August 2008

Middle East cricket round-up

Top players gear up for Ramadan tourney

It’ll be action stations shortly at the grand old CBFS Stadium in Sharjah for the Ramadan Tournament which traditionally produces some of the finest domestic cricket of the year.

The draw was being made at the time of going to press but roughly 45 teams will contest the event under the lights at Sharjah and Zabeel Park.

Arshad Ali works the ball through the onside.

Many of the players from the UAE rep side will be in action. Although there’s a lull in cricket at the moment most of the leading players are in the nets.

Oman set for long innings

Cricket is at fever pitch in Oman since they won the ACC Twenty20 Cup late last year and then topped the table of World Cricket League Division 2. Oman will now splash the cash to bolster the game in the Sultanate.

Two international-standard grounds will be built at Al Emarat along with an academy. The project is expected to be completed by 2013 at an estimated cost of two million Omani rials.

Who could forget the scenes last year when Oman and Afghanistan tied the ACC Twenty20 Cup when the match went to the last ball.

Top honour for Bukhatir

The Abdulrahman Bukhatir has been given a Lifetime Achievement award by the Asian Cricket Council. The cricket-playing UAE national has done massive things for cricket in the Arab world. When he started the ‘offshore cricket’ gala in Sharjah in the early 1980s he was compared with World Series Cricket’s Kerry Packer.

“Kerry packer makes money out of cricket – I don’t. This is my hobby.”

Twin peaks

There’s the Waugh twins, Steve and Mark, and the identical Kiwi duo Hamish and Justin Marshall, but now the UAE cricket scene has its cricketing double act.

The Ijaz twins were double trouble as their team New Medical Centre beat highly-fancied Fly Emirates by two wickets in a thriller at Sharjah Stadium.

Atif Ijaz (four for 12) and Asim Izaj (51) were in great form as their team bowled out the opposition for 159 in the 42nd over and then got home in the 48th over. Asim Ijaz, who is just five minutes younger to his twin brother Atif, played superbly against a hostile attack as he stroked 51 off 112 balls to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Cricket rules in Arabic

The Saudi Cricket Centre has translated the Laws of Cricket into Arabic in a bid to heighten awareness of the sport in the Kingdom.

“We translated the laws of cricket into Arabic mainly to spread awareness about the game. Today we have many Saudis playing at the different age groups,” says the Saudi Cricket Centre CEO Nadeem Nadwi .

Cricket organisers in the Kingdom realise that having the rules of the game in Arabic will help them take sport into schools. “We realised that once we spread the information about the game, then it will be easier for us to attract the youngsters.”  

The Arabic laws will join the versions in Urdu, Bengali and Mandarin on the ACC website. The Arabic laws will have an impact throughout the Gulf countries.

Inayat slams eight sixers in Twenty20 final

The Twenty20 boom is as loud and clear in the Gulf as anywhere. Khatri C C beat Zahira Colombo by 20 runs in the final of Rosy Blue Twenty20 Summer Cup at Sharjah Stadium. Ayub Inayat’s mighty knock of 74 runs in 44 balls including eight sixes and two fours was the highlight of the final.

Khatri was unbeaten in the tournament and picked up AED 5000 for their trouble. Zahira Colombo CC couldn’t gather in the 156 runs in the 20 overs, being bowled out for only 135.

Inayat was a shoe-in for player-of-the-final. Teammate Salman Khan, a classy left-arm spinner and batter was player-of-the-tournament. Indika of Zahira Colombo was the tournament’s top batter and Israr Butt of Beladi CC the leading bowler.