Interport matches refer to a series of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

matches which took place in Asia from 1866 to 1987, between

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, Malaya,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

. In February 2020, the Hong Kong team played a five-match

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) series against Malaysia. All the matches were played at the

Kinrara Academy Oval Kinrara Academy Oval was a cricket stadium located at Bandar Kinrara, Puchong, Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Constructed in 2003, it hosted its first recorded match in 2005 when Bhutan Under-17s played Kuwait Under-17s in the Asian Cric ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. The series marked the return of Interport matches after a gap of 33 years. The series was originally scheduled to be played at the

Mission Road Ground The Mission Road Ground, also known as the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, is a multi-purpose sports field on in Kau Pui Lung, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The ground is mainly used for cricket matches. It was opened in 1976, and the first cricket match ...

Mong Kok Mong Kok (Chinese language, Chinese: 旺角), also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK, is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward, Hong Kong, Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok. As one of the major sho ...

, Hong Kong, but was cancelled in early February due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

History

Hong Kong were returning home on the

SS Bokhara The SS ''Bokhara'' was a P&O steamship which sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, off the coast of Sand Island in the Pescadores, Formosa. Of the 150 people who perished, eleven were members of the Hong Kong cricket team. Hong Kong's cricke ...

from their 1892 Interport match in Shanghai when it sank in a typhoon, killing eleven Hong Kong cricketers. As a result of this tragedy the Interport matches, which had been regular fixtures since 1889, didn't return for five years. For matches in Shanghai, it was usually only Hong Kong who made the journey but when Hong Kong were Interport hosts, a third of fourth team would often join Shanghai for a series of matches. No series or match was played from 1936 until 1947 due to the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

. Shanghai stopped participating in Interport cricket after 1948, when the Communist Party took over China.

Statistics

Team results summary

Result of some Interport matches are unknown so in the table below the combined wins, draws and losses may not add up to the total matches played by the team.

Record performances

The accuracy of some of the scorecards given for Interport matches have been disputed. The table below shows the leading team and individual performances over the years.

Matches played

Series played

References

{{reflist

External links

CricketArchive website
Recurring sporting events established in 1866 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1987 China in international cricket Hong Kong in international cricket Malaysia in international cricket Singapore in international cricket Sri Lanka in international cricket