DUBAI // Brett Lee, the Australia fast bowler, has warned next year's World Cup on the subcontinent might not only be his personal swansong, but could also represent the last rites for the 50-over game.
The 33-year-old paceman announced his retirement from Test cricket last week in order to prolong his limited-overs career.
Yet, while he believes cricket's longest format will endure, he foresees a time when the one-day game will be consumed by the craze for three-hour, 20-over competition.
"I hope it is not dying, but, unfortunately, you have to listen to what the crowd are going to," said Lee, who is "working overtime" in order to be fit to play for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this month.
"In Australia, we had 11,000 people going to games of 50-over cricket, but then you saw Melbourne and Sydney packed for the 20-over games.
"It is an amazing game. It has brought a new demographic to the game, which is what the shorter form needed. I would like to see 20-over cricket, 50-over cricket and Test cricket all hold their own. Unfortunately, these days people are saying, 'Why are we watching 50-over cricket if we can get the same fix in colours, and it only goes for three hours?'
"People can go down after work or after school and watch it, and just have three hours of pure excitement. For me, Test cricket is what it is all about.
"It is where the cream of the crop is, where the biggest challenge is, but I had to draw a line in the sand somewhere, in order for me to achieve my other goals through one-day cricket for Australia.
"I would love to be at the 50-over World Cup in India. For me, that would be the perfect way to go out.
"If I could look into a crystal ball, what a way that would be to go out - with my love of India, playing in a one-day World Cup for Australia."
Lee was joined by three of his other Kings XI teammates - Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Abdulla - for the launch of the new cricket grounds at The Sevens in Dubai yesterday.
Kings XI were due to be among the first professional sides to play at the new venue, during the four-team Emirates Airline Twenty20 later this month. However, the 20-over festival, which also involves Surrey and Sussex from England, as well as the Fly Emirates domestic club side including Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan all-rounder, overlaps with the IPL.
As such, the IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, put a block on the Punjab side, who were only planning to send a development team anyway, from playing in Dubai.
Cape Cobras, the South African franchise, have since taken their place for the March 19-20 tournament, leaving Lee and Co to focus on success in the IPL.
"We made it to the semi-finals in the first IPL, but last year we had a few important players missing through injury," said Yuvraj, the destructive India batsman, who has been deposed as the franchise's captain by Kumar Sangakkara this season.
"To have players like Brett Lee only available towards the end was a disappointment for us, but hopefully, playing back at home this year we can improve our results.
"The bits and pieces that fell apart last year, hopefully we can get them together this time and have a good season."
@Email:pradley@thenational.ae
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
Notable groups (UAE time)
Jordan Spieth, Si Woo Kim, Henrik Stenson (12.47pm)
Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (12.58pm)
Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood (1.09pm)
Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Zach Johnson (4.04pm)
Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey, Adam Scott (4.26pm)
Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy (5.48pm)
Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans
Jasmin Mujanović, Hurst Publishers
Brief scores
Day 1
Toss England, chose to bat
England, 1st innings 357-5 (87 overs): Root 184 not out, Moeen 61 not out, Stokes 56; Philander 3-46
Joe Root's Test record
Tests: 53; Innings: 98; Not outs: 11; Runs: 4,594; Best score: 254; Average: 52.80; 100s: 11; 50s: 27
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
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Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
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Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
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3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
