The First South-East Asian Cricket Tournament was held in Dhaka in January 1984. Two teams from the host country were joined by teams from Singapore and Hong Kong. The Bangladesh national team won the trophy, and thus qualified for the 1986 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.[1]
The organizers suffered an early setback when Malaysia, one of the stronger cricketing nations of the Far East, withdrew at the last moment. Apart from Dhaka, Chittagong and Mymensingh hosted some games. The Bangladesh national team, however, played all its fixtures at the capital.
| Date | Venue | Match | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Jan. | Dhaka | Bangladesh V Singapore | Singapore 54 (Golam Faruq 6/10 (including a hat-trick)) | Bangladesh 58/1 (Yousuf Rahman 37) | Bangladesh wins by 9 wickets | |
| 13 Jan. | Chittagong | Bangladesh Tigers Vs Hong Kong | Bangladesh Tigers 172 (Minhajul Abedin 44, Rafiqul Alam 43) | Hong Kong 108/9 (Peter Wood 42, Wahidul Gani 3/16) | Tigers wins by 64 runs | |
| 14 Jan | Dhaka | Bangladesh V Hong Kong | Hong Kong 115 (Dipu Chowdhury 3/24, Samiur Rahman 2/21) | Bangladesh 118/3 (Gazi Ashraf 48, Yousuf Rahman 35) | Bangladesh wins by 7 wickets | |
| 14 Jan | Chittagong | Bangladesh Tigers Vs Singapore | Bangladesh Tigers 166/7 (Hafizur Rahman 38*) | Singapore 94 (Rafiqul Alam 4/4) | Tigers wins by 72 runs | |
| 15 Jan. | Dhaka | Bangladesh Vs Bangladesh Tigers | Bangladesh Tigers 92 (Golam Faruq 2/13) | Bangladesh 93/2 (Gazi Ashraf 35*) | Bangladesh wins by 8 wickets | |
| 15 Jan. | Mymensingh | Hong Kong vs Singapore | Hong Kong 221/4 (Simon Miles 106*) | Singapore 68 (Jenkins 4/4, Swan 4/22) | Hong Kong wins by 153 runs | |
| 17 Jan. | Dhaka | Bangladesh V Singapore | Bangladesh 182/4 (Belal 75*, Nehal 67*) | Singapore 74/8 (Selim 3/8) | Bangladesh wins by 108 runs | |
| 17 Jan. | Mymensingh | Bangladesh Tigers Vs Hong Kong | Bangladesh Tigers 141/8(Sadrul 35) | Hong Kong 142/4 (Peter Wood 47) | Hong Kong wins by 6 wickets | |
| 18 Jan | Dhaka | Bangladesh Tigers Vs Singapore | Bangladesh Tigers 242/7 (Rafiqul Alam129, Hafizur Rahman 75) | Singapore 67 (Minhajul Abedin 2/8, Wahidul Gani 4/15) | Tigers wins by 175 runs | |
| 19 Jan | Dhaka | Bangladesh V Hong Kong | Hong Kong 121 | Bangladesh 125/4 ( Yousuf Rahman 69*, Belayet Hossain Belal 36) | Bangladesh wins by 6 wickets | |
| 20 Jan. | Dhaka | Bangladesh Vs Bangladesh Tigers | Bangladesh 226/6 (Gazi Ashraf 62, Asaduzzaman 51, Wahidul Gani 5/35 | Bangladesh Tigers 153/9 (Minhajul Abedin60, Dipu Chowdhury 3/19) | Bangladesh wins by 76 runs | |
| 15 Jan. | Mymensingh | Hong Kong vs Singapore | Hong Kong 240/6 (Peter Anderson 52, Peter Wood 51, Stearns 50, M. Meheta 3/33) | Singapore 123/8 (Collins 3/26,Anderson 2/25) | Hong Kong wins by 117 runs | |
| 21 Jan | Dhaka | Bangladesh V Hong Kong (Final) | Hong Kong 151 (Dipu Chowdhury 3/17, Jahangir Shah 3/29) | Bangladesh 152/7 ( Gazi Ashraf 40, Belayet Hossain Belal 33, Nehal 32) | Bangladesh wins by 3 wickets |
As the scores suggest, the Bangladesh national team was far superior to any of its opposition. Yousuf Rahman and Gazi Ashraf dominated the top order batting. In the latter matches, Belayet Hossain Belal and Nehal Hasnain came good. In contrast the two veterans, skipper Raquibul Hasan & Omar Khaled Rumy were very disappointing. The bowling was dominated by the seamers, young Golam Faruq impressed with his hat-trick against Singapore. Jahangir Shah came good in the final.
The Bangladesh Tigers (led by Sadrul Anam) mostly included young players; players like Minhajul Abedin, Azhar Hossain, Athar Ali Khan, Gholam Nousher, Wahidul Gani, etc, who would serve Bangladesh cricket with great distinction over the next decade or so. Rafiqul Alam, the most experienced player of side, enjoyed a good tournament with both bat and ball. The highlight of his performance was a brilliant 129 against hapless Singapore. He shared a record 208 run partnership for the 5th wicket with WK batsamn Hafizur Rahman Sani(75). Hafiz impressed with both his keeping and batting, and was soon promoted to the national team duty. Minhajul Abedin Nannu performed consistently. At his hometown Chittagong, he delighted his fans with a classy 44 against Hong Kong in the 1st game. In the bowling department, brilliant, but often erratic leggie Wahidul Gani was consistently amongst the wickets.
Hong Kong got better and better as the tournament progressed. Peter Wood was their most consistent batsman. Teenager Simon Miles showed his promise with a hundred against Singapore. Chris Collins was the fastest bowler in the tournament, and in almost all the matches he gave his side early breakthroughs. Collin Swan and Jenkins also bowled well, and Peter Andersson impressed as an allrounder. Singapore was the weakest team in the tournament, and ended the cup without any wins.