New UAE cricket stadium hopes to attract top nations

Cricket in this desert country is set to receive further boost with the completion of a major cricket stadium in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi plans to host big time cricket in 2002 and is awaiting a positive response from the cricket playing nations, including India.

The state-of-the-art floodlit cricket stadium will have a 22,000 capacity. Work on the project started in December last year and is expected to be completed in April. From September, it will be ready to host international matches.

Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), says he was "very confident that all cricket playing nations, including India, will participate in the international tournament that we propose to stage once the Zayed Cricket Stadium in the capital is ready."

Shaikh Nahyan expressed confidence that the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game's governing body, will respond positively in availing of the venue as a permanent address for world cricket.

"We are already corresponding with various cricket boards, including that of Pakistan, India, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and their response has been very positive," he said.

Leading NRI businessman B.R. Shetty, who is the vice president of Abu Dhabi Cricket Council, however, told IANS that the council has written to all cricket boards, including India, for taking part in tournaments in the new stadium.

"So far we have not had any response, neither positive or negative," he said.

India earlier this year pulled out of the Sharjah Cup, and said they will not participate in tournaments in venues like Sharjah, Toronto and Singapore.

On India's participation, Shaikh Nahyan, who is also UAE's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, said he would pursue the matter at a higher level. Shaikh Nahyan said he was aware of the scepticism prevailing in a few countries about the way cricket is conducted in a few venues.

But he was not very optimistic about the popularity of the game with UAE nationals, saying "cricket has a long way to go (in the UAE) with the indigenous people but once the infrastructure is made available they can be drafted into the sport from the school level."

One of the goals is to build a UAE representative team in the international arena," he said.

--Indo-Asian News Service

Mail Cricket Editor