In other news - the pre-season friendly series between ZCC and FHK has been disastrous for the defending CWC champs. They are 0-4 across 2 Dev and 2 T20 friendlies! Granted a lot of senior players have been rested for these games (ZCC played both Dev games without their 21 year olds) and that all games have been played at 5DNOL stadium, but even then the results are a bit surprising. ZCC have outrated FHK for both T20s and were beaten handily, while ZCC's full strength dev side (minus the 21 year olds) even lost to FHK's bot-bashing team!
This series was organised by ZCC with the aim of testing out the next generation of youngsters coming through their system, in preparation for the challenges that lay ahead in EurAfrica Div 1.1. Not good signs here, and it's prompted the signing of 18 year old West-Indian Stuart Gardner to bolster the batting.
The T20 results are also concerning, as ZCC were looking towards using that format as way to rest their better players for the demands of Dev and SOD cricket. Their performances against the recently-relegated FHK side suggests that this could be a risky venture, even in Div 2.
However the head coach wasn't too fussed with these results, labelling the XIs that ZCC fielded as 'experimental', and citing the strength of FHK in their home conditions. ZCC's performances in the ongoing CCCT20 comp -where they are currently ranked 3rd out of 18 teams- also suggests that they still are one of the better teams going around in the circuit today. FHK are ranked 9th in the same competition, and lost their round 1 fixture to ZCC by 4 wickets.
Overall FHK's record against ZCC in 2021 sits at 8 wins in 13 games, which is remarkable given an overall record of only 12 wins and 29 losses.