BEIJING: Shane Warne may have inspired a generation of young cricketers trying to perfect the art leg-spin in backyards across Australia, but even he may be surprised to learn of his contribution to the unorthodox rise of a Hong Kong cricketing hopeful.
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Introduced to cricket by his younger sister just two years earlier, Ming Li was a 15-year-old seam bowler looking at clips of fast bowlers on YouTube in 2006 when he chanced upon one of Warne's most memorable deliveries.
Bowling from around the wicket to Andrew Strauss in the Edgbaston Test of the 2005 Ashes, Warne ripped a dipping, viciously turning delivery that landed well wide of the left-hander's off stump, but spat back across him and hit his leg stump.
The next day Li asked his coach to teach him how to bowl leg-spin. "It looked amazing, so I just tried to learn," he said.
Li, now 24, juggles cricket training on the weekend while unloading truck deliveries for a day job. Next week, he will link up with the Sydney Sixers Big Bash League squad featuring Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Moises Henriques as a community rookie signing.
While he is unlikely to play in the season proper, Li says he hopes to sharpen his bowling skills by rubbing shoulders with the best and "just try to control the turn". And of course, he hopes to meet his idol, Shane Warne.
Asked if he had any other favourite players, he says Kevin Pietersen, before jokingly correcting himself: "Only Shane Warne, only Shane Warne."
The Sixers and the Hong Kong Cricket Association are trumpeting Li, the first Chinese player to play in the BBL, as an opportunity to grow the game among Hong Kong's ethnic Chinese cricket-playing community. The territory's representative squad is predominantly made up of naturalised expatriates or players of South Asian backgrounds.
"We believe this is the first time any Hong Kong sportsperson has participated in such an elite 'franchise' tournament and we can't wait to see the positive effect Ming's BBL involvement will have on the already rapid development within the growing Chinese cricket community," said HKCA's chief executive Tim Cutler.
Li is the first ethnic Chinese player to play an official T20 – against Afghanistan in a qualifier for the 2012 World Cup. He has been selected by Hong Kong for two Asian Games squads.
His younger sister, Godiva, also plays cricket for Hong Kong.
