Five changes UAE cricket need to make

Barnaby Read 20:44 23/07/2015
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  • The UAE has been struggling over the past 12 months.

    Following the UAE’s disastrous World T20 qualifying campaign this month, questions have rightly been asked of the country’s shocking showing, particularly on the back of a seemingly superb run over the previous 24 months.

    A second ever appearance at a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year, preceded by a first World T20 tournament in 2014 were remarkable achievements.

    Both tournaments were brought about by qualification in 2013, with the side under the leadership of captain Khurram Khan and coach Aaqib Javed. The former has left a gaping hole in the middle-order since retiring, while the latter is still at the helm and searching for answers.

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    In Khurram’s stead is 43-year-old Mohammad Tauqir, recalled to the side as the Emirati face of the national team at last year’s World Cup campaign. Both Tauqir and Javed, for the foreseeable future, face the challenge of reigniting the UAE’s cricketing flame.

    Here, we look at five changes UAE cricket needs in order to re-emerge as the cricketing hotbed it had promised to become.

    1. NEW, FRESH LEADERSHIP

    Both captains mentioned above have been fine representatives for the UAE, and even better ambassadors of the sport. However, while Khurram called time on his long career after an embarrassing innings defeat to Ireland in June, Tauqir seems set to carry on in the role without reprimand.

    Since taking over the role of captain for the second time, Tauquir’s UAE have lost 15, won three and had two matches abandoned. Included in that are eight ODI defeats out of eight (although India, South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and West Indies were played) and four losses out of six in the World T20 qualifiers.

    Tauqir’s place at the World Cup was controversial, but understandable and he put in some good performances Down Under. At the qualifying event just gone, however, that was not the case. With his side in desperate need of inspiration, Tauqir bowled just 11 overs in five matches and didn’t run his fingers across the seam once in their ultimately critical defeat to Kenya.

    As noted by The National’s Paul Radley, provisions were previously put in place with Ahmed Raza installed as vice-captain and being groomed as Khurram’s successor before Tauqir was given the nod. It is now time that someone of Raza’s ilk was finally given the opportunity to breathe new life into the UAE side and invigorate an ageing unit struggling to maintain the high standards it set in 2013.

    1. MARCH TOWARDS PROFESSIONALISM

    With qualification to its major events incentivised by the ICC, the UAE have enjoyed added funding over the past two years and spent wisely in bringing in strength and conditioning specialist Peter Kelley and former Pakistan international Mudassar Nazar as batting coach. This bred a feeling of professionalism within the camp, further enhanced by the presence of Paul Collingwood in the build-up to, and Paul Franks at, the World Cup.

    At the same time, the ECB echoed its previous whispers of central contracts more loudly with Javed even telling Sport360 in May this year that they were earmarking January 2016 as a potential date to see the first full-time UAE cricketer. Talk has since gone quiet, but that is little surprise considering the complications which the board, its players and their employers face in delivering the ambitious project.

    While central contracts will deliver professionalism to the elect few, there are other areas in which the UAE can at least instil an atmosphere of professionalism. The players have undoubtedly thrown themselves into the added work required of them, despite the rigours of balancing international cricket with their work commitments.  For the ECB, however, there seems like a lot of growing up is still to be done.

    1. MORE PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIPS

    The problems with the ECB can be highlighted by its recent decision to give preference to the Masters Cricket League over the Pakistan Cricket Board’s new domestic T20 league. The MCL exhibition tournament, featuring a plethora of stars of cricket’s past, will take centre stage in February next year after agreeing a deal with the ECB and hiring the country’s top stadia. It came as both a surprise, and blow, to the PCB who thought their inaugural IPL-style league would naturally take precedence due to the board’s working relationship with their UAE counterparts.

    The UAE has been the ‘home’ venue for Pakistani cricket since 2009, bringing regular international fixtures to the Emirates in return for using its stunning venues and performing in front of a fanatical expat community. Jeopardising such a relationship is a foolish move by the ECB and not fully exploiting it is at best negligent.

    The UAE has played Pakistan ‘A’ teams a handful of times over the past six years and their players have had the odd opportunity to play and train alongside their illustrious guests. While a smattering of former Pakistan internationals have been encouraged to UAE tournaments in order to impress selectors based in the UAE during various series, more should have been (and still could be) done to establish a player exchange and regular fixtures between the two nations.

    UAE players could have been encouraged to make the trip to Pakistan to play domestic cricket and vice versa, with both club and international sides setting up regular competition. But with the PCB openly criticising the ECB for the botched T20 league and now speaking to Qatar about hosting matches, it may be a little too late.

    1. MAKE USE OF KHURRAM

    Without doubt, the biggest task on the playing front is replacing talisman Khurram Khan. One of the most prolific batsmen in associate cricket history, he was the UAE’s go-to-man more often than not and brought a calming presence to the team which allowed those around him to shine. It is for this very reason and what he represents as an iconic figure of the sport in the country, that the ECB must find a way to have Khurram in and around the team as much as time allows.

    Obviously, his work as a purser for Emirates Airlines will affect whatever role he could take up but whatever they can draw from Khurram will be a benefit. He has already said that discussions have begun about a coaching role and even if Khurram were not to take up a hands-on role in the backroom staff then this should not hold the ECB back from utilising him.

    He would be equally be suited to ambassadorial duties or even a position on the board as a link between players and officials to enhance communication between the two. As such a respected figure, any sort of players’ representative job would seem a perfect match for all concerned. This must also be the case with Tauqir when he brings an end to his playing days, with a role in taking the game to Emiratis a more than sensible approach to retirement.

    1. PLAY MORE LONGER FORMAT CRICKET

    To say the UAE is focused on T20 cricket is as much of an understatement as saying Dale Steyn can bowl or AB de Villiers can bat. Steyn is a master of skill, control, pace, seam, line and length; AB de Villiers is innovative, explosive and patient in one, effervescent package. Yes, these are professional cricketers who have had the luxury of focusing their attentions on nothing but the sport (and music in AB’s case) for the majority of their lives. The UAE cannot boast such emphasis on the game but they can make an effort to produce cricketers who are as versatile.

    Currently, the country has swathes of T20 tournaments that span its seven emirates. What they do not have is as prosperous base or enthusiasm for the longer formats of cricket. This is partly down to the huge number of sub-continent expats playing the game in the UAE who love T20 and ODI cricket, as well as the organisers’ preference to fulfil their needs.

    The Danube Test series is the country’s sole three-day affair, with its first final being played in January this year at Dubai International Stadium. For a country playing in the four-day Intercontinental Cup, the winner of which earns a stab at Test cricket, that is nowhere near enough. Not only will the growth of two, three or four-day cricket develop players more suited to the longer version, it will also benefit its stars aiming to impress on the more lucrative T20I and ODI stage.

    Sport is a muddle of hard work, natural ability and instinct – particularly in a game like cricket in which split-second decisions define outcomes by the smallest of margins. In order to be able to make these decisions, players must have a range of experiences and muscle memory to draw upon. At the minute, few of the UAE’s side have the luxury to do so with T20 cricket defining their approach to their game. 

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