President's Cup cricket to focus on spirit of the game

Abu Dhabi: The second edition of the President's Cup cricket tournament, one of the few events to be wholly sponsored by one individual, starts on Friday. The event has attracted 12 teams.

Dilawar Mani, the president of Abu Dhabi Cricket Council (ADCC), sponsored the inaugural edition last season. For this year's edition of the competition, he has laid particular emphasis on the "spirit of the game" - a subject that has dominated cricket headlines the world over for the last few days.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the ADCC president said the value of the trophy for fair play will be more valuable than the winners'.

"A special trophy will be awarded to the team deemed to have best upheld the "Spirit of the Game" in accordance with its' highest values. A core committee of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council shall adjudicate the winner of this award," he said.

"The tournament will commence on January 11 and 12 teams are scheduled to participate. All games will be played on Fridays on the ADCC's domestic grounds," said Mani.

'Across communities'

"It is the singular intention of ADCC to encourage the game across all communities and to maximise participation and cross-sectional inter-action. We hope to achieve this by continuously raising the profile of the sport," he said.

The teams will be divided into two groups of six each and after 30 round matches, two teams from each group will advance to the knockout semifinals.

The ADCC vice-president, Wajahat Hussain, and the ADCC general secretary, Enam-ul Haq also addressed the press conference.

'Fantastic gesture'

"This is perhaps the first time an individual is sponsoring a tournament and at a time when companies shy away from such support, this is certainly a fantastic gesture," said Hussain.

"Cricket in Abu Dhabi in the recent past has taken a quantum leap and this has been made possible due to the commitment of the ADCC president," he added.

All matches will commence at 9am. The ADCC is currently going through one of its busiest periods with three tournaments being played simultaneously.