centre, with three nets, a sports hall with two badminton courts, four squash courts, a gym, multi-purpose room, two golf simulators, two snooker tables, a children's playroom and four lanes of ten-pin bowling. Family life underpins most HKCC events and the clubhouse operates half-a-dozen dining facilities, ranging from a Chinese restaurant to a pitch-side boundary bar, all with south-facing views overlooking the cricket ground and croquet and lawn bowls greens. The HKCC also operates an off-site restaurant, DotCod, (since 2000), 6 km away in the central business district adjacent to the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters.

HKCC has reciprocal arrangements with 49 cricket or sports clubs in 16 countries, including with Lords, the home of cricket.

HKCC cricket
Cricket has been the primary sport of the Hong Kong Cricket Club since 1851.

During the most recent season (2023), over 190 HKCC adults played cricket regularly, men and women combined, plus about 430 junior cricketers, outdoors from May to September and indoors with practice nets year round.

The HKCC anchors both ends of the cricket experience, from school-aged children's first encounters with cricket to the elite cricket of Hong Kong internationals. The HKCC Patron has emphasised ".. cricket grassroots of the game has always been strong in HKCC. Women's and junior cricket in particular continue to grow at the club." Two HKCC staff have gone on to represent Hong Kong at national level and in 2017-18, typical for many years, eight of the touring Hong Kong national team played for HKCC. Several HKCC coaches have subsequently coached the Hong Kong national cricket team, most recently Mark Wright from 2017.

HKCC encourages cricket for men and women. Important women's cricket competitions held at the club have included the 2023 Hong Kong Women's Quadrangular Series, won by Hong Kong and featuring womens teams from Hong Kong, Japan, Tanzania and Nepal. Hong Kong women's cricketer and former Hong Kong womens coach Kary Chan captained the Hong Kong national team while bowling two five-wicket innings on the HKCC wicket.

HKCC cricket teams
HKCC has abundant depth in cricket teams, from senior Premier and Elite XIs to many junior teams from ages U11 upwards.

HKCC mens cricket teams usually play in three formats (two-day or one-day or T20 cricket). Sunday Elite and Cup teams are named Wanderers or Scorpions or Optimists. Saturday Championship and Cup team names are Gap-Ramblers or Nomads or Witherers, The Challenge League are Qilin or Xuanwu (Cantonese-speaking teams) and the Friday Masters League are Qilin. HKCC men also fields a team in the Hong Kong indoor league. HKCC womens cricket fields teams in the Premier League, in T20 or T10 formats, as Willow Wielders or Cavaliers. There is also a development league where the HKCC women's team are Diamonds

U19 boys cricket play the T20 League as Scorpions and women's as HKCC Women’s U19s. U17 boys cricket play in two formats (35-overs or T20) as Nomads or Gap Ramblers. U15s play two formats (30-overs or T20) as Optimists or Witherers. U13s play as Scorpions or Optimists or Witherers. The U13 womens development team are also called Scorpions. U11 League and Championship teams are Sharks or Cobras or Pumas or Hawks or Warriors or Dragons or Rebels or Strikers or Eagles or Black Rain.

HKCC cricket trophies
HKCC-organised cricket shields and trophies are varied and competed for often. In addition to seasonal leagues, played on weekdays or weekends, competitive HKCC honours include the Hancock Shield for matches versus Kowloon Cricket Club (from 1948), the Hazzard Shield of Australia v the Rest of the World (from 1948), the Laurie Roberts Trophy (from 2001), the Sithawalla Cup for matches versus Singapore (from 1980), the Stragglers of Asia Cricket Club (from 1969), the Barton Cup (from 1924) and the Ben Thorn Trophy, played at Yokohama (from before 1876). The HKCC also operates an extensive network of cricket officials, scorers and umpires.

HKCC sports sections
HKCC activities have expanded to half-a-dozen sports sections that happen at HKCC or under its auspices. The most recently added sports section is hockey, in 2006. Reflecting the HKCC commitment to coaching excellence, almost all the HKCC sports sections (as at 2023) involve athletes competing at Hong Kong international representative level.

Tennis (since 1851)
Tennis courts have been part of club life since its formation. There are currently three tennis courts on club premises, all outdoors, where about 200 juniors receive coaching per year. As of 2024, HKCC field five men's teams and three ladies' teams in both the HKCTA Summer and Winter Leagues, one mixed doubles team in the HKTA Mixed (I) Doubles League, and two teams in the Veterans 80+ League.

Croquet (since 1851)
Croquet, along with cricket and tennis, is a founding sport of the club. The croquet green is on the northern side of the main pitch.

Squash (since 1911)
Squash courts have been a part of HKCC facilities since 1911. HKCC fields men's and ladies' squash teams in the Hong Kong Winter League, and competes annually in Cup and Plate competitions.

Lawn bowls (since 1936)
Founded in 1936, Lawn Balls fields over two dozen members divided among two mens and one women's teams, and the green is on the north-west end of the main pitch.

Netball (since 1984)
Netball is a thriving part of the HKCC community, with over 200 active participants (in 2023). The club fields two teams in Hong Kong Division 1, plus one team in each of divisions 2,3,4 and 5.

Hockey (since 2006)
Hockey is actively played by over 150 club members, allowing the club to field multiple junior age teams (boys and girls up to U17), youth teams (from over 17 to U21) and four women's teams (in Divisions 1, D2, D3 and D4) and three mens (D1, D2 and D4) teams. HKCC also field a Masters section. Hockey is cultivated in the wider Hong Kong community through many initiatives including using club facilities for coaching and international tours.

Other sports
The HKCC clubhouse also has facilities for snooker, ten-pin bowling, table tennis and various fitness and junior sports. Golf is widely pursued by several hundred HKCC members, provided they have a recognised golf handicap, and as well as playing at off-site golf courses members may access two golf simulators.

HKCC alignment with Hong Kong's Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau
An important HKCC strategy is alignment with Hong Kong's Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau trajectory for Private Recreation Leases in Hong Kong. Arising from a 2018 public consultation review and 2019 report  this includes objectives such as opening club facilities to 30% of sporting capacity plus the following three ambitions.

Promoting sports in the community
HKCC drives many extensions of Hong Kong's cricket and sporting depth. Direct bookings of facilities are open to non-members and all junior cricket up to aged U17 level is open to members and non-members, Scholarships are available for eligible younger players. As at 2022 the HKCC had built partnerships with 26 schools across Hong Kong, ranging geographically from NTW & JWA Yuen Long nursery school, in Hong Kong's north near the China border, to the Ebeneezer school for the visually impaired in the south of Hong Kong island. In higher education, Hong Kong University and HKU Space are HKCC partners. HKCC operates active partnerships with 22 NGOs (in 2023), working to advance a variety of social and mental health initiatives expressed through sport, including the Caritas Community Centres in Ngau Tau Kok and Aberdeen, the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, the Down Syndrome Foundation and HK Federation of Youth Groups.

The primary school cricket league is played on the HKCC ground and involves such teams as the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Hok Shan school and the S.K.H. St. James' Primary School in Wan Chai plus teams from schools such as Kellett and the English Schools Foundation. In July 2021, senior officials at the Po Leung Kuk registered appreciation to the HKCC for hosting bi-monthly sports days for their residential children over the recent decade (2014-2024). The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Hok Shan School and the S.K.H. St James' Primary School, located in Kennedy Road, Hong Kong also raised similar appreciation.

Supporting elite sports and national sporting associations
HKCC has a long-established tradition of supporting NSAs, Hong Kong's national sporting associations, for example to run league matches and schedule internationals. The HKCC partners with Cricket Hong Kong and nine similar NSAs in Hong Kong, including tennis, lawn bowls, netball, hockey, squash, table tennis and several others. In the years immediately before Covid, the HKCC increased its playing hours offered to Eligible Outside Bodies (EOB), year-on-year, between 2014-2019, exceeding Hong Kong government expectations and lease requirements.

The HKCC has introduced a Sport Pathway Programme to strengthen elite international performance. It is applicable for men and women and juniors. The aim is that "... both members and guests are exposed to world-class coaching... in the true spirit of sport the club provides opportunities for all." By the early 2020s, student placements offered by HKCC had become a flourishing club tradition. Students from Eton College and Wesley College, Zhongshan University in China and Griffith University in Australia have participated. Totally, between 2001-2021, ten schools or higher education institutions in Hong Kong have attended HKCC work placements.

Scheduling international sports fixtures
The third strand of HKCC support for the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau is ensuring international cricket is central to the HKCC and Hong Kong sporting calendars. In mens cricket, as at 2023, HKCC hosts and participates in Hong Kong's Premier League cricket leagues (2-day, ODI, and T20 formats), the men’s East-Asia Cup and the ICC World Cricket League Division 3. In women's elite cricket the HKCC involvement includes multiple women's internationals, the women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier (Asia) and the women’s championship (East Asia). A highlight of the international cricket calendar is training sessions for the International Cricket Sixes.

By the early 2020s, the HKCC had partnered with three government departments, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which is the primary booking platform for sporting facilities territory-wide, the former Immigration Service Staff Association and Senior Police Call.

HKCC support for social and philanthropic causes
The backbone of club social and philanthropic contributions is active engagement by HKCC staff and over 100 club members volunteer each year (2023 data, consistent over recent years).

HKCC philanthropy
Annually in time for Chinese New Year, HKCC donations to the community are gathered for redistributions. In 2020, during the height of Covid restrictions, the club collected boxed presents for distribution to the Po Leung Kuk, Love 21 Foundations, Branches of Hope, SOCO and Pathfinders. Four iPads were also donated to the Po Leung Kuk and 38 maternity packs for Pathfinders and 20 school packs through SOCO In 2021, HKCC volunteers also partnered with the Zubin Foundation to create over 50,000 meal boxes.

HKCC staff volunteering
In 2013 the HKCC established a Staff Volunteering programme to advance club support for community and to cultivate staff morale. In the period 2008-2023 it undertook multiple organic farming initiatives, By tradition the HKCC donate organic vegetables that it grows to rotating causes each year, ranging from the Hong Kong Spastic Association (2014) to winter melon crops for the St James Neighbourhood Elderly Centre (2019).

HKCC employment practices
The club prides itself on bonds between staff and HKCC members. HKCC trains staff for on average 1,400 hours per year. It has been recognised for various employment practices, including from the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission (excellence as an "Equal Opportunity Employer for Racial Equality and Inclusion" (2021), the Hong Kong Council of Social Services (Caring Organisation, 2015-present)  the Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business (the Partner Employer Award for strengthening training opportunities and cultivating a caring culture, 2018-2023) and the Hong Kong Labour Department (the “Good Employer Charter 2020” for employee-oriented and progressive human resource management.

Travelling HKCC staff are encouraged to visit overseas cricket clubs such as Lords and the MCC in Australia.

HKCC environmental protection
In 2018, the Club signed the “Glass Container Recycling Charter” and from 2008 to 2024, HKCC has achieved the 'Class of Excellence' Award for Green Management from the HK Productivity Council. The club has active and long-established contacts with Hong Kong's turf management education and practices, such as Hong Kong Baptist University and elsewhere.

HKCC History
HKCC history corresponds closely with Hong Kong's historical milestones. Following the city's foundation under British administration in 1842 as a consequence of the First Opium War, shortly afterwards the port's British community had sufficient interest to establish a cricket club. The HKCC has since flourished in every decade bar one, the Japanese occupation of the 1940s, with hundreds of thousands of spectators and tens of thousands of young Hong Kongers from varied schools and backgrounds encountering cricket and other sports through HKCC.

Establishment in 1851
A meeting in 7 June 1851 proposed that a club with a turfed playing field be built on the Murray parade ground, creating one of the first cricket clubs outside England. Tennis and croquet sporting sections were also established. Advantageously situated on the Victoria harbour waterfront, a ceremonial stone stood near the cricket pavilion between 1890 and 1975.

19th century
A cricket pavilion was constructed in 1893. Regular league cricket matches settled into the cricket calendar including home and away legs versus the Shanghai Cricket Club, first played in 1866 (home) and 1867 (away). Tragedy befell the 1892 away leg, in the era before air travel, when all but two players of the Hong Kong Cricket Club team drowned in the Pescadores Islands, on the passage home from Shanghai. The event is memorialised in the HKCC clubhouse.

20th century
Cricket at the HKCC had become a regular fixture in Hong Kong weekends by the 20th century. The Hong Kong cricket ground was also used occasionally for civic ceremonies, such as the coronation proclamation of Britain's King Edward VII in 1901. After a domestic cricket league was founded in the 1903-04 season, augmented by a further (second) division in 1921-22, squash (1911) and lawn bowls (1936) were added to HKCC sporting sections. A new pavilion was completed in 1923 and an inaugural Hong Kong men versus Hong Kong women cricket match was played in 1924.

During the Japanese occupation in the early 1940s cricket was extinguished from city life, club records were vandalised, and only basic ground maintenance happened. The HKCC resumed meetings in 11 February 1946, when the Chairman was thanked by acclimation, and the first post-war Hong Kong versus Kowloon cricket match was played later that year. The HKCC centenary was celebrated in 1951 when the club's President lauded HKCC for its unique contributions to promoting cricket in Asia and encouraging fair play. A number of cricket matches commemorated the centenary, including HKCC v Rest of Hong Kong, a territory-wide selection, and HKCC v Singapore Combined Services. HKCC centenary programmes still sell at auction, seventy years later, into the 2020s. During 1975, the club surrendered its cricket pitch in the heart of Hong Kong's Central District, immediately facing the LegCo building, and relocated to Wong Nai Chung Gap, 6 km away and the club's current home ground. The old pitch had been used for 125 years and was repurposed into Chater Garden, now an open amenity for the Hong Kong public. Amplifying the spirit of renewal and fresh starts, the opening of the new HKCC cricket ground was attended by international cricketers English fast-bowler Harold Larwood and Australian wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield, who had opposed each other during the controversial Bodyline tour of 1932-33. HKCC v KCC, Kowloon Cricket Club, a central fixture of the Hong Kong cricketing calendar, was first played at the new ground in 1980.

From the start of the 20th century until the Japanese occupation, HKCC were First Division winners ten times, including a joint HKCC and Indian RC team, and after the occupation until the 1997 handover HKCC were winners twelve times, an overall win rate about 1-in-3.

21st century
The club's sesquicentennial anniversary, held in 2001, was marked by varied celebrations, including a triangular series played at the HKCC versus select teams from the United Kingdom's Lords and Australia's Melbourne Cricket Club. The club patron at the time, Tung Chee-Hwa commenting on 150 years of cricket, noted that "...cricket is an integral part of the heritage of Hong Kong." Reflecting on the Club's legacy as a conduit for international sport in the SAR, he added "...Hong Kong has a splendid reputation abroad as an excellent city in which to hold a sporting event. Cementing the club's international stature, the home of cricket, Lords, and Australia's premier cricket club, the Melbourne Cricket Club, promulgated reciprocal membership arrangements with HKCC. In keeping with the club's maturing international stature, HKCC facilities were further expanded in 2009 with a new Sports Annexe and gym facilities.

The 150th anniversary of the Interport fixture, Hong Kong Cricket Club versus Shanghai Cricket Club, was played in December 2016, competing for the Bokhara Bell Trophy, in honour of the souls lost in 1892 on the SS Bokhara, including eleven lives from the Hong Kong First XI.

Between 2002 and 2020, the HKCC completed 62 tours, all sports combined, to elsewhere in China, within Asia including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, to India, Australasia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Marking increasing bonds with Cricket China, in 2009, on the HKCC women's tour to Shenzhen the club played with the China national team. Between 2004 and 2019 the HKCC hosted 24 international and sporting events, including the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes in various years and the HKLBA Golden Jubilee International Bowls Classic (2011). Marking the club's 170th anniversary, the Board of Cricket Hong Kong registered their appreciation to the HKCC in 2021 for "...their outstanding and unstinting support of cricket in Hong Kong."

As a fresh 21st century development for cricket conducted in native languages, HKCC established HKCC Qilin in 2019 and HKCC Xuanwu in 2021, both teams founded on instructions and umpiring communications in Cantonese.

HKCC publications
Most sports sections at HKCC publish recent news of sporting activities, game fixtures, tours and contributions to the community (hockey for example ).

The HKCC has published two memoirs about the club's historical bond with Hong Kong. "150 not out" covers cricket in Hong Kong during the years 1851-2001, and "170 years of cricket in Hong Kong" updates HKCCs unfolding contributions to Hong Kong's cricketing community and sporting life up to 2021. The International Cricket Council, Marylebone Cricket Club in London, and Melbourne Cricket Club in Australia registered their congratulations to the HKCC when "170 years" was published.

Since the 1960s, HKCC has published a magazine for members ten times per year, called the Pinkun in reference to the original paper stock. It also publishes a live television schedule.