T20 World Cup history was made on the day of Abu Dhabi’s first involvement in the competition.
It was not, in fact, the record for how many international cricketers you can fit onto one site all at once, although at times it did feel that way.
Such was the surfeit of action in the capital, it was difficult to know where to look for a lot of the time.
Instead, the headline act was Curtis Campher, a 22-year-old seam bowler who is making his way in international cricket for Ireland, who matched a feat only previously achieved by Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan.
He took four wickets in consecutive deliveries to entirely alter the complexion of the opening match at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in this tournament.
It was the first time that has been done in 20-over World Cups. Only the two greats, Malinga — who managed it twice for Sri Lanka — and Rashid Khan have managed it before at all in international cricket.
Campher’s effort was central to Ireland’s seven-wicket win over the Netherlands, who were bowled out for 106 off the final ball of their 20 overs.
His initial salvo in the game provided little clue as to what was to follow. His opening over was errant, as he went for two fours and sent down a wide.
“After my first over I apologised to [captain Andy Balbirnie], and he said, ‘Don’t even worry about it, mate’,” Campher said.
“Everyone knows you have to bowl straight. If you bowl five on the wide line, I don’t think he has to explain that to us.”
Even the first wicket in his record streak owed something to good fortune. The delivery was short and wide down legside, and was initially signalled as such by the umpire.
He persuaded Balbirnie to review, and the replay showed Colin Ackermann had gloved a catch behind.
What followed was remarkable. Campher trapped Ryan ten Doeschate lbw next ball, then did the same to Scott Edwards. Roelof van der Merwe played on to the fourth ball of the sequence.
“[My heart] was racing quite high, but I just took a few deep breaths at the top of my run up and made sure I managed my skills,” Campher said of his thoughts before the hat-trick ball.
“After that over, I didn’t really finish the last overs as I’d have wanted to. I am learning, I am young, I am just trying to do the best I can.”
While all that was unfolding inside the main ground, over the mound at midwicket the Tolerance Oval was playing host to its biggest cricket to date.
The ground has been redeveloped before this tournament, and will have capacity for 12,000 once spectators are officially admitted in.
It is hosting warm up matches for the sides starting in the Super 12 next week. First up at the new ground, South Africa swatted aside Afghanistan.
Aiden Markram, fresh from the Indian Premier League with Punjab Kings, hit 48 and Tabraiz Shamsi picked up three wickets as the Proteas beat the Afghans by 41 runs.
That was followed by a warm-up match between Australia and New Zealand. David Warner’s miserable run of form continued, following on from being dropped by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
He made a golden duck against New Zealand, but Australia still earned a three-wicket win, chasing 159 to win with a ball to spare.
The competitive action concluded in the main stadium with Namibia falling short in their bid to cause an upset against Sri Lanka in the opening round.
Sri Lanka won the title in 2014. Although they are some way short of that vintage now, they had enough to overpower the lowest-ranked side in the competition.
Maheesh Theekshana took three wickets as Namibia were bowled out for 96, and Sri Lanka chased it successful with seven wickets and six-and-a-half overs left over.
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Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
