Set to score big
With its legions of expat workers, the UAE is a natural as a venue for international cricket
Matthew Teller is a freelance journalist who travels regularly in the Gulf region
The crowd of 25,000 revellers leap ecstatically to its feet, fists punching the hot night air as DJ Leroy fades up the pounding beats of Bole Ni Bole by Daler Mehndi, the king of Punjabi bhangra. For 10 seconds I can’t hear myself think; the thumping bass rattles my ribcage and everyone within sight screams for joy, dancing, waving flags and laughing. Then, just as abruptly, Leroy cuts the music and the crowd settles into attentive silence, for this is no disco: we are looking out over the floodlit field of the Dubai Sports City stadium, where Pakistan’s bowlers are humiliating Australia’s much-vaunted batting line-up. This is international cricket, UAE-style.
The last five years have seen an inexorable shift in cricket’s power base from Europe to Asia. In 2005 the International Cricket Council, the world governing body, moved its headquarters from London’s famous Lord’s Cricket Ground – where it had been based since its inception in 1909 – to Dubai.
Meanwhile, security issues – notably in Pakistan, where terrorist attacks on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in March this year resulted in the country’s exclusion as a 2011 World Cup host country – have raised question marks over the Indian subcontinent’s suitability as a venue for international sport.
With admirable dexterity the UAE has stepped into the breach, rapidly promoting itself as the world’s leading neutral venue for international cricket. Late in 2008 it acted as “home” venue for Pakistan’s series against the West Indies, and it is reprising the role this spring for Pakistan against Australia.
Although on an official level cricket has existed largely unacknowledged in the Emirates, venture into the backstreets of Abu Dhabi, or wander the creekside parks of Bur Dubai and Deira on a Friday, and you’ll find a hundred informal cricket matches played largely by South Asian workers. At street level the passion for the game is as tangible here as anywhere on the subcontinent itself.
The emergence of the UAE onto the international scene is underpinned by an offering of world-class facilities. Long saddled with a single, unloved stadium in Sharjah, the UAE now boasts the magnificent Shaikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi – used for international matches and as a training base by England, among others – as well as the Dubai Sports City stadium (DSC), newly unveiled a couple of months ago. Seating 25,000 in a tight circle, the DSC generates a hum like no other; Pakistan captain Younus Khan described it as “fantastic – it has a soccer feel.”
Alongside the brilliance of Shahid Afridi and the other Pakistani stars on the field, having DJ Leroy on hand helps to keep the DSC’s atmosphere at boiling point. As Abdulrahman Falaknaz, vice-president of the Emirates Cricket Board, told Gulf News: “The fans have been hungry to watch international matches. I’m happy they have finally got a venue.”
And that night in Dubai, as Pakistan whupped Australia, the fans responded in kind. One placard spoke for all present: “Thanks a million DSC – we hope you bring us more and more cricket!” |
