Dubai: UAE cricketers have welcomed the Emirates Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to hand out central contract for players and also appoint full-time professional selectors. Though the board had promised contracts to the players soon after UAE qualified for the 2015 World Cup, nothing was done about it. The ECB, through a press meet in Abu Dhabi on Monday before UAE’s Twenty20 match against England at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium, has once again promised that contacts will surely be handed out.
Present at the meet were David East, the Chief Executive Officer of the ECB, Aaqib Javed, UAE team coach, and Will Kitchen, ECB’s Cricket High Performance Manager and General Manager of ICC Academy.
UAE, who had qualified to play in the 2014 Twenty20 World Cup and 2015 World Cup (50 overs), had been losing matches of late and had slipped down to the bottom of ICC Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League ranking.
Speaking to Gulf News, former UAE skipper Khurram Khan, who was responsible for UAE qualifying for the two World Cups through his sterling performances, said: “If we need to improve the game here we need to make it professional. Giving contracts to the players will make them fitter and they will be able to spend more time on the ground.”
Khurram, who had balanced his job and his cricket career and remained the fittest team member until his retirement, said: “If contracts are given to players they will be available for coaches more than ever before. Most of the associate teams have already done it and I think it’s time UAE adopted the same plan to move ahead.”
Incidentally, UAE’s position as the leading cricketing nation of the Middle East region was recently dethroned by Oman, who qualified for the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup.
Khurram, who was removed from captaincy ahead of the 2015 World Cup, despite leading the team in the qualifiers, said: “Having professional selectors who are mobile and the ones who are currently in touch with the game will be another important step.”
East announced that UAE will come under a new chairman of selectors.
UAE’s new captain Ahmad Raza, who welcomed ECB’s move to give contracts to players, said: “We are at a stage where we need players who are full time cricketers as we are competing with the top associate countries, who have professional cricketers. We have a year and a half to go and retain our One Day International status and qualify for the World Cup. We have really exciting cricketers coming through who will be qualified in coming months and hence contracts are vital.”
Raza appealed to UAE team supporters to be patient. “The ECB is working hard on it to make it work. We have to be patient because results will not show immediately as we are going through a rebuilding phase and contracted players will be a big boost. For me, as captain, I would like full time cricketers who eat, play and sleep cricket in the team,” said Raza, who also wants exposure against top cricketing nations.
The UAE lost to England by 79 runs in the Twenty20 match on Monday. Chasing England’s 174 for six, UAE were restricted to 95 for 9.
“England were at one stage 90 for no loss in six overs but was restricted to 170. We need more games like these to test and improve our skills,” said Raza, who took the prize wicket of inform England opener Jason Roy.
