LONDON: Persistent rain in Malaysia’s Bandar Kinrara on Thursday put paid to the UAE reaching the Asia Cup on home soil after they were beaten by Hong Kong in a weather-affected final.
But, in truth, bad weather cannot dampen the worrying sense that cricket in the Emirates is stuttering after a promising few years, and questions will now be asked about where cricket in the UAE is headed.
The cricketing landscape in Asia has changed considerably in a short space of time.
Afghanistan — with whom the UAE used to share associate member status — have flourished since gaining their Test stripes this year, and recently beat another former ICC associate member (Ireland) away from home.
With qualification for next year’s World Cup also secured, it is safe to say the game in Afghanistan is on an upward trajectory.
But things seem to have flatlined for the UAE since they qualified for the World Cup in 2015 — on the pitch, at least.
The UAE’s ICC rankings suggest they are better than teams such as Hong Kong, Oman and Nepal — all of whom they faced in this week’s Asia Cup Qualifier — but missing out on a place at Asia’s top table, as well as not reaching the World Cup next year, will definitely be seen as steps in the wrong direction.
However, the future looks much brighter off the pitch with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) making all the right moves in recent months.
They secured the hosting rights for the Asia Cup in a deal with the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) — the first time the UAE will host the tournament since 1995 — after it was announced in April that the BCCI would forego staging the event in India, because of ongoing tensions with Pakistan, and “host” it in the Emirates.
And further tapping into the popularity of the game among the UAE’s expatriates, the ECB announced the launch this year of the “UAE T20x” league, which will run from Dec. 19 to Jan. 11.
It will be a monumental step for cricket in the UAE, given the success stories of the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League, not to mention that the event has already got the backing of seven full member nations, including England, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies, in addition to 12 ICC associate members.
“The number one aim of UAE T20x is to offer a developmental platform for the best young cricketers from around the world, and of course the UAE, to showcase their talent alongside the icons of the game,” Zayed Abbas, ECB board member, said last month.
“We want this new league to play its part in helping to grow the game,” he added.
And icons it will have, after England’s Eoin Morgan, South Africa’s David Miller and the West Indies’ Andre Russell all signed on to play. Nobody can deny that the ECB are certainly talking a good game.
The next step has to be putting pressure on the ICC, which has changed the format of next year’s World Cup, meaning it will be the first without an associate member — this move has been criticized for protecting the game’s elite rather than expanding its reach in nations such as the UAE.
If the steps taken by the ECB this year do achieve targets, foster a stronger cricketing culture in the Emirates, and results on the pitch begin to improve, the game in the UAE will be headed in the right direction once again.
By then, the ICC will have no choice but to sit up and take note.