Sharjah: The Sharjah Cricket Stadium may soon come alive again by becoming the venue for Test matches and One-day internationals. Plans are on to get the stadium ready for Pakistan's Test and One-day series against Sri Lanka set to commence in October.
Speaking to Gulf News, Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, who brought international cricket to the UAE in the early eighties and went on to transform this stadium into a venue which hosted the maximum number of One-day internationals in the world, said: "It has been proposed to the Emirates Cricket Board to consider Sharjah as a venue during the Pakistan series and it is being discussed."
Pakistan will host their Test and One-day home series against Sri Lanka in October and a series against England in January in UAE owing to security reasons. "Sharjah is a venue which has hosted over 200 One-dayers and I feel it deserves to continue hosting international matches," added Bukhatir.
The Pakistan series against Sri Lanka and England will comprise three Test matches, five One-dayers and one Twenty20 match. Sharjah hosted its last Test match in October 2002 between Pakistan and Australia. The last One-day match between Test playing nations was held in April 2003. The tournament was called the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup involving Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Kenya. International matches came to a standstill after this venue staged 198 One-dayers. However, the venue crossed the 200 mark by staging two ODIS between Afghanistan and Canada last year. Incidentally, Sharjah Stadium is also the home ground of the Afghanistan team which is unable to stage its matches at home due to security reasons.
Mazhar Khan, the secretary of the Sharjah Cricket Council and Administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board, said: "Everything will be done to make the stadium look as good as in the past. We will overhaul all the facilities including the seats for the spectators."
Sharjah has a seating capacity of 27,000 though over 30,000 fans used to watch the action in the past. "We are sure if the Pakistan matches are held here, the turn out will be excellent as we get a full house here even for our Ramadan matches. For the night matches we will repair some of the floodlight bulbs. It is mandatory that floodlights are available for even Test matches," said Khan.
When asked if ICC's approval will be required for resumption of matches between Test playing nations, Khan said: "The wickets are match fit as domestic tournaments are regularly played on it and Associate and Affiliate nations have also been playing matches on it."
Sharjah's score
- Sharjah Stadium was established in 1982.
- It has staged four Test matches involving Pakistan, West Indies and Australia.
- The last Test match was held in October 2002.
- The stadium has staged 200 one-day matches.
- The last One-day series involving Test nations was held in April 2003.
- The highest Test score is Pakistan's 493 vs West Indies in January 2002.
- The highest One-day score is New Zealand's 338 for 4 in 50 overs against Bangladesh on April 28, 1990.
