Hong Kong, Jan 28 (IANS) Hong Kong have brought in 43-year-old former Australian wicket-keeper Ryan Campbell in their squad for the World T20 cricket tournament which is scheduled to start from March 8 in India.
Campbell had played in two One-Day Internationals for Australia in 2002 but is of Hong Kong-Chinese lineage. He has been part of the domestic set-up since 2012. He is presently the batting coach for his side too.
He had been in good form last year playing for Kowloon CC in the Hong Kong Premier League one-day tournament where he scored 160 runs in five matches which included two fifties.
“I’m there to mentor them as I have done for so long,” Campbell was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.com.
“It has been a while (since I played international cricket), but if you look at my numbers I think I’m still one of the best batsmen in Hong Kong. Brad Hogg is still going around for the Scorchers and I must admit he’s inspired me a bit to say age is just a number.”
Hong Kong coach Simon Cook believes Campbell’s experience would help Hong Kong deal with pressure situations which would come in plenty during the World T20.
“His form in Hong Kong has been good in Premier League and Sunday games for Kowloon Cricket Club,” Cook said.
“One of the things that we learned about our last World T20 tournament is that having that ability to think clearly in high pressure situations is critical and Ryan’s experience will be an enormous help in that regard.”