The game is over in Dubai

The last ball in Dubai's domestic cricket scene was bowled in the final of the DCC floodlit tournament on Monday. Cricket in Dubai has faced an inglorious demise; thanks to progress coupled with the apathy of those who were entrusted with administering the game.

The problem takes on mammoth proportions, especially when one factors in a few realities. That more than 500 games have been staged every season. That nearly 10 tournaments are conducted every year by the DCC. That all future tournaments have been cancelled. That schoolchildren, many of who are talented, will no longer have a place to play. That the investments made by Emirates airline, in the form of two playing pitches, have now been rendered as a waste.

But perhaps the most telling blow is that despite housing the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game's governing body, in its backyard there is no longer a pitch on which to play the game on.