On Thursday, the UAE will begin their most important tournament since the Asia Cup qualifiers when they line up in the ICC World Cricket League Division Two and it’s a lot more than just being champions.
After a disappointing campaign in Division One, finishing third from bottom, the UAE will be hoping to make the most of their second chance and qualify for the 2019 World Cup, which is to be hosted in England and Wales. Just two spots are available to join the likes of West Indies and Afghanistan next month with Oman, Kenya, Canada, Nepal and hosts Namibia all standing in their way.
Here, we look at three reasons why the UAE should be optimistic:
Counting on experience
The ECB have been careful not to do too much chopping and changing in the last 12 months with an eye on qualifying for elite tournaments and their decisions have been paying off. Since the Desert T20 last January, 10 players from that squad are currently in Namibia and the majority of players have played more or less non-stop over the past 12 months.
While some UAE players will be contesting a tournament of such significance for the first time in their international careers, the team has plenty of experience in the ranks.
Among them is veteran batsman Shaiman Anwar, who at 37, is the oldest member of the travelling party as well as the likes of captain Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza and Mohammed Naveed who have all been at this stage before.
Good run of form
If this tournament had come this time one year ago, the prospect of the UAE’s qualifying chances looked a lot bleaker than they do now. Victories and consistency were hard to come by especially when the ECB were searching for a permanent successor to Aaqib Javed.
But with former Warwickshire supremo Dougie Brown brought in as interim coach in February and then being named new head coach three months later, they have rediscovered the form that made them one of the top Associate sides under Javed.
In the last 30 matches, 20 wins have been registered including triumphs over Oman, Papua New Guinea and an impressive away series win in the Netherlands. They might have been beaten by Ireland in Dubai prior to their departure but their victory over Scotland shows they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Preparation
With the matches in Namibia played in high altitude, the UAE have left no stones unturned. While Nepal have prepared for the tournament by training in Dubai, Brown’s side travelled to Pretoria for a week-long training camp ahead of their arrival in Windhoek. It was the same when they toured the African nation last September and that yielded positives results with victory in the four-day I-Cup and their World Cricket League Championship encounter.
Competition will be much fiercer considering what is at stake this time round and the tight schedule of the tournament being completed in just seven days just adds to the list of obstacles that they must overcome.
Brown made it clear ahead of the Zimbabwe ‘A’ 5-0 whitewash in October, the focus was claiming one of the top two spots in Division Two and it’s a vision shared by the players. It’s now up to them to deliver and keep their World Cup dream alive. After all, they will only have themselves to blame if they can’t continue their World Cup road in Zimbabwe.
