Best of both worlds for Chapman

A young Hong Kong cricketer with a Kiwi connection is hoping his globe-trotting experience will help him make his mark at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup.

As 15-year old Mark Chapman makes his debut at the 2010 tournament, so too does his country, Hong Kong.

Finishing sixth at the Global Qualifier tournament in Canada last year, Hong Kong qualified for this 2010 U19 CWC by having a superior run rate to Uganda and the Netherlands.

Playing for the Hong Kong Cricket club as a "junior Gappa" Mark was spotted by the Hong Kong selectors and he played his first representative match in the youth ranks at nine years of age.

At 13, Mark travelled across the world to New Zealand to follow in the footsteps of his Kiwi lawyer father, a Hong Kong Crown Prosecutor, to attend Kings College in Auckland. The school has an enviable sporting reputation, producing stars like New Zealand BLACKCAP Tim Southee ? the player of the tournament at the 2008 U19 CWC.

Mark already looks on track to pursue similar success ? last year, at just 14, he was selected in the Kings College First Eleven.

He bowls slow left arm deliveries, and says his cricketing hero is Daniel Vettori. But it's as a batsman that he's made an early mark in this tournament, scoring a stylish 69 not out in a warm-up match against Sri Lanka, and an unbeaten 43 the following day against Canada.

Mark describes his left hand batting as "orthodox" and he is a player who predominantly plays in the "V". Being cautious at the start of his innings, Mark likes to push it on when he's settled in.

Looking to the future Mark says "I really want to push my cricket and I think I have the potential to go far, but that will depend on University studies down the track".

Mark currently studies under the English education system and is waiting on the results of the two GCSE papers he sat last year.

Here in Christchurch Mark believes his Hong Kong teammates "could surprise a few people" and he's hoping to get amongst the runs.