Leroy Lindsay calls stumps

Leroy Lindsay, the man who transformed Fly Emirates into one of the strongest cricket teams in the UAE region, has called it a day.

Lindsay served the airline for 15 years and two months and retired as the fleet manager. He was the general secretary of the Emirates team cricket club and also acted as team manager on tours abroad.

Hailing from the West Indies, Lindsay took charge of the team in 1991 and guided Emirates to a glorious period. He along with Desmond Rodrigues, the present chairman of the club, emerged as one of the most successful management team.

Emirates went on to win the Airlines World Cup twice and beat the Lord's Taverners cricket team, comprising England Test stars, six times in a row.

Emirates emerged as the strongest team in the UAE's domestic cricket by winning top tournaments like the Bukhatir league in Sharjah thrice, the Emirates Cup in Dubai four times, the Ramadan cricket tournament in Sharjah thrice and even the New Medical Centre tournament in Abu Dhabi once.

So successful were his management skills that Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) also roped him in as their executive member.

Leroy was responsible for Dubai getting its first turf wicket. "Emirates were assigned to host the World Airlines Cup in 1998. Rodrigues and I presented a plan to the Emirates management. Maurice Flanagan, our Executive Vice- Chairman and Al Khwaja, who are keen cricket enthusiasts, approved our plan. Emirates readily invested Dh800,000 and made two turf wickets," he said.

Talking about the Emirates team, Lindsay said: "I feel so happy when I look back at my team's achievements. When I took charge in November 1991, it was an ordinary team. We formed a cricket committee and worked out an action plan. We got good support from the management too and by 1994, we started winning matches."

Emirates staged many inter departmental matches and spotted talents. They also recruited Kashif Khan, a former Pakistan first class cricketer and Fahad Usman in 1997. Emirates lifted the World Airline Cup in Antigua. By 1999, Khuram Khan and Arshad Ali also joined the team.

Khuram went on to even captain the UAE and won many Asian Cricket Council tournaments while Arshad is the present skipper of the national team.

"I thank the players for all their support and will always cherish our glorious moments," said Lindsay.