Cricket South Africa announce the squad for Hong Kong Sixes tournament

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced the squad which will travel to Hong Kong for the Sixes tournament this year. The competition is all set to be played on October 28 and 29 which is exactly a month away now. Apart from the Proteas, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the other Test playing nations who have agreed to send their players to the country. The tournament will be hosted by Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong.
The competition is resuming after a gap of 5 years as South Africa has ruled the format totally. Technically they are the defending champions as they had won the previous edition in 2012. Though they had won it earlier in 1995, 2006 and 2009. However, this year will mark the special entry of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) who will take part in their initiative to grow the game in China. The MCC are owners of the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground and have been the guardian of the laws of cricket since 1788.

Linda Zondi, the CSA National Selection Panel convener, cleared that the players going through the system have been given the opportunities for the tournament. “The team we have chosen will give opportunities to players who are coming through the system. We obviously had to take into account our international and franchise commitments during the same period,” he said.

South Africa squad: Sarel Erwee (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Aubrey Swanepoel (VKB Knights), Corne Dry (VKB Knights), Jerry Nqolo (Border), Somila Seyibokwe (Warriors), Ferisco Adams (Boland), Farhaan Sayanvala (Gauteng)

New Rules

The organisers have tweaked the rules this time and have made the tournament more interesting.

1. Games are played between two teams of six players, and each game consists of a maximum of five six-ball overs bowled by each side.
2. Each member of the fielding side bowls one over, with the exception of the wicketkeeper.
3. Wides and no-balls get two penalty runs.
4. If five wickets fall before 5 overs are completed, the last remaining batsman bats on with the fifth batsman acting as a runner. He always takes strike. The innings is complete when the sixth wicket falls.
5. Batsmen retire not out on reaching 31 runs. The idea is to reach 36 runs by hitting 6 sixes. A retired batsman can return to the crease after lower-order batsmen either retire or are out.