Stumped for space

Dubai: Cricket in Dubai will grind to a halt from today.

The Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) has been asked to vacate the grounds on which they have staged over 500 matches every season.

The final of the DCC floodlit tournament between Seven Seas and Nucaf Tellicherry today may well be cricket's swansong in Dubai unless efforts are made to find a new venue for thousands who play the game.

From tonight the DCC, which produces the maximum number of cricketers for the UAE national team, will have not even a place for their administrative offices.

The DCC, which conducts nearly 10 tournaments every year, could manage to finish only seven tournaments this season. With no grounds available from tomorrow forthcoming tournaments will have to be called off.

The popular inter- schools cricket tournament, which attracts schools from all over the UAE, will also come to an undignified end.

Private schools, which use the grounds for imparting training to players, will no longer have a venue.

The two turf wickets available at the complex, which were constructed at a cost of Dh800,000 by Emirates airline, will also be destroyed paving the way for new construction. The grounds had received an official seal of approval from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The DCC has hosted may international matches. Test playing nations like Sri Lanka have played on these grounds. The International Cricket Council and Asian Cricket Council have regularly staged matches here.

Top teams from different parts of the world have played on these pitches.

Top cricketers like Jonty Rhodes, Mark Waugh, Mushtaq Mohammad have coached on these grounds. From tomorrow, this privilege will no longer be available to the youngsters. Three cricket academies in the DCC complex will also cease to function.

The future looks bleak. There has been no response as yet from the authorities when requests for a fresh allotment of land was made. The new season is scheduled to commence from September. With no pitches available, this may not happen. From tomorrow, the DCC will not even have a place to hold their meetings, or retain their grass cutting machines, floodlights and heavy rollers.

From tonight the DCC, which produces the maximum number of cricketers for the UAE national team, will have not even a place for their administrative offices.

With DCC being told to vacate the grounds, cricket in Dubai comes to a grinding halt from today.