Yanhua Lara, one of many Chinese students on the team, had been studying in Australia at the time; she had been to Australia several times with other clubs. “I took up cricket mainly for the challenge of getting closer to the game,” she told the BBC.

“It’s very competitive and challenging and that was the biggest thing we were there for.”

The Chinese players also received an offer of two free matches each.

“If you think about it, who pays for this? It’s good to be a part of it but we didn’t do it for that,” Wang Linxi said.

Image caption Xiao Hongxia, from China, played for Australia; she would take her team abroad for games too

The team will continue to live in the area until January 2014 at least, and they will be able to receive scholarships to play in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Holland.

A small number of people have given the team a place to stay indefinitely – including former high school teacher Zhang Baofu, who moved from Guangzhou to the area six years ago with three friends.

“We got a chance to live in a big city, it was beautiful, I like Singapore and Japan. Also, there’s a place in Beijing to stay and stay in better conditions than in a small town,” he said.

Another local resident of Hunchun is Xiao Hongxia, who currently plays for Australia at Victoria Park.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Xiao Hongxia played for Australia at Victoria Park, with all her friends and fellow students from Guangzhou

“I started playing cricket when I was 16 in Australia – I don’t know where it comes from but I grew up there so I thought that was quite nice,” she told the BBC.

“I had played cricket for a whole year in Shenzhen and then I moved to Australia and it’s been great.

“I never thought I would get to play in this level of a sport like cricket but I did very well.”

For the next few months, most of the players will leave Australia for China and go to university

During the two years, China will develop a permanent team of six players, who will train in their country and the Australian club.

But it is more than just a chance to train together.

“We’re all very excited because we want to play better. I’m