Abu Dhabi ready to go global with T20 event

1.2285972-569482517 — South Africa’s Multiply Titans skipper Albie Morkel, England’s Yorkshire Vikings’ Steven Patterson, Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes’ Charles Wakim, , Afghanistan’s Boost Defenders Colin Ingram, New Zealand’s Auckland Aces captain Craig Cachopa, Pakistan’s Lahore Qalandars’ Abdul Razzaq and pose at the Abu Dhabi Corniche ahead of the Abu Dhabi T20 Cricket tournament. Image Credit: Supplied

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will have the world at its feet as it hosts its own inaugural Twenty20 tournament this weekend.

With a format that is different from money-spinning T20 leagues around the world, such as the Indian Premier League and Australian Big Bash, the $150,000 (Dh550,875) Abu Dhabi T20 will comprise teams from all over the globe.

The six sides vying for the title are New Zealand’s Auckland Aces, Pakistan’s Lahore Qalandars, Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes, England’s Yorkshire Vikings, Afghanistan’s Boost Defenders and South Africa’s Multiply Titans.

The three-day event, which begins on Thursday, will be broadcast live on OSN Sports to fans across 20 countries.

“It’s time to move ahead from just hosting events run by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) or Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI),” said Matt Boucher, acting chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Cricket. “We didn’t want to become another franchise bid tournament. There is another one starting in few days — the Afghanistan Premier League. We wanted to follow something on the lines of Fifa Club World Cup where international teams are invited to Abu Dhabi — and the prize money helps, of course.”

The Abu Dhabi Sports Council runs over 150 events and is well aware how to make the event a world-class affair, Boucher said.

“We know what we are doing,” he said. “It is the first time ever we are running a cricket tournament. When we are hosting PCB or BCCI events, the marketing and promotion is not ours and we are paid a budget to run that event on their behalf.”

He said they had taken full control of Abu Dhabi Cricket Club for over 16 months and the venue was now one of the best, “and we are good to run our own event”.

“We are going to take feedback from the captains of all these teams,” Boucher said.

“It is an opportunity for us to learn how to be at the centre of World Cricket. We will be looking to improve for 2019 and that’s what we did to the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in 2006, the triathlon which is top-class [change] event now and so on.”

Albie Morkel, skipper of South Africa’s Titans, said: “This concept is similar to the Champions League and hopefully, this will grow into a much bigger tournament. It is very important for world cricket as a lot of guys can put their hands up in the leagues and good for franchise cricket around the world. It’s a great opportunity for domestic players to see where they are.”

Morkel, whose team will be taking on Afghanistan’s Boost Defenders on Friday, went on to add that the tournament gives an opportunity to showcase Abu Dhabi as a “fantastic cricket destination”.

“Only Pakistan played their home games here before but now there are different leagues being held here in UAE,” he said. “Abu Dhabi has got everything it needs to host a tournament and I think there will be a lot more cricket being played here.”

Yorkshire skipper Steven Patterson was excited to be here in the capital towards the end of their season.

“We have come to the close of our season and played a lot of good cricket and feel our skills are in good place,” he said.

“You would say it would give us a slight advantage in that sense. We have played a lot of cricket and ready to go. On the flip side, we have come from a country where it’s 4 or 5 degrees to 40 degrees and it is a different climate to which we have to adjust to. There are six good teams and whoever plays well on the day, deservedly wins.”

Afghanistan’s Defenders captain Colin Ingram felt the tournament was a nice opportunity to bond with a “new team and new cultures”.

“This is the first of its kind at the moment,” he said. “It’s very exciting and a good opportunity with a number of international guys who want to prove themselves and exciting times for some of the Afghan guys to play against different teams and add a new tournament,” said Ingram.

Auckland skipper Craig Cachopa revealed they don’t have big names but are keen to make the most.

“Black Caps are away and the New Zealand A team are away. We have got the rest of our guys and this is a nice opportunity for them to play good quality overseas opposition with players like Colin Ingram and Albie Morkel,” said Cachopa, whose team will be playing Boost Defenders in the opener.

Hobart skipper Charles Wakim felt that the tournament was extremely important to gauge where they needed to improve.

“We have a few players who were in Big Bash. Johan Botha has played quite a lot in Big Bash since its inception,” he said. “This tournament will let us know where we can get strong and provide good exposure to our younger players to hopefully come into the first team.”

Lahore’s acting skipper, Abdul Razzaq, said that their coach Aaquib Javed has chosen players from less-developed regions of Pakistan and are raring to go.

“We are a young and talented side and the platform they have got to come here and perform is huge,” Razzaq said. “They can get noticed and get attacked by the Pakistan Super League teams. Aaquib has done a lot of hard work with the boys and hopefully the players can prove their mettle and justify their place in the team.”