AJMAN With a serious dearth of good cricket grounds in the UAE, the New Ajman Oval Ground certainly comes as a boon.
It took two years of hard toil for Khalil Ghulamnabi, Aamir Sarfraz, Salman Ahmad, Rashid Ghulamnabi and Shujaddin Chaudhry, all executive board members of the Oval, to turn the dream into a reality.
Highest standards
What stands now is a state-of-the-art facility that promises to offer some great cricketing action in the future.
The ground, affiliated to the Ajman Cricket Council, boasts four turf wickets and a lush green outfield with the pavilion designed to give it the Arabian touch.
“We have taken a lot of effort to ensure the New Ajman Oval Cricket Ground meets the highest standards,” said Development Officer Moin Mohammad, who is also the Director of Cricon, which is marketing and the consultant partner of this ground. “The wickets are prepared in consultation with professional curators and we are confident it will produce some great results in the future.
“We have the automatic and zero level pitch grass cutting machines used for international matches,” he added.
Besides the spacious dressing rooms and dugouts, the ground also houses large side screens, high-powered floodlights and digital scoreboards that meet international standards.
“The floodlights, scoreboards, pavilion all are designed according to international standards. We also have guaranteed the players get their space with spacious dressing rooms. We hope they enjoy using our facilities,” Rahim Shad, also the Chief Executive Officer of the Oval.
A mosque has been constructed inside the oval and several mounts with barbecue areas give spectators an ideal place to relax and enjoy a game of cricket.
To further beautify the grounds, a number of palm and neem trees have been planted in addition to the attractive gardening at every corner of the ground.
The oval will also house a cricket academy and has three practice wickets that will be expanded to six in the near future.
Coffee and sports shops will also be added to ensure everything is available under one roof. Ample parking space has also been accommodated just outside the ground.
“The ground has been designed keeping everything related to cricket in mind. A lot of hard work has gone to ensure we have one of the best grounds in the region. We are hopeful cricketers will enjoy playing in our facility and hope to see a lot of action here,” said Ghulamnabi.
