The Cricket Associations of China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea have entered into an agreement to contest a biennial East Asia Twenty20 Cup Competition.
Japan will host the first Men’s tournament in Sano, the home of Japanese Cricket, from 3-6 November 2016. The inaugural Men’s competition will feature national teams from China, Japan and Korea, as well as Hong Kong’s all-Chinese side the HKCA Dragons.
The main idea behind the East Asia Cup is to provide more international exposure for the national teams in the region, especially for China, Japan and Korea who are not featured in the ICC World Cricket League.
CEO of the Japan Cricket Association Naoki Miyaji said: “We are really excited about formalising this agreement between the four countries. We are all close by so travel will be simple and all the four teams will be at a similar standard in both the men’s and women’s competitions.”
The 2017 edition of the tournament will feature the full women’s teams and is due to be hosted by Hong Kong. In both editions the teams will all play each other in a round robin before a 3rd place playoff and final.
In every tournament there will be recognition for the best performing batsman and bowler as well as a “Most Valuable Player” award.
Each nation will host the tournament once in a four-year cycle. The tournament aims at increase interest in the sport as well as raising the standards among the participating teams.
The tournament schedule for the next four years is as follows: