Abu Dhabi T10 dates confirmed ahead of bumper season for UAE cricket

The new cricket season will be among the busiest ever for leading UAE cricketers, after dates were confirmed for the next edition of the Abu Dhabi T10.

The 2022 version of competition, which will be the fourth since it moved from Sharjah to the capital, will take place at the Zayed Cricket Stadium from November 23 to December 4.

The 10-over tournament is set to be joined on the UAE calendar for the first time by a new T20 franchise league, which is also expected to attract some of the leading names from the world game.

That event, set to be named the International League T20, will be played in January and February 2023.

It is to be played across the Emirates, with Abu Dhabi itself to become home to a team representing the Knight Riders franchise from Kolkata.

Before the domestic campaign begins, the country’s leading players are also set for a busy schedule of international games.

After playing a Cricket World Cup League 2 series in Scotland in August, the national team are due to travel for the qualifying round of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

They have also qualified for round one of the T20 World Cup in October.

Many of the country’s leading players missed the last season of the T10, due to a clash with the national team’s tour of Namibia in the Cricket World Cup league.

In their absence, the league continued to thrive. According to data released by the organisers, the league’s total economic impact value in 2021 was $621.2 million.

They also stated the tournament “reached 342 million television and over-the-top digital viewers, in turn increasing Abu Dhabi T10's sponsorship value by 81 percent to $279.3 million”.

“Through our partnership with the Abu Dhabi T10, we have further positioned Abu Dhabi as a major sporting global hub and consistently demonstrated the city's ability to both build, and host, one of cricket's most entertaining competitions,” Aref Al Awani, the general secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, was quoted as saying in a press release.

“This is evidence of the success of a significant strategic objective of the Abu Dhabi government; to create and deliver sporting events that contribute to enhancing the emirate’s leadership in global sports.”

The tournament's format is set to stay the same for the 2022 season, with each team playing 10 league fixtures before the top four sides advance to the playoffs and final.

“The past three editions of the Abu Dhabi T10 have proven that 10-over cricket has both a thriving market and engaged international audience,” Matt Boucher, Abu Dhabi Cricket’s chief executive, said.

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.”

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When: 7pm kick off

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