HONGKONG, Nov 9: It will be raining sixes and fours in Hong Kong after a gap of four years.
The Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong Sixes 2001 starts at Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong on Saturday.
The two days of explosive cricket will feature eight nations.
With the quick-fire six-a-side format suiting the fast-paced Hong Kong life, and the neat Kowloon Cricket Club providing a perfect setting, the Cricket Sixes is a popular fixture on the local scene.
Full-house crowds are expected to give noisy and colourful support to some of the leading players in the world who will undoubtedly rise to the occasion with thrilling exhibitions of batting, bowling and fielding.
A game consists of a maximum of five six-ball overs bowled by each side with each player bowling only one over.
The tournament itself consists of two stages.
A round-robin in two pools of four teams each is then followed by a knockout for the Cup and Plate.
In the pool stage, each team will play the other teams in the pool once (three games).
The two teams finishing top in each pool will enter the Cup competition, while the remainder will enter the contest for the Plate.
Pool A features Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa; Pool B has Australia, England, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates.
Amongst the big hitters making an appearance are Andrew Flintoff, Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Jonty Rhodes, Dean Jones, Robin Singh and Rohan Gavaskar, who will all be expected to produce the pyrotechnics.
Pakistan, who won the title in 1997, the last time it was held, are now considered hot favourites for the tournament.
Mike Walsh, chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association, said: "It is a very strong and talented side, and they are the team to beat at the tournament." World one-day champions Australia, however, have seemingly snubbed the popular event, which offers the winners US $80,000 in prize money, with the selection of a squad bordering on the geriatric.
Their squad includes former captain Kim Hughes, 47, who retired from first-class cricket over a decade ago, plus fellow retirees Dean Jones and Craig McDermott.
Pakistan won the inaugural tournament in 1992, England were winners in 1993 and 1994, South Africa won it in 1995 and West Indies took the honours in 1996.
India has never won the tournament, although it has managed to be runner-up on two occasions, 1992 and 1996.
Over the years, many a superstar has made it a point to participate in this feast of sixes.
Vivian Richards, Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Graham Gooch, Kris Srikkanth, Javed Miandad, Chris Cairns, Allan Donald, Brian Lara and Desmond Haynes are a few of the illustrious names who have graced the tournament in the past.
Wasim Akram, Jonty Rhodes and Derek Crookes are all winners of the Man of the Tournament award, and they will be vying to add one more to their booty this year.
SET Max will cover the two-day extravaganza live on television from Hong Kong.
Live ball-by-ball coverage on the Internet will be available on the official event website hosted by CricInfo at http://www.cricinfo.com/hk6s Pool A: Hong Kong: Stewart Brew (captain), Rahul Sharma, Tim Smart, Hussain Butt, Najeeb Amar, Adam Smith, Ian Hodgson.
Sri Lanka: Chandika Hathurusingha (captain), Upul Chandana, Indika de Saram, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Dulip Liyanage, Eric Upashantha, Pasan Wanasinghe, Malinda Warnapura.
South Africa: Jonty Rhodes (captain), Steve Elworthy, Derek Crookes, Loots Bosman, Alfonso Thomas, Andrew Hall, Henry Williams.
India: Robin Singh (captain), Hemang Badani, Nikhil Chopra, Rohan Gavaskar, Sunil Joshi, Mohammad Kaif, Debasis Mohanty.
Pool B: Australia: David Hookes (captain), Kim Hughes, Dean Jones, Brendon Julian, Craig McDermott, Greg Matthews, Tom Moody.
England: Matthew Maynard (captain), Ian Blackwell, Dougie Brown, Paul Collingwood, Mark Ealham, Andrew Flintoff, Ben Hollioake.
Pakistan: Rashid Latif (captain), Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Imran Nazir, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wasim Akram.
United Arab Emirates: Saeed-al-Saffar (captain), Ahmed Nadeem, Asim Saeed, Kaif Gaury, Khuram Khan, Miraj Khaliq, Yogesh Mistry.
The Schedule: Day One Play - 10 November 2001 Start TimeMatch/Event 0830 Game 1.
Pool 1 Hong Kong v.
Sri Lanka 0920 Game 2.
Pool 2 United Arab Emirates v.
Australia 1010 Game 3.
Pool 1 South Africa v.
India 1100 Game 4.
Pool 2 England v.
Pakistan 1150 Game 5.
Pool 1 Hong Kong v.
India 1245 Lunch/Welcome Junior Cricket Demonstration 1315 Game 6.
Pool 2 United Arab Emirates v.
Pakistan 1405 Game 7.
Pool 1 Sri Lanka v.
South Africa 1455 Game 8.
Pool 2 Australia v.
England 1545 Game 9.
Pool 1 Sri Lanka v.
India 1635 Game 10.
Pool 2 Australia v.
Pakistan Day Two Play - 11 November 2001 Start TimeMatch/Event 0830 Game 11.
Pool 1 United Arab Emirates v.
England 0920 Game 12.
Pool 2 Hong Kong v.
South Africa 1010 Game 13.
Plate Semi-final 1100 Game 14.
Plate Semi-final 1150 Game 15.
Cup Semi-final 1240 Game 16.
Cup Semi-final 1330 Lunch/Lion Dance 1345 Game 17.
Plate 3rd/ 4th Play-off 1435 Game 18.
Cup 3rd/ 4th Play-off 1525 Game 19.
Plate Final 1615 Game 20.
Cup Final 1705 Presentation/Finish