UAE | Media
Willow blooms in the desert: From airport runway to plush stadiums
Cricket in the desert sounded like a preposterous idea to many in the UAE three decades ago.
- By K.R. Nayar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:44 October 11, 2007
- Spectators brave the heat to watch a match hosted by the Abu Dhabi Cricket Association between Habib Bank of Pakistan and Abu Dhabi Cricket Association's President XI in April 1983.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Dubai: Cricket in the desert sounded like a preposterous idea to many in the UAE three decades ago.
Fast forward to 2007 and the UAE occupies a place in the record books for having hosted the maximum number of one-day international matches at a single venue. Ironically, it also hosts the headquarters of cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is set to become the centre of cricket training around the world with the completion of the ICC Global Cricket Academy at Dubai Sports City.
Nowhere in the world did the game struggle so much to make its mark as it did in a country where the average annual rainfall is a mere 2.4 inches. Not surprising then that a green cricket ground was way beyond the dreams of the common man. But thanks to the undying passion for the game among cricket lovers in the UAE today the country occupies a prominent place on the world cricket map.
Mazhar Khan, administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board, who has been associated with the promotion of the game here for nearly three decades, recalled a fairytale journey from the time when cricket was played on sand.
"Cricket made its presence here in the early sixties when there was nothing but desert everywhere. The British army base was at the old Sharjah airport. It was a small airport with planes landing only once or twice a week. When no planes were expected, people used to play on the runway."
Water was an expensive commodity and therefore turf grounds were unheard of. No one could ever even think of playing on a grass pitch. Muddy areas that were levelled and hardened for vehicles to move became the first wickets. They were then improvised to cement wickets in the early seventies.
One of the earliest cement wickets was prepared near the Al Khan roundabout in Sharjah. Cricket lovers flocked to the area, and the formation of cricket clubs then began.
Abdul Rehman Bukhatir, who later built a cricket stadium and brought international cricket to the UAE, was the captain of the Sharjah Club. The Lanka Lions made up of expatriates from Sri Lanka was another leading team. There were other teams like Al Shaab, Dubai Bank, Young Challengers which led to the inception of the Bukhatir league. This league, now in its 33rd year, is among the oldest cricket tournaments in the world.
Ali Anwar Jafri, who was the secretary of the Sharjah Cricket Council for nearly three decades, recalls: "In February 1976, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with players like Imran Khan, Wasim Bari and Salim Altaf played the UAE Select XI at the Air India ground. It was a cement wicket with a sand outfield located behind the Safeer Mall on the Dubai-Sharjah Highway."
Cricket began to make its presence felt in Dubai too. The Darjeeling Cricket Club, made up of expatriates from England, created two grounds. They invited other clubs to play there. "Strong teams like the Dubai Police and Dubai Electricity were invited to play every week, but weaker teams like the Punjab Cricket Club were invited once in three weeks only," recalled Tariq Butt, one of the most experienced umpires in the UAE. Butt has also organised tournaments for over three decades.
Ultimate pitch
But for the common man, the hard ground near the Diera taxi stand was the ultimate cricket pitch. "That area was hardened for cars to take a short cut to Al Nasr square. In order to play on a Friday, one team member reached the area by 3am, fixed the stumps and slept with a blanket. Matches began at 7.30am sharp. The grounds were so crowded that bowlers from other teams stopped bowling when a batsmen from one game was in action," remembers Butt.
An area opposite the Dubai Hospital hardened for lorries to park also became a popular cricket surface. Thanks to its reputation one of the leading gold outlets called Lahore Jewellers even conducted a tournament in the early seventies.
Butt recalls a taxi driver, Khan Saheb, who established a ground near Al Mulla Plaza. "Shaikh Ashiq Hussain who worked as a clerk in Dubai organised another ground in the Al Ghusais Union Co-operative Society premises. That was where the Inthikab Alam led the Surrey team which played a match there," he said.
Indian captain Ajit Wadekar and Mohinder Amarnath also came to play for Air India at the Air India ground. History recalls that Imran Khan once played at the Al Wasl football ground. He hit 22 sixes with some of them sailing out of the ground. The organisers had to finally plead with the handsome all-rounder not to hit any more sixers fearing that they would run out of balls.
By the early eighties, Bukhatir had completed building the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. "The stadium wicket was made of cement but astro turf was placed on it. The first match in 1981 was between the Gavaskar XI and Miandad XI," Jafri said. "Encouraged by the huge response for the match, Bukhatir organised the Gavaskar XI vs Inthikab Alam XI in 1982," he added.
Jafri was lucky to witness the arrival of the turf wicket at the Sharjah Cricket stadium. In 1984, the Sharjah cricket stadium hosted the first Asia Cup tournament on a turf wicket. It later went on to host 199 one-day international matches. Ramadan night cricket also became extremely popular right from its inception in 1987. "Since we had no floodlights, we used to hire them and put them up on poles and play the games," said Mazhar Khan.
By 1988, the Dubai Cricket Council managed to get space to make seven cricket grounds near Jadaf. Two of them were converted to turf wickets sponsored by Emirates airline. Abu Dhabi also emerged as another international cricket venue with the formation of the Zayed Cricket stadium, one of the finest stadiums in the world.
Cricket bloomed in the region and like a reward for the passion shown for the game here, came the news that the International Cricket Council would shift its headquarters from London to Dubai in 2005.
But that joy was short-lived when the Dubai Cricket council grounds had to make way for the construction of the Dubai Healthcare City in 2006.
Despite the odds stacked against it, cricket continued to spread far and wide into other emirates. "Soon Dubai will have one of the finest cricket stadiums in the world. It should be ready by 2008," announced U. Balasubramaniam, CEO of the Dubai Sports City.
A state-of-the-art International Cricket Council academy is also being built. Rod Marsh, one of the finest coaches in the world, is in charge there. Another novel concept that took shape is the cricket village in Al Dhaid.
Although the construction boom in the UAE has swallowed up many cricket grounds, the passion for the game is unbeatable. Cricket continues to survive and spread its charm through three decades.
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