When Robin Singh was unveiled as the UAE’s new director of cricket, the former India all-rounder stressed a desire to focus on youth.
As the renowned coach gets ready to embark on his latest cricketing adventure, he could not have asked for a better base to launch his latest mission.
As many as three players aged below 20 have already started to make their marks for the UAE senior team of late, with young Jonathan Figy being one of them. The 18-year-old stole the headlines recently when he struck a match-winning unbeaten ton against Canada in the ICC U19 World Cup campaign opener in South Africa.
The top-order batsman is, without a doubt, one of the brightest young talents to emerge from the UAE’s system and is exactly the kind of player Singh will hope to take to the next level.
Born to Indian parents in Abu Dhabi, Figy earned a full cricket scholarship to the famed Winchester College in Hampshire, England in 2017.
He caught the eye of the head coach of the British team during their tour match against Zayed Cricket Academy and there has been no looking back for the prodigy ever since. After topping the run-scoring charts at Winchester for two years in a row, Figy was handed his UAE senior time ODI debut against Scotland in December.
Now, he is pursuing a BSc Mathematics and Statistics degree in the University of Leeds, though cricket remains his foremost passion.
“My grandmother follows cricket a lot, and she is the one who got me into watching cricket,” he told Sport360 recently.
“I remember watching the 2007 T20 World Cup final between India and Pakistan. India beat Pakistan in that final and that’s where my interest for cricket grew.
“I then started playing with my friends in the parking lot and everything just grew from there.”
His latest cricketing exploits in the U19 World Cup saw him collect nearly 197 runs in the tournament at a healthy average of 49.25. Only 11 players in the competition scored more runs than Figy who generated excellent starts in three other innings apart from his memorable ton.
“I was really happy with the 100, I mean it is a dream for anyone to score a century in the World Cup,” he said.
“I got a few starts in the other games but I didn’t really carry on. So that is something for me to learn from definitely. I think I had a decent World Cup, it probably could have been better.
“Averaging 49 in the World Cup is always decent. You always think that you could have done better once you have analysed your performances. I probably could have scored around 50 runs more at least, but overall, I am satisfied.”
It was the first time that the UAE had qualified for the U19 World Cup on merit and the youngsters did not fail to make an impact in South Africa. They beat eventual semi-finalists New Zealand in the official warm-up clash and put Canada to the sword in their Group D-opener.
A loss to Afghanistan put the brakes on their charge before they gave hosts South Africa a scare in their final group clash, which ended in a 23-run defeat via the D/L method. Their campaign ultimately ran out of steam in the play-off clashes where losses against Scotland and Canada saw them finish 14th overall.
“I think we did pretty alright in the World Cup,” Figy reasoned.
“I think our failure to seize the big moments in the crucial games is what cost us in the end, but we still performed pretty decently as a team in the tournament. For all of us, it has been a big learning curve.”
Having rubbed shoulders with some of the bigger cricketing nations in South Africa, Figy feels there are lessons to take for UAE cricket for the future.
“Playing against the likes of South Africa and Afghanistan who are full Test playing nations, you can see they have a very professional structure with the way they go about their training and other things,” he stated.
“That is something I feel we are lacking in the UAE at the moment. Hopefully, we will get there in the future and have a robust domestic structure in place, especially at the U19 level since that is the future.
“If we can get the right infrastructure and structure in place for the youth, then I think UAE cricket can go a really long way.”
One of the areas he feels the UAE can improve upon is by providing more opportunities to play the longer formats of the game.
Currently, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) sanctioned Inter-Academies operate across three age-groups – U13, U15 and U19. All three leagues are played out in the 25-over and 30-over formats. Figy believes having more 50-over competitions are a must.
“I think in the UAE, the academy structure is pretty strong and the level of cricket is pretty good in the academies,” he explained.
“However, the problem is that after playing in the academies, there is really nowhere to go. There are not many 50-over tournaments happening in the country, I believe there is only one.
“So if you have just one tournament over the course of the entire cricket season, it is not really going to help.
“In the two years I have spent at Winchester, all tournaments that we played were in 50-over tournaments. All the school games are 50-over games and the T20 nationals held once a year are the only time we play 20-over cricket.
“So it teaches you a lot of lessons, like how to bat long and play the longer formats. That’s what we lack in the UAE where the focus is mostly on the shorter formats.
“It is simple, the more you play, the more you learn how to build an innings and develop your game.”
The lack of 50-over tournaments in the country is a problem acknowledged by ECB’s national development manager Andrew Russell.
“What we would love to do is to increase the tournament to 50-over games, the only issue is ground availability,” Russell said.
“With so many matches happening and the stress it puts on the facilities, it is infeasible to conduct all matches in that format throughout the age-group in the time-frame that we have. I mean a 50-over game can last up to eight hours.
“What we do is try and focus on the next step-up. The Inter-Emirates tournaments are all 50-overs and creates that exposure to the longer format.”
Another issue hampering UAE cricket, according to Russell, is the exodus of talent when transitioning from junior to senior cricket. Figy remains committed to playing for the UAE despite his studies in England, but the same is not the case for many other juniors coming through the ranks.
“What generally happens here is that once players turn 18, they lose their residency visa,” he said.
“They go back to their original countries or some other country for their higher studies. So we lose touch with them and the pathway to senior cricket is broken.”
For this purpose, the ECB has been trying to put together a National Academy for the best young talents in the country, where they would be offered a contract and free education to help them achieve their goal of representing the UAE.
“What we want to do with the National Academy is to offer these kids a programme through which they can continue with their university studies over here while remaining focused on cricket,” he stated.
“Obviously that is something that requires a ton of sponsorship and money and it is a programme that we do not offer as of now.
“What we do try to do, in the meanwhile, is provide them with a clear pathway to senior cricket if they do decide to stay back in the country – a proper senior domestic structure where they can continue to develop their game.”
Meanwhile, balancing studies and the pursuit of cricket professionally at the same time is something Figy is starting to get a grasp of.
“It is quite hard to balance both. For the U19 World Cup I had to miss my university exams,” the youngster remarked.
“It is certainly not easy. I have been doing this for a while now so I am getting used to it. Whenever I have a tournament to play for the UAE, I get permission from Leeds to participate.
“It is a lot of hard work doing both at time, but the key is for me to remain focused. Cricket remains my passion and it is where I want to make it big.”
Having taken school cricket by storm in Winchester, Figy has now set his sights on something bigger in England in the future.
He said: “Playing county cricket is definitely one of my goals. Once I become eligible for county cricket, I would love to represent one of the teams.
“The standard of county cricket is quite high and that’s what I aspire to reach some day.”
Back from South Africa after the U19 World Cup, Figy did not waste a chance to spend some time in Abu Dhabi with his family before jetting off to Leeds for his academic endeavours. He will now hope to be back in the UAE senior colours soon when the squad for the upcoming ODI tri-series in Florida, USA is announced next month.
The tri-series is a part of the ongoing World Cricket League Two proceedings which serve as the route for the 2023 ICC World Cup qualifiers. The mix of youngsters and experienced stalwarts in the UAE squad is a welcome sign for skipper Ahmed Raza, who feels Singh will relish the chance of working with the current group of players.
“I think it is a great place to be in (for Singh), to be honest,” Raza had stated recently.
“I used to be the youngest player in the squad for a number of years and now we have guys who are probably half of my age. I think these are exciting times, one of the best times for UAE cricket.”
Players like Figy are clearly the future of UAE and the evidence so far suggests that it is a bright one.
“I think the great thing right now for UAE is that they are investing in youth which I feel will really pay off in the long run,” the teenager said.
“Currently, there are two more players under 20 apart from me in the team. Coming to the 2023 World Cup, we might or might not make it.
“But I feel that the experience we will gain from this campaign will really help us in the future, for the World Cups after that. Of course, we want to qualify for the 2023 World Cup as well, as I feel we are building a really good side.”
