DUBAI The conditions may be hot and humid, but the ICC Academy ground is abuzz with training activities all through the week once the sun sets.
It’s a routine the UAE national team has been following as they go about their task immediately after they assemble post-work. The intense sessions goes on under the watchful eyes of coaches and trainers.
Now the time has arrived to put the skills to test as the boys travel to Australia for the ICC’s High Performance Programme to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 which will be held early next year in Australia and New Zealand. “It’s really important tour for the boys. It will allow them to test their skills in those conditions and make us aware of where the team stands, what we have achieved and which are the areas we need to focus on,” coach Aaqib Javed told XPRESS.
“All these days we have worked on several areas including fielding, bowling, batting and fitness. And the boys are prepared for the challenges they will face during this tour and only after the tour will we be able to tell what percentages have we achieved,” he added.
This is the UAE’s second appearance in the World Cup after they played in the 1996 edition. They qualified for the tournament after finishing runners-up to Scotland at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2014 in New Zealand.
“The boys know the conditions having already played in New Zealand last year but this is a different level and they will be up against quality teams. But the training sessions have been intense. We have a great support staff which is giving them all possible help. We have professional trainer, sports psychologist and Mudassar Nazar (former Pakistan international) is working with us as batting consultant. The fielding and bowling coaches have been working closely for nearly four hours a day, five days a week. The biggest challenge for us was to make them slide and dive while fielding since it’s very important in Australia. We have also focussed on the fast bowlers and made them bowl yorkers and slow bouncers which are crucial,” he said.
The UAE team will play matches against state and provincial sides in Perth and Darwin from September 7 to 27.
“We will have four games and this is also an opportunity for the boys to stay together for a good number of days. Otherwise, it’s too difficult to bring them togther with most of them working and unable to practice during the day due to the weather,” Javed added.
During the tour, they will also be able to call on specialist coaches and former players from both countries. “We are going to use a specialised fielding coach from November and Venkatapathy Raju will also join us as the bowling consultant which should give preparations a further boost,” he said.
