DIASQUA Little Sai Wan Cricket Club
Little Sai Wan Cricket Club
Cricket Captains
1964-65 Ted Gregory
1965-66 Dick Whatmore
1966-67 Colin Metcalf
1967-68 Colin Metcalf, Paul Davidson
1968-69 Geoff Hardy
1969-70 Peter Everett
1970-71 Alan Morgan
1972-74 Colin Metcalf
1974-75 Jim Rhodes
1975-76 B.J. "Tug" Willson
1976-77 David Clinton
1977-81 Tony Turner
1981-84 Gordon Bacon
1984-85 Geoff Lever
1985-86 Gopal Lalchandani
1990-93 Tarun Sawney
1993-94 Rizwan Farouq
1994-95 Riaz Farcy
1995-96 Lal Jayasinghe
1996-97 Mohanna Marzook
1998-99 Riaz Farcy
1999-2000 Adnan Butt
2000-2001 Ijaz Mir
2001-2010 Tabarak Dar
2010-2016 Moner Dar
2016-2017 Ehsan Khan
2017-2018 Barbar Hayet
Our History
The Little Sai Wan Cricket Club (LSWCC) was established in 1964. The initial playing talent came from the British Ministry of Defence, who operated a 'China Listening Post' at a former RAF base, called 'Little Sai Wan', situated on the eastern seashore of Hong Kong Island. These players were supplemented by a few servicemen from the Royal Australian Air Force, who were seconded to the base, and by school teachers working at British Military Schools. A club insignia of a "Lion and Kangaroo" standing each side of a set of stumps' was chosen as an appropriate design or this new club.
The cricket facilities were housed in a colonial style two storey verandahed building, raised on a grass embankment, known as 'The Hill', which overlooked the playing field, and had extensive views out to the sea lanes which approached the Lei Ye Mun channel separating Hong Kong island from Kowloon. A fine sunny January day would bring the whole family out to enjoy the expansive grounds which touched the shore, cupped by the surrounding hills.
From the outset LSWCC was known as one of the most hospitable clubs in the league. Long bar sessions were mandatory for visiting teams. How you got home was another matter. It was also a “do it yourself'” club, with the outfield and pitch being prepared by team members. A grass wicket was played on during the first seven or eight years; however, due to the unpredictability of 'high tides', a matting wicket was used from the early 1970s.
LSWCC performed with limited success in its formative years, despite the talents of such players as John Ackroyd, Ted Birch, Peter Everett, Vic Johnson, Col Metcalf, Jim Rhodes, and Alan Swift.
LSWCC's fortunes changed in the early 1970s with the introduction of an more open 'guest' player policy featuring “non military” connected residents of Hong Kong. Members' acceptance of this policy was far from universal, but success on the playing field overcame early objections. The people instrumental in ensuring that this policy was tactfully implemented and that the ground was in a fit condition for play, were Bill Conway and Bert Mellowes. Their names are synonymous with the name LSWCC. Bert was controversial, not always the most placid of individuals on or off the field, and he succeeded in incurring the wrath of players, officials, and the media alike on various occasions. His involvement with LSWCC, especially in its early years, will not be forgotten. He also pioneered work on behalf of umpires in Hong Kong. Bill Conway served as club mentor and President in the early 1970s, as well as general factotum and scorer. Bill's charm and diplomacy held the club together during difficult times. On his retirement from the Defence Ministry, he became the Manager of The Hong Kong Cricket Club, a job he conducted with distinction for several years, until his final departure from Hong Kong.
The original Little Sai Wan Cricket Ground taken in 1973
LSWCC's first major success came in the 1975-76 season, when after 10 years of endevour, the club won the Sunday league title. This was achieved under the astute captaincy of 'Tug' Willson. In his late 30’s when he joined LSWCC, he proved to be one of the club's and Hong Kong's most outstanding cricketers in the 1970’s. He and David Clinton, a school teacher and talented cricketer, were the mainstays of the batting, ensuring high scores were achieved with several prolific opening partnerships. They were ably supported by Les Stenner and Peter Smith, who provided an outstanding swing and pace attack.
In 1977-78, the Saturday League Cup trophy was shared with KCC Saracens when the final was abandoned at KCC due to adverse weather conditions. A 'golden era' had started for LSWCC, who went on to win the Sunday league in 1980-81 and 1982-83 and the Rothman's Cup in 1977-78, 1980-81, 1981-82 and 1983-84.
The highlight of the club's history was in 1980-81, when under the 'inspired' captaincy of Tony Turner, they became the first team to achieve the double, winning the Sunday league title by defeating KCC Infidels in the rain at Mission Road and then the HKCC Taverners in the Rothman's Cup final. During this 'golden era', LSWCC was ably served by Peter Anderson, Gordon Bacon, David Clinton, Elias Ismail, Gopal and Ram Lalchandani, Alan Scott, Peter Smith, Tony Turner, Roger Vergelius and 'Tug' Willson, all of whom had represented Hong Kong, coupled with the names of Richard Flood, Malcolm Grubb, Keith Johnston, Geoff Lever, Robert Muirhead and Chris Wrigglesworth, to name a few.
After the relocation of the Ministry of Defence facilities to Chung Hom Kok, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island, in the early 1980s, the Sai Wan ground was earmarked by Government to be developed for residential and light industrial use. LSWCC continued to operate out of an abandoned yacht club on the Sai Wan seashore for two seasons, until finally forced into a nomadic existence in 1985.
The survival of the club after 1985 owed much to the drive and determination of a few devoted members, who continued to ensure the right spirit was maintained despite the lack of any clubhouse facilities. One such rallying point has been the end of season, lively/presentation evenings held at the Deep Water Bay Golf Club, when 'special' guests were invited to sample LSWCC's hospitality. Other occasions not to be missed were the 'home' matches at DBS with the very tasty and spicy lunchtime 'Indian takeaways', organized when Gopal Lalchandani was captain.
The team continued to be competitive, with notable contributions from Rizwan Farouq, Andy Medhurst, Mike Mehaffey and Salaudin Tariq, but major titles had become elusive, except for the Gillette Plate Final in 1984-85. Finally in the 1992-93 season, came LSW's first ever success in the 20-year-old Saturday league competition. The ever-popular independent club, led by Rizwan Farouq, edged out defending champions HKCC Nomads by two points to win the Saturday league title. In 1993-94, the senior side came second to the powerful KCC Templars in the Sunday league. Riaz Farcy with over 700 runs including three centuries, being the main strength of the side. In the following season, under the captaincy of Monty Noble, Saiwan recaptured the Saturday league title in1995-96 and in the 1997-98 season under Mohanna Marzook, Sai Wan were runners-up in the Sunday League.
The new millennium saw a reinvigorated Sai Wan enter the fray and continue its proud record of being the most successful independent team in the HKCA League.
In the millennium year itself, led by Adnan Butt, who scored the first double century in Hong Kong Cricket history, Little Sai Wan won its first Sunday League title in 17 years.
In the following year 2001-2002, Little Sai Wan won the Sunday League Cup under the captaincy of Tabarak Dar.
The next two seasons 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 proved frustrating, highlighted by the fact that the Club failed to win the Sunday League title by one point in 2002-2003. After an absence of eight years in the Saturday League the Little Sai Wan Warriors, marked their return to the League in 2003-2004 by winning the Saturday League Cup. The team was led by Amir Shah.
2004-2005 however proved to be the mother of all season for Little Sai Wan. In this year the Club almost won every title; the Sunday League. the Saturday League, Under 19, Under 17, Under 15, Under 13, and Festival Sixes. No other club has ever achieved this record. As a result, a number of players received HKCA Awards. Tabarak Dar, Player of the Year and Captain of the Year, Irfan Ahmed, Young Player of the Year, and Nadeem Ahmed, School Boy cricketer of the Year. The successful Saturday League captain was Azhar Illahi.
In 2005-2006 Little Sai Wan narrowly failed to win the Sunday League Cup, coming runners up only a few points behind the Scorpions who fielded ex-England fast bowler Philip de Freitas in their lineup. However the Club did not go empty handed gaining silverware by winning the Saturday Cup for the second time in its history. Azhar Illahi was the winning captain. Club teams also won the under 19, 15, and 11 Leagues. The 2005-2006 season also marked the entry for the first time of a LSWCC women’s team.
In the 2006/07 season LSWCC won the Saturday League Title. The team was captain by Azhar Illahi. The chief performer of the league was Tabarak Dar who scored 719 Runs and took 33 wickets. The Club also won all Junior Leagues includes U19, U17, U15. The Clubs Social team X-Cricketers won the Summer 8’s Championship, while our main Sunday team came fourth.
In 2007-08 LSW Warriors (Saturday Team) retained its league title, while our Sunday league team was unbeaten during the league. The team in fact won all their matches but under the HKCA’s new league structure the top four teams were forced to play in knock out format which resulted in the team finishing runners up. The Clubs great performance however did not go unnoticed with seven players being chosen to represent the Hong Kong National Team, with Tabarak Dar being appointed Hong Kong Captain.
The 2008-09 season saw the club win no silver wear. This was mainly due to the fact LSWCC was contributing a large number of its players to the Hong Kong National team therefore making them unavailable at critical times during the league season.. The following individual awards were however won by club members, Hong Kong Player of the Year, Irfan Ahmed, young player of the year, Nizakat Khan and Dragon of the year, Niaz Ali.
The Sunday League title was however lifted again during the 2009-10 season, The team was led by Tabarak Dar. This was Tabarak Dar’s final triumph. He stepped down as Club captain after leading the team for 10 years, a record for a club captain. The U19 and U17 teams also won their respective leagues. Irfan Ahmed was again named Hong Kong Player of the year and Nizakat Khan as Young Cricketer of the Year. Irfan also won Best Batsman of the Year and Azhar Illahi, Best Wicket Keeper.
Moner Dar took over the captaincy of the Little Sai Wan premier team in 2010-11 and the team went unbeaten in the new T20 league during this season. The Saturday team were runners up and the U17s and U15s won their leagues. Haseeb Amjad was the Best owler in both Saturday & Sunday Leagues. Moner Dar won the Sunday Batsman of the Year Award.
Moner led the team to the Sunday League title in 2011-12 but the team failed to make an impression in the newly introduce Premier League. Sai Wan also won Saturday League, U17s, U15s, U13s & U11 leagues. Moner Dar won best captain award, while Haseeb Amjad once again won both the Saturday and Sunday League bowling awards.
The 2012- 13 season proved to be a difficult one as the result of some key players leaving the club to join other clubs. This enabled the club to push forward players from its development programme and although the club won no major league titles it was successful in winning the Saturday Cup title.
In 2013-2014 Season Littile Sai Wan celebrated its 50th Anniversairy. A match was organised which featured several past player sof LSWCC taking on senior members of the Hong Kong Cricket Club. LSWCC caped the season off appropriatly winning the Premier League 50 Overs Championship
In 2015 Little Sai Wan signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Diasqua Group and thus Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club was reborn.
The Club is managed by a committee chaired by Kashif Dar. Other executive committee members include; Tony Turner, Tabarak Dar, Ravi Nagdev, Ramesh Thadani, Azhar Hussain, Suresh Kumar Zulu, Naman Mehta, Rushab Mehta, Yash Mehta, Ghulam Saqlain and Mr Noman Nizami. The President of the Club is Mr Javed Iqbal, Permanent President is Mr. Tony Mehta, Tony Turner was appointed the Club’s Patron in Chief in 2011. The current Sunday & Premier League team is captained by Moner Dar.
(Note: Much of this text has been taken from "150 Years of Hong Kong Cricket', written by Peter Hall. It can be purchased from www.amazon.com.)
LSWCC first Women's Cricket Team formed in 2005
LSWCC's 50th Anniversairy Logo
Launch of Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club
All HKCA League Titles Won by Little Sai Wan Cricket Club
Premier League – 50 Overs – Title Winners - 2013-2014, 2015-2016
Sunday League - Title Winners - 1975-76, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1999-2000, 2004-2005, 2009-10, 2011-12
Rothmans Cup/Sunday Cup - 1977-78, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1983-84, 2001-02, 2010-11
Saturday League - Title Winners - 1977-78, 1992-93, 1994-95, 2004-2005, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2011-12
Saturday Cup - 2003-04, 2005-06, 2012-13
Women's Sixes - 2014-15
Summer 8s Plate Champions - 2006-07
Under U19 League - Title Winners - 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06,2009-10
Under U17 League - Title Winners - 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2011-12, 2010-11,2009-10, 2015-16
Under U15 League - Title Winners - 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 ,2007-08, 2011-12, 2010-11, 2015-16
Under U13 League - Title Winners - 2004-05, 2014-15
Under 11 League – Title Winners - 2011-12, 2013-14
LSWCC Players who have represented HK
Paul Kelly, Ted Gregory, Jim Rhodes, Col Metcalf, David Clinton, 'Tug' Willson, Peter Smith, Tony Turner, Peter Anderson, Gordon Bacon, Alan Scott, Gopal Lalchandani, Ram Lalchandani, Robbie Robinson ,Rizwan Farouq, Elias Ismail, Roger Vergelius, Nanda Perrera, John Hawkesly, Salaudin Tariq, Riaz Farcy, Kamran Raza, Manoj Cheruparambil, Mohanna Marzook, Roy Lamsam, Tabarak Dar, Tarun Sawney, Maurice Ling, Mohammed Jamshaid, Mohammed Zubair, Nadeem Ahmed, Irfan Ahmed, Khalid Khan, Jawaid Iqbal, Zain Abbas, Mohammad Zafaran, Nizakat Khan, Moner Ahmed, Shakeel, Niaz Ali, Waqas Khan, Babar Hayat, Ehsan Khan, Shahid Wasif
HKCA HK Player of the Year
LSWCC Winners
1972-73 Col Metcalf,
1975-76 David Clinton,
1978-79 Tony Turner,
1981-82 Gordon Bacon,
1989-90 Salaudin Tariq,
1999-2000 Mohammed Zubair,
2004-05 Tabarak Dar,
2008-09 Irfan Ahmed,
2009-10 Irfan Ahmed.
HKCA HK Women Player of the Year
LSWCC Winners
2015-16 Shanzeen Shahzad.
LSWCC Officials
Permanant President:
Tony Mehta
Honorary Presidents:
Bill Conway (1964-67), Javed Iqbal (1994 - Current)
Chairman /Presidents:
Ken Faulds (1964-67), Geoff Hardy (1968-69), Bill Conway (1969-75), Tony Turner (1976-79), John Morgan (1979-81), Maurice Morgan (1981-86), Tony Turner (1986-09), Kashif Dar (2009-Current)
Patron In Chief:
Tony Turner