JEDDAH: Wherever in the world Indians and Pakistanis go, they take cricket with them, and Saudi Arabia is no exception. The kingdom witnessed its first ever cricket match in 1960, which was a friendly contest between Indian and Pakistani expatriates organized as part of Eid celebrations. It proved to be the beginning of a new era in Saudi Arabia, and since then, many teams have been formed and various tournaments held regularly in different parts of the kingdom, with cricket’s governing body in Saudi Arabia now an associate member of the International Cricket Council.
“It was in the early 1980’s when I was a student of secondary school at the Pakistan embassy school in Jeddah ... that I brought a cricket bat (to Saudi Arabia),” Sameer Nidal Khan, the former manager of the Saudi Cricket Center and Saudi cricket team, told Arab News.
“A Saudi friend asked me ... ‘what is this? Is it a boat stick?’” Khan said with a laugh.
He is also director of the HALA Cricket Academy and Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA).
By the early 70’s, he said, cricket had become the most popular sport among expatriates and expanded so much that an organization dedicated to the game became necessary. This culminated in the formation of the Jeddah Cricket League (JCL) in 1976.
The flag-bearer was Shahid Amin, who collected the teams under one umbrella and the move gained strong support from famous Saudi personalities, said Hamid Afandi, a pioneer of structured cricket in Saudi Arabia.
The first executive committee was announced during the same decade to organize the inaugural tournament, and Zainul Ali Reza extended his all-out patronage for the development of cricket, becoming the patron-in-chief of the JCL, which successfully organized its first-ever historical event, called the ‘Ali Reza Inaugural League’ in 1976.
The tournament was a runaway success by all accounts and many of the big cities followed in the footsteps of the JCL, creating their own leagues in subsequent years. Among the most renowned, are the Jeddah Cricket Association, Western Province Cricket Association, Riyadh Cricket League, Riyadh Cricket Association, Eastern Province Cricket Association, Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah Cricket Association, Madinah Cricket Association and Madinah Cricket Leagues. In recent years, total teams exceed 300 and Riyadh has the most numbers.
Cities throughout Saudi Arabia now view hallmark cricket events as a powerful tool for community interaction, stimulating cricket development and international recognition. These events are so popular, that sponsors get considerable advantages out of their investments.
The Saudi Cricket Center, formed in 2001 under the patronage of Princess Ghada bint Hamood bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, is the official governing body controlling cricket activities domestically and is now an associate member of International Cricket Council. It was created with the objective of developing and promoting the game of cricket in Saudi Arabia.
“Not many people are aware that Saudi Arabia is an associate member of International Cricket Council (ICC) and full member of non-test playing Asian Cricket Council (ACC),” Nadeem Nadwi, CEO of Saudi Cricket Center, told Arab News.
He said that the Kingdom was “23rd in Global ICC T20 raking and 7th in ACC T20 ranking,” adding that it was a significant achievement since cricket enthusiasts in the country work with relatively little resources. “Recently, Saudi Arabia also won ACC T20 Western Region Championship,” he informed.
“The Saudi Cricket Center arranges regional tournaments, national champions trophy, school cricket, and cricket educational courses as part of its annual development program,” Nadwi continued.
The center is also working on a strategic development program that aims to attract young people by organizing special events.
“Currently, there are over 100 Saudi boys participating in cricket coaching camps in Yanbu and Gizan,” he said.
“The center is also working with the Saudi Federation of Mass Participation and General Sports Authority to work out a comprehensive plan to popularize and develop cricket on a larger level,” Nadwi added.
Talking to Arab News, Osama Saad, the first Saudi national ACC Level 2 qualified umpire said: “I feel proud to represent Saudi Arabia on international level, I am thankful to the Saudi Cricket Center for providing this opportunity to me. It is a beautiful game and we must work hard to take it to young Saudis. I see a great future here.”
Discussing the future prospects of the game, Syed Mussarat Khalil, a founding member of the center and Western Province Cricket Association, stressed the importance of school cricket.
“Schools should try to produce at least three players who can participate in the selection process for the national team,” he said while praising the efforts of the Saudi Cricket Center for the development and promotion of the game in the Kingdom.
Cricket in Saudi Arabia: a love story imported from Pakistan and India
Cricket in Saudi Arabia: a love story imported from Pakistan and India
- The kingdom is 23rd in Global ICC T20 ranking
- Seeks to develop school cricket to enhance the prospects of the game in the country
‘Papaya’s not going anywhere’: How McLaren banished the wilderness years on and off the track
- On-track success of 2 constructors’ championships and Lando Norris’s title win matched by a rebrand attracting a new generation of fans to the British F1 team
ABU DHABI: It’s been just over a week since Lando Norris claimed his first Formula One championship title, but for McLaren’s growing army of supporters the party continues.
When the British driver crossed the finish line at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit in third place to confirm his title victory, you could be forgiven for thinking the post-race celebrations had a familiar look to others in recent years at the season-closing Grand Prix in the UAE’s capital.
This time however, the celebrating fans were sporting the orange of McLaren’s distinctive “papaya” livery, rather than the orange of Max Verstappen’s native Netherlands.
The resurgence of the British team in recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. On the track, their overwhelming supremacy has been secured by a superior car and two gifted drivers in Norris and Australia’s Oscar Piastri. Off it, they deployed one of motor sport’s most successful rebranding campaigns, as a result of which McLaren’s main color now rivals Ferrari’s red as the most iconic in F1.
“You know, it was the fans’ choice to bring papaya back,” Matt Dennington, co-chief commercial officer at McLaren, told Arab News.
“Back in, I think it was 2016, we went out to our fans and it was an overwhelming ‘yes’ that they wanted to see our heritage come back into the team. It’s a key brand asset for us.”
Speaking during a “Live Your Fandom” event at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, co-hosted with Velo, a team sponsor since 2019, he said: “For us, the fans are the lifeblood of our sport. We don’t go racing without them, and to be able to celebrate our fans and our partners together has been awesome.”
Norris’s success in Abu Dhabi was a crowning moment for the team, but the development on the track has been clear and dramatic for several years.
In 2017, the team finished a lowly ninth out of 10 in the constructors’ championship. Improvements to the car, particularly after switching to a Mercedes engine, helped the team move up to become a fixture in the “mid-field” F1 grid. Then, in 2024, came the giant leap forward as McLaren won the team title and then retained it this year.
In tandem with those successes, the commercial work that has taken place off the track has helped McLaren, in large part thanks to return of its papaya colors, develop one of the strongest brand identities in all of sports.
“Obviously, the on-track performance has been a great boost for that,” Dennington said. “You know, the other areas that have helped progress our fandom, and the sport, is the work that Liberty Media have done in the schedule.”
Liberty, an American mass media company, acquired Formula One Group from CVC Partners in 2017 for $4.4 billion. The popularity of the sport has skyrocketed since then thanks to huge engagement across media channels — including a certain Netflix show.
“More races, more races in the US, ‘Drive to Survive’ (on Netflix, and) we had the F1 movie,” Dennington said. “So there’s some great media platforms really driving the audience growth and the diversity of the audience.
“As a team, we’ve been pushing ourselves to be more sophisticated in the way in which we engage and communicate with our teams, but also looking at the partners we work with to give our fans the access to the McLaren brand and access to racing culture.”
The team’s portfolio now boasts more than 50 sponsors, among them Google, Mastercard and British American Tobacco. Dennington highlighted a number of campaigns that caught the public’s imagination.
“Some good examples of that is the work that we’ve done with Reiss and Abercrombie & Fitch — we bought our first women’s line of fashion through those organizations; the work we’re doing with Lego in capturing those sort of youth consumers into the brand; and also the work we’ve done with Tumi over the last few years in the luggage category.
“So we’re trying to extend the brand, we’re trying to create more access.”
In August, McLaren and Velo launched the “Live Your Fandom” campaign, offering nine superfans from the UK, Romania, the Czech Republic, Mexico and other places a “golden ticket” F1 experience in the form of a full day at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England.
The chosen fans enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour, shared their memories of the team directly with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, and took part in a surprise Q&A session with Norris.
One high-profile result of their special day was the graphical contributions they made to the team’s 2025 Abu Dhabi livery design, unveiled just days before Norris claimed the title, which featured art they helped create inspired by their most defining McLaren moments.
The livery features a series of bespoke images, including the “Papaya Family” representing the community spirit among McLaren F1 fans around the world; a “Forever Forward” friendship bracelet; and “Home Wins,” symbolizing the team’s victories this season in its home country at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is considered the team’s second home.
Other images celebrated the back-to-back constructors’ championship victories; 200 race wins; 50 top-two race finishes; and the fastest pitstop of the 2025 season (1.91 seconds).
Louise McEwen, McLaren Racing’s chief marketing officer, said: “Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this special livery is another way of showing our appreciation.
“Through the ‘Live Your Fandom’ campaign with Velo we’ve been able to celebrate their passion and creativity in a way that truly brings the Papaya Family together.”
Such efforts by McLaren to bring more fans even closer to the action will continue, Dennington said.
“Less than 1 percent of all fans in Formula One over their lifetime get to go to a race,” he added. “So I think it’s up to us as a sport, as teams, to be able to create more opportunities for them (and) to connect with our fans.”
As for the image and identity of the team moving forward, he had a reassuring message for fans: “Papaya’s not going anywhere and you’ll continue to see that into the future.”
