Abu Dhabi: Hot cricketing prospect Mohammad Riyan has ignored his coach’s advice and ended his scholarship in England to return home and attempt to play for the UAE.
The 16-year-old batsman has been creating waves from the time he first picked up the willow and his accolades earned him a dream scholarship with the Ardingly School in Sussex.
However, after spending a year-and-a-half with Ardingly and despite being the top scorer in their league, Riyan has called it quits. His stint at Ardingly could have easily opened the doors to a career with Sussex or any other English county, but Riyan has opted to return to the Abu Dhabi Cricket Academy.
One of his UAE coaches disagreed with the decision. “I feel it is a wrong move for him to come back to the UAE and he needs a rap on the knuckles for doing so. Such opportunities are rare and don’t come knocking often.”
But Riyan, who impressed Ardingly as under-13s captain during an Abu Dhabi tour to Sussex, said: “I just wanted to come back and play here. The under-19 trials are on and I want to get into that team and play for the UAE. My priority has always been the UAE as I have played all my cricket here.”
The scholarship offer came after Riyan scored 95 not out against Buckinghamshire and was the top scorer for the touring side that made it to the semi-finals of an eight-team competition. In the same year, he was also selected from more than 300 aspirants in the UAE to take part in a 24-week under-16 programme after a countrywide talent search by the ICC Global Cricket Academy.
“Cricket in England is better organised and they are more professional, but I feel in the UAE you have better opportunities. I can always go back later. My first love and aim is to play for the UAE,” added Riyan, who will be leading the Abu Dhabi Cricket Academy on their under-16s tour to Sri Lanka next week.
“I would have had to stay in Sussex for four years to play any county cricket. Here, I will be able to play for the national team. My school Cambridge was more than happy to take me back and that was a good thing.”
Riyan’s father Mohammad Zaheer backed his son’s decision, saying: “At the moment, the best I thought was for him to be with me. I’m a single parent and that’s also one of the reasons we wanted to be together. Maybe, by next year, we can decide about the option of going back. There are a couple of other schools who are already in touch with us and have shown their willingness.”
