Umm Al Quwain: Umm Al Quwain Cricket Association will break their record of staging the maximum number of tournaments in the coming season. They will add another five new tournaments to the 16 events they had last season.
Speaking to Gulf News, Mushtaq Ahmad Chowdhury, the general secretary of the association, said: “Following the huge response from domestic teams, we have decided to increase our tournaments in the new season. For the convenience of the teams we have divided the tournaments into three phases. The first season will commence from September, followed by the second phase starting from January and the third and final from March.”
Plans are on also to create a turf wicket too. “The Umm Al Quwain Municipality has given us the permission to build a turf wicket. The papers for the construction of the ground will be signed soon. Once we create the turf wickets we will also install floodlights to ensure day-night cricket,” he added.
“Over 105 clubs from different parts of UAE play in our tournaments regularly. Every year sponsorship from companies wanting to support our tournaments has also been on the rise. We want to provide the best of facilities for all the teams travelling from all parts of the UAE and are keen to play here,” said Mushtaq. All the tournaments are being held under the supervision of Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and under the auspices of the Ajman Cricket Council and ECB’s Domestic Cricket Development Committee.
The new season will start from September 1 with Brothers Gas Twenty20 Corporate tournament and will conclude in May next year. “Since the new season is starting next month with the hot weather yet to subside, we will start our matches by 7am. The second session will be after the heat from 3pm,” said Mushtaq
“Six new companies have agreed to sponsor the tournaments and we have given them the tournament titles. Our success so far has been purely due to the response of the clubs in the UAE who are excited to play here,” he said.
