"Casual" cricket, Hong Kong style

The lengthy fax would arrive about once a week, sent to all cricketers of the Chinese University, announcing an upcoming match and asking if we could play. Sent by the captain David Gilkes, the Bursar, who didn’t use email. A few days later, we would receive another fax, listing the players and the admonition to dress in white “to intimidate the opposition”, a strategy which rarely worked. I wondered what David’s secretary, a Hong Kong Chinese who perhaps knew nothing about cricket, thought of her additional duties as the convener of the cricket team.

We were an eclectic side. The Bursar was English, and we had a Scottish pharmacologist, a Malaysian surgeon, a Sri Lankan chemical pathologist, a Canadian sports scientist, an Indian English teacher, an Australian veterinarian, another surgeon who was English, and medical and business types from various nationalities, and me. Our average age would have been around 55. We never had net practice but that didn’t matter. The aim was to enjoy the game.

Only a 20-minute drive from the campus, Sek Kong was our favorite grounds. I caught a ride in a large 1960s light-blue Mercedes owned by Mano, the other Sri Lankan, gliding majestically along the Tai Po Road, Tolo Highway, and Lam Kam Road which ran along a beautiful valley of village houses and orchards. Sek Kong was a Royal Air Force camp, which had a cricket grounds, and a smartly attired Gurkha guard would raise the barrier and let us through.

 

Our first act was to visit Shaffis Curry House, a few yards from the entrance, to open a “chit” or a credit account for the day. Shaffis was run by Liaqat Ali, from Pakistan, but everyone called him Shaffi.  Located in an unpretentious structure, Shaffis served a range of North Indian delicacies—tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, samosas, mutton kebabs— (British servicemen’s favorite Indian food), to be slurped up with the naan bread and gulped down with cans of Tiger beer. Shaffi was a cricket nut, and lurked around hoping for a chance to play. So when we were short of a player, he was our choice. Nothing pleased him more.

The Sek Kong camp, out in the countryside, was a lovely location for our games. The well-maintained grounds, with a clubhouse at one end and rolling blue hills in the distance, was bordered by tall, shady trees on one side. Supporters and wives of some players, who also acted as scorers, preferred to sit in the shade of these trees. Being an air force camp, we could hear light aircraft taking off and landing not far from the cricket grounds. With the backdrop of the bluest skies, parachutists and hang gliders slowly drifted over the grounds to land nearby. The sounds of mild jubilation as a boundary was scored, a catch taken, would occasionally fill the air. Those afternoons were magical.

Shaffis was only a few yards from the grounds, so would nip across for a quick samosa and a beer while the cricket was on. In any case, beer was the main item when drinks were brought to the players. At the end of the game, both teams and supporters would retire to Shaffis for a sumptuous meal, accompanied by loud talk and much laughter. The lovely ambience of the grounds and Shaffis made Sek Kong perhaps the most attractive cricket venue in Hong Kong. We never lacked for opposing teams!

Mano, a Sri Lankan, was known less for his cricket prowess than for the fun he brought to every game. He would open batting but not last long at the crease, getting out to a rash shot. The occasional boundary would bring a quick, wild dance from him. He also kept wickets (after the Bursar retired), much to the benefit of the opposing sides because he let many deliveries go to the boundary. And when he fielded, usually far from the batsman, we could all see an open beer can in his hand or sitting on the grass nearby! We had to give a warning yell, “MANO, BALL!” before he saw it coming his way.

David Gilkes, the captain, who on the verge of retirement, was also our wicket keeper and often the top scorer. We played 35-over games, so David would have to squat and stand, squat and stand, behind the wicket, not missing a catch or allowing the stray ball to go past him. We expected big hitting from the veterinarian, a tall, well-built man, but he barely lifted his bat. Another memorable player was the pharmacologist, who never missed a game and was a fine fielder near the boundary. The English surgeon, who performed reconstructive work, preferred to keep wickets. I was concerned about injuries to his fingers, but he didn’t seem to care.

          Our most frequent opponents were the Sri Lanka Casuals team, the City University of Hong Kong, and the Legal Eagles, a team consisting of middle-aged lawyers. Here’s the report of a typical game.

Match with City University of Hong Kong CC 

Last Sunday was a perfectly glorious day for cricket, made more glorious, I'm happy to say, by the gallant performance of our team. No, we didn't inflict a humiliating defeat on our opponents; but neither did we suffer one ourselves! One could say, we battled valiantly, and then yielded the match--not our honor--to a technically more advantaged side. Composed entirely of Chinese University campus affiliates, our team took on City University, composed, save for their captain, almost entirely of unaffiliated, inappropriately-youthful guest players. Batting first, the Chinese University opening pair, made up of Mano and David Johns, gave the team a splendid start by frustrating every effort by the bowlers to dislodge them. They were followed by some sterling performance by George and Saunders, who together defied a spell of rather uncompromising bowling by the opposition, leaving the field on their own terms after knocking up 36 runs each. The next four batsmen took the total to 162 by the 35th over, and given the lack of practice, they too put up a creditable performance.

Chinese University then went in to field, sorely missing our regular wicket-keeper and erstwhile captain, David Gilkes. There was some good bowling and two good catches, but we couldn't keep City University from surpassing our total by the 28th over.

I would be unforgivably remiss if I did not mention the invaluable contribution made to our efforts by Vera and Fawzia. Vera, as everyone knows, has been truly brilliant over the years as our official scorer, and we are very happy that we now also have Fawzia to reinforce this side of the team. Thanks also to the supporters who cheered us on. Hope we'll see more of you. [End of report]

With the handover of Hong Kong to Mainland China in 1997, and the arrival of Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) troops, the Royal Air Force left Sek Kong base. That was the end of cricket at Sek Kong grounds. We continued to play at other grounds in Hong Kong. Shaffi had to move out and started another restaurant in a town further north.

The Oscar-winning English film and stage director Sam Mendes (of “American Beauty” fame), a fine batsman who still plays cricket, claims that the joy of cricket is “not necessarily the batting or the bowling, [but] the hours spent in the outfield just being part of the game, being both inside and outside of it, allowing the mind to wander and yet being there as part of the team.”

Enjoying the cricket, not merely to win, and being with like minded people, the easy comraderies, made the cricket in Hong Kong memorable. Those lazy afternoons were some of the happiest, most carefree times of my life in Hong Kong.