It was a UAE tour to remember for Pakistan’s Southend Club Youth Team as their promising cricketers won four of the six practice games during their 10-day visit.
They pitted themselves against various academies based in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman in 20, 35 and 40-over matches, with the emphasis of gaining experience in overseas conditions.
For many of the boys, aged between 15 and 19, it was their first trip outside Pakistan and they didn’t disappoint.
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Led by 19-year-old Hamza Qamar, the Pakistani 15-man squad enjoyed two victories each over Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Cricket Academy and Sharjah Cricket Academy.
As well as the great team displays, there were some impressive individual performances.
Bashaar Ashfaq and Ahmer Amir sizzled with the ball with three-wicket hauls, while Inzamam Ali and Afnan Karim both scored half-centuries during the tour.
It was the second UAE trip by Southend Club, a coaching establishment in Karachi, and Abdul Wahab, who organised the tour, hopes his boys can build on this success.
“The boys have learnt a lot because they’ve played against teams who are very competitive,” he said.
“The UAE have some very good young players and we felt by visiting here they will get a good experience of playing against youngsters who have different bowling and batting abilities. It was a good way to learn what it’s like to play in overseas conditions.
“Hopefully they can continue playing well and build on this if they want to make a career in cricket.”
He added: “I’m really impressed by how the boys played because they were not nervous and stuck to the game plan.”
With more than 100 cricketers at the club across their U-11, U-15 and U-18 age groups, overseas trips are an important part of Southend’s plans in developing cricketers.
Their previous tours have seen them travel to the UK, Netherlands and Malaysia and Wahab insists there are plans to return to the UAE within the next two years.
“We organise trips around the world to help them get used to conditions and see what a tour is like. We are very happy with the UAE trip and hope to be back at the end of next year in 2017,” he added.
