A day with: UAE's Interim coach Owais Shah

Denzil Pinto 09:00 30/12/2016
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  • The former England batsman is in the UAE.

    For more than 13 years, Owais Shah has let the bat do the talking, whether it was on the international stage or in a premier T20 tournament.

    And with his playing days now numbered, the former England and Middlesex batsman is passing on his experience and knowledge as the UAE interim coach.

    Having been in the position since October, Shah caught up with Sport360 at the ICC Academy this month to talk about how he’s enjoying his new role, what he wants to implement and some of his cricketing memories.

    You’ve been in charge of the UAE national team for a few weeks now. Considering this is your first coaching job, how are you enjoying it?

    I’m loving it. I enjoy working with cricketers, working with talented guys and showing them of being tactical aware of things. I want them to improve and start thinking about the game but I’m quite happy so far.

    When was the first time you saw the UAE play?

    It was during the World Cup in 2015. It was an eye-opener for me that UAE were playing World Cup cricket which was really good. It was a great achievement to qualify for the World Cup. Hats off to them and they did well in the past.

    But that’s in the past and we got to look at what we are going now in the future and produce results and get back to winning ways.

    Owais Shah bats in a T20I for England.

    Owais Shah bats in a T20I for England.

    What do you want to achieve from this role?

    I would like them to improve and get back to winning ways and improve the individuals here. Whether that’s in batting, bowling or fielding, or just thinking about the game.

    What are the main challenges for you?

    It’s like any nation. There are a few challenges. The facilities are definitely not one of them and we have amazing facilities over here. I guess having the availability of players all the time would be good but it is what it is. With the ECB introducing central contracts, we should in say eight to 12 months, see an improvement, a drastic improvement. If you’re practising skills day in day out, in theory you should get better.

    You’ve been here for nearly three months. What improvements need to be made in UAE cricket?

    There’s a lot. We need to have more domestic cricket so there’s a bigger pool of players to choose from and regular tournaments. The main focus of UAE cricket is in T20 and that means there’s hardly any 50-over cricket being played. How are we going to get better if we don’t play any 50-over cricket?

    You were also a professional cricketer. How important is it for UAE cricketers to understand about professionalism in the game?

    Everything you do is being professional, whether that’s eating right, sleeping right, turning up for time – that’s just off-field stuff. Wearing the correct kit and footwear and being on time, that’s what you call professional.

    What have you learnt from your playing days that you want to implement?

    What I learnt is that there is not just one way of doing things, there are a lot of ways to do things. Travelling the world and playing cricket shows you different techniques, cultures and different ways.

    I would like to draw on those experiences and give the guys options here. It’s not just about producing results, if you want to do it your way that’s not a problem, it’s all about the results.

    It’s a beautiful game and I would love to see them have opportunities around the world. That will only happen if they improve their game and start producing results. Some key elements are like characteristics and mental toughness.

    You play against tough players and opponents who are flamboyant and you have to extract all those qualities to help these guys.

    Owais Shah.

    Owais Shah.

    Your contract ends at the end of January. Are you hoping it will be extended?

    I would like to. The answer to that question lies with the selectors.

    With your playing days numbered, is coaching now the future for you?

    If the opportunity came along like this then I would love to do this.

    Have you found coaching difficult to what you had expected it to be?

    There are different aspects which are difficult and different aspects which are easy to relate to. Nothing is going to be easy in life so you have to work hard at it, get to grips at different things and produce stuff your way.

    Every coach has their own way of coaching. What is your philosophy?

    Mine is to make decisions what is the best for the team. If that means if everyone hates me, then so be it. But I will do everything that’s in the best interests of UAE cricket and I don’t care if I upset anyone. If I sleep at night knowing I’ve done the best for the UAE team, then it’s good.

    Was that something you learnt when you were playing?

    That’s how my parents brought me up by doing the right thing. I’m not going to do any favours to anyone but just do the right thing.

    You haven’t officially retired but if any club offered you a deal, would you consider it?

    I’m getting old now (he’s 38) but I don’t know and have to see.

    You’ve played around the world in some big T20 competitions. What were the ones that stood out for you?

    The Big Bash and IPL. The atmosphere, the whole country buzz, television coverage and atmosphere in the games is amazing. Those two countries know who to do T20 cricket.

    How do you look back at your England career?

    I enjoyed playing for England and I wish I had more opportunities in the longer format but it just didn’t work out that way. There are no regrets, I would have liked to play a bit more and only got a handful of opportunities in Test cricket. In one-day cricket I thought I was playing well until I got dropped but that’s the way it is.

    Who was your favourite coach you worked under and why?

    It has to be Richard Pybus. I enjoyed working with him in his very short stint at Middlesex. I also worked under him with Cape Cobras. His man management skills were very good and read the game quite well. I think his management of players was his best quality he had.

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