The UAE are still fighting for a place at the 2019 Cricket World Cup but their other objective of retaining ODI status has been successfully completed. Courtesy ICC
The UAE are still fighting for a place at the 2019 Cricket World Cup but their other objective of retaining ODI status has been successfully completed. Courtesy ICC
The UAE are still fighting for a place at the 2019 Cricket World Cup but their other objective of retaining ODI status has been successfully completed. Courtesy ICC
The UAE are still fighting for a place at the 2019 Cricket World Cup but their other objective of retaining ODI status has been successfully completed. Courtesy ICC

UAE's achievement of retaining ODI status vital to cricket's growth in the country and deserves to be celebrated


Paul Radley
  • English
  • Arabic

FIXTURES

Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan

The top two teams qualify for the World Cup

Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.

Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff

Having lived through the unbearable highs and lows of the past six weeks, the UAE’s cricketers might have expected to achieve one of the main aims of their Harare mission in a blaze of glory.

Their nerves have been frayed by the prospect of, on one hand, pursuing their dream of reaching the World Cup, while on the other safeguarding their very livelihoods.

And yet, when the momentous fact that they can carry on being a one-day international side was finally confirmed on Monday, it felt like a damp squib.

By advancing to the Super Six phase of the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, they had secured the immediate future of cricket in the UAE. They should have been rejoicing.

And yet, on a glum day amid the drizzle at Old Hararians, they had just suffered a thrashing at the hands of Ireland. For that moment at least, all the hard work that got them to this point felt like it had been forgotten.

The achievement of preserving ODI status should not be underestimated, even though precisely what it means is not certain. The ICC is reviewing its future competitions structure beyond the Test sphere. The 50-over World Cricket League and four-day Intercontinental Cup competition might be set for facelifts.

But what can be assumed is that they will be better off – in monetary terms – being an ODI side than not.

The playing perks are relatively negligible most of the time. There is kudos attached, which the players appreciate. Chirag Suri, for example, was glowing when he made his ODI debut against West Indies last week. This from a player who has been around the national team for a good while now, and went to the Indian Premier League last year.

But it is hardly the guarantee of regular, big-match action that it really should be. The UAE have played just 31 ODIs since they earned that status by reaching the final of the 2014 Qualifier.

Compare that to India, who have played 90 ODIs in the same period. Or Sri Lanka, who have played a whopping 110. That works out at 27.5 per year – so nearly as much as UAE have played in four.

________________

Read more:

UAE reach Super Six to keep World Cup dream alive despite defeat to Ireland

Chirag Suri 'really happy' as knock propels UAE to victory over Netherlands

________________

Ten of the 31 the UAE have played have been in official ICC tournaments – the final of the Qualifier four years ago, six at the World Cup a year later, then three in the first round of this event in Harare. Eight of the matches were organised as glorified practice for those bigger events. And just two of the ODIs played outside of ICC competition were against a Full member, Ireland, earlier this year.

And yet the privileges ODI status afford are vital from a financial standpoint.

For the past six weeks, the national team have basically been fire-fighting, scratching with all they have to retain what they have got.

This result in Zimbabwe goes further than just retaining funding, maintaining the status quo, keeping their jobs, and making sure they can put bread on the table.

Now UAE cricket can build. They can plan for a future that once felt certain, then approximately a month ago, as the national team dodged showers in Namibia in international cricket’s third tier, seemed anything but. Then it seemed like, well, maybe there is still a chance. Then, finally, the confirmation that they can in fact carry on planning. What a relief.

The past 18 months have been transformative for the sport in the Emirates. Increased ICC funding has enabled the Emirates Cricket Board to employ professional players for the first time.

No longer are they beholden to cricket-loving employers to recruit skilled players to their corporations, then hope they give them enough time off to play and train.

When the UAE went to the World Cup in 2015, around two-thirds of their players were given paid leave. The other six were not. That meant the ECB had to cover the wages of the accounts clerks, sales reps and receptionists while they were away from their desks for two months playing in cricket’s showpiece tournament. Even that was a strain on the budget.

That was only three years ago, but it feels like a different age. It shows just how far the extra financing has reached since that they are now in position to have full-time paid players.

Continued financing means more investment can be made in professionalism. Maybe the domestic game can be given a long-awaited, long-required overhaul. An oft-touted national academy might become feasible.

It goes without saying, the board still crave independent corporate investment. There must be a way to better harness the passion of the owners of companies like Danube, Mulk Holdings and others to better service the needs of the national team.

The UAE team is just the tip of the spear, but thanks to their feats in Zimbabwe, the entire domestic game in the country will benefit. They deserve to be celebrated.

India cancels school-leaving examinations
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
​​​​​​​Penguin Press

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Tomb%20Raider%20I%E2%80%93III%20Remastered
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Aspyr%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Aspyr%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20series%20X%2FS%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

About Proto21

Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group

Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

FIXTURES

Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan

The top two teams qualify for the World Cup

Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.

Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff