Gilchrist and Co on hand to mentor budding UAE cricketers

A host of former stars spend the day with young players as the game's popularity goes up in the UAE.

The Young Talents Cricket Academy celebrate their victory over Dubai College UAE during the 10-over Kwik Cricket tournament at The Sevens in Dubai last week.

As the crowd of autograph hunters grew, Ruben Joseph waited patiently in the queue for his hero Adam Gilchrist to arrive.

One leg in a plaster, due to an unfortunate accident at home, the eight-year-old Millennium School, Dubai, student had come to The Sevens to meet his favourite cricketer, the former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman, in person.

Balancing himself on one leg and carrying a miniature bat in his hand, he was allowed by the other fans to move up the line and was among the first to get Gilchrist's signature.

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Limping away from the crowds, he could barely conceal his joy. "He is one my favourite cricketers," the youngster said.

"I also like MS Dhoni [the India cricket captain, also a wicketkeeper] a lot."

His chances of meeting Dhoni in the near future might seem a bit remote, especially after India's World Cup final win on Saturday night.

Millions like Ruben will have to live with that dream, but he could thank Emirates Airline for bringing Gilchrist to Dubai and giving him the opportunity to meet one of his idols.

Gilchrist played the last of his international matches more than three years ago, but he is still a much sought after man in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on Friday.

After three seasons with the Deccan Chargers, where he won a title in 2008 and took the team to the semi-finals last year, Gilchrist will be leading King's XI Punjab this year. Emirates Airline are one of the main sponsors of the team and they had brought the Australian to the UAE, along with his King's XI teammates Dinesh Karthik, the India wicketkeeper, and Shaun Marsh, the Australia opening batsman, as guests for their Emirates Airline Twenty20 tournament last Friday.

Three England county teams - Nottinghamshire, Sussex and Durham - took part in the tournament, along with a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team and a Fly Emirates side.

Alongside the county professionals and international players - which included the likes of Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, Monty Panesar, the England left-arm spinner, and Steve Harmison, the former England fast bowler - hundreds of young cricketers were playing in a tournament of their own, a 10-over Kwik Cricket competition.

Ruben was disappointed not to be taking part in the competition. "I wish I was fit and playing here," he said.

"At the moment, I cannot play because of my fractured leg. It got smashed between the doors."

Matthew Baxter, a Dubai College student, could sympathise with him. After waiting patiently in the queue for Gilchrist's autograph, he rushed back to join his teammates for their match.

"Gilchrist is my role model," Baxter, a young expatriate from England, said.

Like the Australian, Baxter is a wicketkeeper, but bats right-handed and hits them long "sometimes".

However, Gilchrist, Marsh and Karthik - all feared Twenty20 batsmen - were encouraging the youngsters to play straight during a net session they had earlier in the day with a few lucky children.

The three spent close to 30 minutes bowling at the youngsters and suggesting changes to their batting grip and stance. These lessons, according to Prashant Chander, could prove invaluable.

Chander is a coach with the Young Talents Cricket Academy (YTCA), one of the leading cricket institutions in the country with several centres and close to 250 students.

The YTCA won the Under 13 and Under 16 titles at the Inter-Academy tournament organised by the Sharjah Cricket Council and they reached four finals of the Dubai Cricket Council's Nissan Gulf Cup, winning three.

Chander had brought their U12 team to participate in the Kwik Cricket competition and he said: "The kids are really excited. It is a good opportunity for them - they are watching these big stars and professionals, and they know the cricketers are watching them as well.

"So they are really thrilled and very motivated."

A lot of the youngsters, including Ruben and Matthew, were accompanied by their parents and that support, according to Gopal Jasapara, is the essential difference between cricket now and the days when he was growing up.

Jasapara is a former first-class cricketer from India and he runs the G-Force Academy in Dubai.

"When I was playing, my parents never knew where I am playing," he said. "But nowadays, the parents are so involved. They are always backing their kids to take up this game as a career and the kids are definitely considering that option.

"So it is a very professional approach. Nowadays you can see 10 or 11 year olds dreaming of playing cricket for their country. In our days, we just wanted to play cricket and enjoy it. We never thought much about it.

"Now it is a career-orientated thing and the parents and kids are all putting their efforts, and spending a lot of money, to achieve their aims."

With three teams from Asia - India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - reaching the last-four of the recently concluded World Cup, Jasapara expects that interest to swell in the coming days.

"Cricket has grown so much and the way it is going forward now, especially for the Asian communities because we saw three Asian teams in the semis, there is certainly going to be a bigger boom," he said.

"Events like these will definitely fan the interest.

"It is a very good opportunity for all young kids to meet all these great cricketers and get some tips from them.

"The kids obviously get delight seeing their heroes up close, and such events give them an opportunity. They get access to the cricketers and definitely enjoy the experience. Meeting such greats at such an early age will certainly mean the kids working harder and taking cricket more seriously. So it is definitely good for them. When we were young, we never had this opportunity."

Cricket in the UAE has been on an upwards climb over the last few years.

The IPL and Twenty20 have played a big part, but the addition of new stadiums like the one at Dubai Sports City has, according to Chander, helped a great deal.

"The last two years have been really good," he said.

"We have a lot more tournaments and facilities are improving. We have the Dubai Sports City and the ICC Global Cricket Academy there. Now we have The Sevens, which is a very good ground, good pitches," he added.

Parks with floodlight facilities around the country have also been a boon, giving the academies the option to play in the evenings after school.

"We have two days [Fridays and Saturdays] of hectic coaching and we also organise a game for them every week at Zabeel Park," Jasapara said.

"That is more or less our home ground. They are so kind to give us their ground so that we can have our matches from 5pm to 8pm, after school."

Given the growing interest, a busy summer lies ahead for all the coaches and young cricketers. Many academies will be taking their teams overseas during the school holidays and Jasapara expects a hectic time ahead.

"We also have a cricket school in India, in Bangalore," he said. "So we are taking our team there to Bangalore in July. In August, we will be going to the UK to participate in a tournament organised by Surrey [the English county].

"I believe we will be the only team from Asia in that tournament; the rest of the teams are from England, Scotland and Ireland," Jasapara added.