Oman cricket ready to see better days

Omani cricketers are coming of age, and this was evident at the annual prize ceremony of the Oman Cricket Club held late on Tuesday at the Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel.

The function, which marked the end of the 24th season, also brought some cheerful news for the cricketing fraternity in this mountaneous city.

Pankaj Khimji of the OCC told the large gathering that the Asian Cricket Council's Development Committee has promised a grant of $100,000 for the game in Oman. "Now the OCC has to find out ways so that the amount is spent for the betterment of the game," he said.

Khimji also revealed that bids were being invited for building the first turf cricket ground in Oman.

Cricket in Oman is played on only cement tracks and the OCC doesn't have a ground of its own yet.

The show put up by the Omani cricketers in the season gone by may well prove to be a turning point in the country's long cricketing history. The OCC President Kanaksi Khimji has been invited as an observer to the ICC meet in London next month. This is the first time that an associate member has been invited to attend an ICC meeting.

The champions and runners-up of various divisions and Knockout Cup, and other prominent achievers were honoured by Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq bin Taimour Al Said, Oman's Minister of Heritage and Culture and the OCC Patron.

In his address to the gathering Madhu Sampat, the OCC General Secretary, highlighted performances during the season and also spoke on the achievements of the OCC at local and international levels.

He said that the continuous interaction with the ACC indicated that the OCC, keeping abreast with the demands of the game, has been moving in a positive direction and not wasting any opportunity provided by the ACC.

Oman this year took part in the ACC Trophy in Singapore. The most significant factor of the tour was that the 14-member team led by veteran Omani cricketer Maqbool Moosa comprised 10 Omani nationals in the side.

Sampat also underlined the importance of the growing number of all Omani teams. Last season, there were four all-Omani teams taking part in various competitions conducted by the OCC.

Interestingly, only three batsmen crossed the 1,000-run mark during the season and all the three were Omanis. Shakeel Mohammed scored the most runs and his 1,400 runs included two centuries. Khalid Moosa while scoring 1,294 runs hammered one century and one double century.

Khalid's double century was the only one during the season and his 220 runs scored for Bank Dhofar against Golden Cricket Team is the highest individual score by an Omani player till date. Rafiq Mohammed of Shabab Oman 'A' is the third batsman to cross 1,000 runs during the season, his 1,093 runs containing one century.

In the bowling department, Mohammed Aslam with 47 wickets during the season has established a record for most wickets in a season by an Omani bowler.

Among the non-Omani players, none of the batsmen reached 1,000 runs. Adnan Ilyas of Pakistan School scored the most runs (838), while Rakesh Sharma of Muscat CT and Syed Kaleemullah of Al Hassan scored four centuries each.

Oman has a league structure of seven divisions with seven to eight teams in each division. Muscat CT were the winners of the premier 'A' division.

Portraits of the Game, a book published by Dubai-based businessman Shyam Bhatia, was officially released in Oman by Sayyid Haitham.