As one precociously gifted teenage left-hander from Abu Dhabi got international TV airtime this week, Jonathan Figy might have been forgiven for feeling a little wistful.
Ethan D’Souza looked suited to UAE national team colours as he was batting against world stars like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman in the Sharjah tri-series.
His brilliant boundary line catch to dismiss Mohammed Nawaz on Saturday night was one of the highlights of the UAE’s first game against Pakistan.
Had Figy been watching, he might have been thinking: that could have been me. Because, not so long ago, it was.
Six years ago, Figy had been the pick of a crop of highly talented young players emerging from UAE age-group cricket.
He had long been a prolific run getter in the schools game, both here and in the UK, where his rare talent had earned him a scholarship to attend Winchester College.
At 18, he debuted in one-day international cricket against Associate cricket’s standard bearers, Scotland, and looked to the manner born.
He then went to the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, and became the first UAE player to score a century in a global ICC tournament. And in the six years since? Nothing.
The two ODIs he played back in 2019 left him perched on an average of 55, which is still the highest of any UAE cricketer.
Now, Figy scoffs at the idea that he sits on top of the rest by that yardstick, pointing out that it is such a small sample size it should be disregarded. He also points out that he might have been elevated to senior cricket before his time, anyway. The national team was in the throes of a drastic rebuild at the time, in the wake of a corruption storm which tore the game in the Emirates apart.
He says now that he had never got ahead of himself, and always felt his time might come when he was around 24 – which is precisely the age he turned just over a week ago.
While the UAE have been competing with Pakistan and Afghanistan over in Sharjah, Figy has had some business to attend to himself. On the neighbouring oval to where he made his ODI debut in 2019, he was playing in the DP World ILT20 Development Tournament. Not just playing, but thriving.
While captaining Gulf Giants, he made four half-centuries, finishing by a large margin the tournament’s leading run-scorer. As statements go, it was emphatic.
“Even though things have not been going too well, and I have been out of the side, I have discovered myself as a cricketer,” Figy said. “I have found my game. I have gone away and scored runs in domestic cricket, and I am fine-tuning my skills. Now, hopefully it is coming to people’s attention.
“The most important thing is that I am enjoying my cricket, because you never know when your last game might be. I know that sounds strange, being only 24.
“I still have the passion to play for UAE again. Deep down, I still want that. My parents have been so supportive. A lot would have said, ‘Go and work’, and if I had stayed in the UK, I might have had a good job by now.
“But I have chosen a pathway which not many do, but wearing that UAE jersey means a lot to me. I have scored a hundred in a World Cup. It means so much to me.”
His resurgence in the game was not always guaranteed. Three years ago, he was on the brink of giving up the sport altogether.
“Honestly, I just want to thank my coach at Winchester College, Mr [Paul] Gover,” Figy said. “In 2022, in my last few months of university, I made a call to him telling him I would quit cricket. I was in the library, working on my dissertation, and there were lots of students around me. I told him I didn’t think I could do it.
“This was at a point when everyone was struggling with Covid, and a lot of cricketers had to stop playing. Tears were running down my face, but he just said, ‘Keep going’.
“That is something that really stuck with me. A lot of the things I am doing now are thanks to him.”
Schoolboys rarely emerge from Winchester College short of options. It was, for example, the alma mater of Rishi Sunak, the former British Prime Minister. Figy works as a maths tutor while trying to make good his aspirations in cricket.
“I have a degree and I could do work and live a decent life, but I want to take a risk,” Figy said.
“I want to play cricket and pursue my passion. I really want to play for the UAE. There is a real hunger and desire to have that honour of representing the country.
“I was born and brought up here. For me to wear the jersey means a lot to me. I am doing everything I can, and hopefully I can be back soon.”
It is telling that Figy only speaks about the idea of playing for the national team again. His run spree came in a tournament in which the country’s leading players are actually all vying with each other for a contract to play T20 franchise cricket.
Figy said the ILT20 Development Tournament was the “highest quality of cricket” he has experienced domestically, given what is at stake for the players. But he is clear about what motivates him.
“Always: country first,” he said. “In three seasons [of ILT20], we have seen the exposure the players get from playing in that tournament. If I was to get that opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the world’s best, I know my game could go even higher.
“To get the advice from them would be great, but [playing for UAE] is what is at the forefront of my mind. I want to do whatever I can to make that happen.”
And, as for D’Souza, that teen whizz kid from the capital blocking one of the routes back to the national team? Figy feels no envy whatsoever.
“I am proud of him,” Figy said of D’Souza. “We are good mates off the field, and we have been texting each other.
“It has been so good to see him doing well. We are both Abu Dhabi boys, and whoever [is selected] we back them and want them to do well. Not many go on to play for UAE from the Abu Dhabi region, so for him to be there is great to see. Hopefully he can continue to do well and win games for UAE.
“Selection is not in my hands but if I get that opportunity, I want to go out there and win games for UAE, and make everyone proud, too. That is my goal.”
