Since 1974, the Bukhatir Premier League cricket tournament has been going strong and they are about to wind up their 33rd season.
UAE's oldest cricket tournament was started by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, Chairman of Bukhatir Investments Limited and then captain of Sharjah Club.
From matches of 45 overs per side on the sandy grounds between the Dubai and Sharjah highway to day and night contests of 50 overs per side at the renowned Sharjah Cricket Stadium, with teams now sporting coloured kits, the tournament has progressed significantly over the past three decades. Or has it?
Former cricketers who have made immense contributions to its rich history say its best days have been left behind.
Ali Anwar, who played for Sharjah Club from 1976 to 1994 said: “The number of teams was very limited in those days, but I can say that the quality of cricket was very high.''
“Today the quantity is there but there isn't much quality. Back then, if you were a good cricketer, you would get a good job but today it is the other way around.''
Anwar added: “In the 1976-77 season, I was named best all-rounder along with Shakeel Ul-Rahman and the prize money I won was more than my annual income.''
Anwar's teammate Talat Butt recalled the finest moment of his Bukhatir playing days. “It was when we won the final against DELSCO but I don't remember in which year,'' said the all-rounder. “We were chasing 180-odd runs and I was the captain and we were struggling at 100 for 8. I batted with the last two men and we scored the remaining runs needed to win.''
Butt agreed with Anwar that in recent years, the tournament has lost some of its shine. “Nowadays, ‘A' division cricket is almost dead. People come only on Friday to play the matches and you cannot perform at your best like that.
“In those days, there were five grounds behind Al Mulla Plaza where all the teams used to play. It was cricket fever on Fridays, there are just no words to describe it and players taking part in the Bukhatir tournament were all given a chance to make the UAE team.''
Butt still plays for ECNIT in the ‘B' division of the Bukhatir tournament. “I am still carrying on for the love of the game. It helps to keep me fit and I meet old friends too when we visit the grounds.''
Forty-five-year-old Riaz Poo-nawala who was in the 14-man India national squad when Australia toured the subcontinent in 1986-87 said: “The charm has gone. We used to work till 1.30 in the afternoon and then head to the grounds for practice. Today banks are not willing to do that and none of them are recruiting players on a professional basis like how they used to earlier.''
Poonawala, a former player of the Middle East Bank, now known as Emirates Bank, added: “The top management of banks and companies would be present and get involved and we would all feel very important for the bank. We would be honoured for our performances and if we failed to attend the practice sessions, we had to have a good reason or we risked being fired.
“It was a prestigious issue to play in the Bukhatir tournament but today people don't have the time.''
Former Sharjah Cricket Club opening batsman Humayun Sumar had a mixed opinion on how the tournament has evolved. “In our days we would usually meet either Bank of Oman or Lanka Lions in the final. Today you won't have just one team dominating proceedings,'' said Sumar.
He too took a trip down memory lane. “I still recall our playing days, there was no other subject we would talk about but the Bukhatir League whenever we would meet up. I don't know what the young generation do these days but I used to keep all the cuttings of our matches.''
On the situation of the tournament today, Sumar said: “I don't know what has happened to it really. Being such an old tournament, it should be seen on a wider scale, instead it is more of a formality these days.''
Mazhar Khan, the honorary secretary of the Sharjah Cricket Council, which runs the tournament, did not agree that there was a gap in quality between the two eras.
“I wouldn't say that the quality has dropped,'' said Khan, himself a former wicketkeeper for Sharjah Club.
“We now have 12 teams playing from the six that used to play then. It is just that there were some particularly brilliant cricketers in those days but we do have good players around now too if you look at the Fly Emirates team and the other clubs as well.''
Khan added: “There was no media coverage when the tournament was in its early days. We used to have a cyclostyled A3 size kind of newspaper which was called Reuters and I used to write articles on the tournament which would be printed.
“This was till the late 70s before Gulf News and Khaleej Times came out.''
Bukhatir Tournament
- It is the oldest cricket tournament in the UAE
- It has continued uninterrupted over the past 33 years since its inaugural edition back in 1974
- Sharjah Club leads the all-time winners' chart with nine trophies
- Fly Emirates are the current holders of the trophy.