The leading sides in indoor cricket in the UAE are getting ready to face each other at the ICC Academy as part of the biggest-ever tournament of its kind, the SNTTA – Makemytrip Challengers Cup, which gets underway at Dubai Sports City today.
Those leading sides include Danube, the winner of four successive titles in 2013, as well as DBMSC-1, the side that won the OSN Winter Tournament in January 2014, and Pacific Ventures, the winner of the OSN Challengers Cup in February 2014, when it beat Danube in the final.
Skybridge Freight Solutions (SFS), Xpress Money UAE Exchange and Dubai Lions, all of them used to featuring in the latter stages of indoor tournaments, complete the six teams in the Elite section.
But those six really are the tip of the pyramid as the event, which concludes on May 18, features more teams, more matches and more prize-money than ever before.
A total of 54 teams are taking part with those sides divided into one of three sections – that Elite group of six, plus Silver and Bronze – and the division is intended to ensure competitive action for all, as well as realistic chances of glory.
And, with 100 matches being played over a period of 41 days, the event, which replaces the Challengers Cup and Midnight League on the ICC Academy calendar, really will be a test for all, whatever level they are playing at.
The prize pool stands at a total of Dh19,000, including Dh5,000 for the winners of the Elite section, Dh4,000 for the Silver winners and Dh3,000 for the Bronze victors, as well as cash prizes for the runnersup in each section too.
The matches will be eight-a-side and consist of just eight over innings. Teams will bat in pairs, with each pair spending two overs in the middle, and five runs will be deducted from the score every time a wicket falls.
It means that every ball counts in a frantic, fast-paced format that has already proved hugely popular with players and spectators at the ICC Academy.
The Elite section will see all sides play a minimum of three matches with the top four sides then going forward to semi-finals, followed by a best-of-three Grand Final series.
The Silver Division features 16 teams divided into four pools of four with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals, followed by semifinals and a Grand Final.
Sides within this section include Oxford Marine, Radio 4 and the Rowdy Cricketers, all of them with impressive pedigrees in indoor cricket at the ICC Academy.
The Bronze Division is the largest in the tournament, with a total of 32 teams fitted into eight pools, again each of four teams.
The top side from each pool in this section will go through to the quarter- finals followed by semi-finals a Grand Final.
Will Kitchen, the ICC Academy Manager, said: “Now the draw for the SNTTA – Makemytrip Challengers Cup has taken place, everyone is hugely excited at the prospect of this tournament.
“It is the most ambitious indoor cricket event we have staged at the ICC Academy with the number of teams, matches, days and prize money all exceeding anything we have done before.”
Dubai Sports City’s general manager Mr Maqbul Dudhia said: “The fact there is substantial prize money for each section within the tournament is an added incentive for sides and we look forward to a really successful event.”
