The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has ordered that at least four of the country's 15-man Asia Cup squad must be Emiratis.
The UAE side has traditionally been almost entirely made up of expats from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India who are eligible under the ICC's four-year qualification rules. This was at its most apparent during the 1996 World Cup when the only non expat in the UAE side was Sultan Zarawani, the captain, whose place was more down to his passion and wealth than cricketing ability.
But the ECB has now moved to counter this with the introduction of a quota. Mohammad Tauqir has been named as the deputy to the captain, Saqib Ali, while Fahad Alhashmi, Alawi Shukri and Salman Farooq have also made the tour party.
Shukri, who had been campaigning for such a system, told The National that it was "a very good day ... we have won one small battle". He plays for UAE Nationals Club, a side of UAE passport holders plus three overseas players.
However, Shukri admitted to the newspaper that he was not exactly in the best state of mind for the tournament. "I have barely picked up a bat in three weeks, which probably is not the best preparation for playing against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka," he said. "But hopefully I will be OK."
This is nothing new. UAE have been playing several homegrown players in all their Intercontinental Cup matches this season.
Posted by: poor old bowler at June 2, 2008 9:13 AM
i think all countries should have quotas,Ireland at the last world cup had half the side coming from other countries.i would like to see all sides home grown,starting with under 19 world cup squads developing the talent.
its also a lot fairer on developing countries who might miss a spot in the next world cup because one team decides to import half the team.
Posted by: vk at June 2, 2008 7:45 PM
I dont think that this is the right idea as the board should first look at cricketing ability than just including local players in the squad.... The players should also not take this tournament casually (quote sukhri saying " ive not picked up a bat in three weeks")... And they should try hard to win atleast a few matches in the preliminary stages.....
Posted by: swase ngam at June 3, 2008 8:47 PM
This is totally rubbish by vk how do you expect cricket to grow around the world if you have the same nationalities playing for the minnows of cricket, and please tell me what is the point of calling the team uae or holland or where ever with no nationals from their own country the name of the country represent the place and players represent the country i come from kenya and back in the old days we had a lot of Indians playing until we had a rule which not only brought kenyans to play but also brought interest to all kenyans just like me because we saw our brothers and country men play .....so my friend the only way to see cricket develop is to only let the country man play for their country .....and well done shukri
Posted by: john lefrave at June 4, 2008 6:12 AM
I agree with swase will said everyone should represent there country and the ones who are not good enough should not go to other countries and play and the board should even be at fault, wonder if the board is not even in a national board i doubt it... to have the fight for the country you need the nationals regardless whether they win or lose ....keep it up nationals for all over the world don't let people take your place
Posted by: Sam the OFFIE at June 7, 2008 11:39 AM
This is rubbish!! UAE nationals should only reap the benefits of "KAFALAT" and play with FALCONS and HORSES.
Posted by: Local Cricket Supporter at June 26, 2008 5:45 AM
After the match against Bangladesh, i would really like to see changes in the team for the SL fixture today.
Lets see, you have 3 young players sitting on the bench, and unless something miraculous happens and the management understand the probability of them beating SL is close to zero, i really like to see the 3 youngsters sitting on the bench be given a chance today.
Alawi Shukri - replacement for Vikrant Shetty, who only scored 7 in the last game.
Aman Ali - decent left arm medium pacer, play him instead of Fahad Al Hashmi. You play a fast bowler and he only bowls 4 overs, whats the use.
Salman Farooq - Play him instead of Shahdeep Silva (7 overs 33 runs in the last game). SL has lot of left arm batsman so 2 left arm spinners is no good.
Its not like these guys gonna learn sitting on the bench. UAE doesn't take part in many ODIs so this is the only exposure these guys will get in the next few years.
come on management do something good for UAE cricket. give these youngsters a chance
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