Nadeem makes his mark as cricket all-rounder

Ahmed Nadeem was one of the top performers for the UAE cricket team in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy in Toronto.

Opening the bowling, he picked up early wickets to push many teams on their back foot, and as a batsman sparkled in the middle order with some splendid match-winning knocks.

"I am very pleased with my performance in the tournament, but I would have been happier had we qualified for the World Cup," remarked Nadeem before leaving for England from Toronto. Nadeem plays for the Hornsea Cricket Club in the East Yorkshire league in England since the last two years.

"I have a contract with Hornsea Club and will not be able to return with the UAE team now," revealed Nadeem, who has been playing for Emirates Cricket Board team in domestic cricket from the age of 19.

Elaborating on his performance in Canada, Nadeem said: "Most of the wickets in Canada were underprepared. I bowled a good line and length and used the shine of the ball very well to get wickets."

Nadeem picked 14 wickets with a best of three for 22 from 10 overs against Namibia, the team which qualified for the World Cup.

In fact, Nadeem gave his best despite nursing a shin split. "During one of the group matches, I felt a terrible pain in my leg. The doctor said it was a shin split injury. Since I was keen that UAE make it to the World cup, I took tablets and played my best. Even with the tablets there was a lot of pain," he said.

Nadeem also revealed that the weather was not helpful for pacers. "Except for one or two matches, the weather wasn't suitable for pacers. It was hot and humid, just like Dubai," he said.

When asked about his performance with the bat, Nadeem said: "I enjoyed my knock (of 63) against Singapore and an unbeaten innings (49) against Fiji. The knock against Uganda (67) too gave me a lot of satisfaction."

Nadeem never took interest in his batting till recently. "I owe a lot to our coach Naveed Anjum. He helped me improve my batting. In fact, some time back I used to bat only as a
tailender."

Nadeem also admitted that playing in England has helped him enormously. "This is my second year with the Hornsea Club. I had a total of 68 wickets for them last season, and was also their highest scorer with over 500 runs," he said.

Nadeem, who was born in Abu Dhabi, now spends nearly six months in England, and works for an import and export company when he is in UAE. His father, Mohammed Amin, is a keen follower of the game and keeps a close tab on his son's performances in international as well as domestic cricket.

Talking about the opponents in the ICC Trophy, Nadeem said: "Scotland was the best bowling side and Netherlands had the best batting line-up. We lost very closely to them, and it is unfortunate that we could not make it despite being very near."
For 24-year-old Nadeem, "the tournament was a great experience," and his outstanding performance has given him the confidence to perform even better in the future.