Dubai: Cricket is spreading at a fast pace in the Middle East, especially among the GCC countries.
Following the UAE's triumph in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division Two held in Dubai, the Kuwait cricket team emerged as champions in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Seven tournament in Botswana.
For Kuwait, this victory has turned out to be a big boost to further spread the game in the region. "We did not come to the tournament in Botswana as favourities but we played each game in its merit and won it," remarked Hisham Mirza, the captain of the Kuwait team that beat Nigeria in final by 72 runs.
Speaking to Gulf News, Mazhar Khan, the administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board said: "It is great to find teams in the Middle East lifting their standards and winning tournaments. This reflects the interest for the game among the players in the region."
"Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are all improving their standards and becoming very competitive. A tournament involving all GCC countries looks a possibility and hopefully we can stage a GCC Cup event soon," added Khan.
Incidentally, Saudi Arabia, in an effort to spread the game has translated the laws of cricket into Arabic mainly to spread awareness about the game. Today there are many Saudis playing at the different age groups.
Teams from Oman and Saudi Arabia have been regularly playing in the Sharjah Cricket Council Ramadan tournament every year. Pankaj Khimji, a businessman and board member of the Oman Cricket is actively involved in creating facilities for the game.
Kuwait will now play in World Cricket League Division six to be held in Malaysia during September.
"The Division six contests will not be easy but we will go better prepared for the event," said Mirza.
Though cricket in most Middle East countries are played on cement wickets, now efforts are on to create turf wickets.
