Hong Kong cricketer retires at the age of 21
Christopher Carter, Hong Kong's upcoming wicket-keeper batsman has announced retirement from the game at an early age of 21. He was part of the Hong Kong team which played in the Asia Cup although he got limited opportunities to show his skills.
It is Carter's ambition to become a pilot which has made him take such a decision. After keeping his studies on hold, Christopher Carter feels it is the right time to quit the game.
He represented his country in 11 ODI's and 10 T20 internationals, after making debut in 2015. The difficulties which come with representing an associate nation may have prompted him to take this decision.
With ICC limiting the World Cup participating teams to 10, many of the associate nations have almost found it impossible to showcase their ability in from today the world. When a country with a good cricketing tradition like Zimbabwe is facing a crisis, it is no surprise that an associate nation has to lose young cricketers due to lack of monetary support.
Like in football, it would be a very good decision to allow more teams in the World Cup. By doing so, more associate nations will experience playing at the highest level. Some cricketers can also bag lucrative T-20 contracts across the globe which will, in turn, help the development of the player and the nation. We have all seen the rise of Afghanistan after the growth of the popularity of the likes of Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi in T-20 competitions.
ICC, on the other hand, should also look to stop such hasty decisions from young cricketers by providing good facilities for training in their respective countries. By channelizing the funding for the same, the Associate nations can go far ahead to give competition to cricketing nations such as India and England.