DUBAI // If there are two things Aaqib Javed knows best, they are pace bowling and what it feels like to play international cricket while still a callow youth.
The coach of the UAE national team was just 16 when Imran Khan plucked him from age-group cricket to play for Pakistan against Viv Richards’s West Indies in 1988.
Imran must have had a decent eye for a player. Aaqib went on to play more than 180 times for Pakistan in all forms of international cricket and was a World Cup winner in 1992.
So it is little surprise the man overseeing the UAE’s upward ascent in international cricket has no fears about giving youth its chance as well.
He will see first-hand the best the country has to offer when Abu Dhabi and Sharjah play in Friday’s final of the first National Under 19 competition.
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Aaqib already has a sound knowledge of many of the players involved. The respective captains, Sharjah’s Ahsan Ali and Abu Dhabi’s Yodhin Punja, were both part of the extended 30-man probables list ahead of the World Cup earlier this year.
Both seamers, each of them missed out when the squad was eventually pared down to the final 15, but they remain part of the senior team’s plans ahead of the World Twenty20 qualifier in July.
Punja’s prominence is remarkable, given he is still only 15. Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, he is already excited by the prospect of playing for the country of his birth at senior level. Rather than feeling daunted by the idea, he is relishing the step up.
“Playing for UAE would be great, and I would like to do that as soon as possible — the younger the better,” he said after Thursday’s win over Dubai at the Fairgrounds Oval in Academic City.
“All I care about is reaching the best of my abilities. Being a bowler, I want to bowl at the very top level and be amongst the best in the world, no matter where I play. I just want to be at the top.”
Punja says he was shocked when he first found out his performances in age-group matches were being monitored at senior level, and he had been rewarded with a place in the World Cup extended squad.
“It was a week-and-a-half after coming back from the Under-19 tour to Kuwait, which were World Cup qualifiers,” he said.
“We finished in third place, didn’t qualify for the World Cup, so everyone was feeling low, and so was I. I didn’t expect to get in, but I heard from a few coaches there was a chance. Words can’t explain how I felt.
“I have been playing cricket for eight years now and it is something I would give up anything to do.”
He will have the chance to further press his case when Aaqib, as well as a set of players from the UAE’s World Cup squad, attend today’s Under 19 final at the Zayed Academy Oval in Abu Dhabi.
Reaching the final is a fine achievement for the capital side, given that Punja, at 15, is not even the youngest player in the team.
There are two 14 year olds — Jonathan Figy, who top-scored with 47 in the win in Dubai, and Karthik Palaniappan, a leg-spinner who opened the bowling.
In the day’s other match, Atharva Kavi took four for nine as Sharjah, who were already confirmed as finalists, bowled out Ajman for 70 in less than 26 overs to set up an easy win.
The tournament, which is run by Andy Russell, the national development manager, is the sort of concept Aaqib has craved since he took the post of UAE coach.
He has frequently touted the idea of having the best players in the competition face each other.
The first edition at age-group level has been well-received by those involved, and there are plans in place for a similar version in senior men’s cricket.
“It is very good for young players like us to be involved in a tournament like this to try to improve our games, and hopefully the UAE can find some new talent,” said Ali, Sharjah’s captain.
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of VoucherSkout
Date of launch: November 2016
Founder: David Tobias
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers
Sector: Technology
Size: 18 employees
Stage: Embarking on a Series A round to raise $5 million in the first quarter of 2019 with a 20 per cent stake
Investors: Seed round was self-funded with “millions of dollars”
Overview
What: The Arab Women’s Sports Tournament is a biennial multisport event exclusively for Arab women athletes.
When: From Sunday, February 2, to Wednesday, February 12.
Where: At 13 different centres across Sharjah.
Disciplines: Athletics, archery, basketball, fencing, Karate, table tennis, shooting (rifle and pistol), show jumping and volleyball.
Participating countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar and UAE.
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Sugary teas and iced coffees
The tax authority is yet to release a list of the taxed products, but it appears likely that sugary iced teas and cold coffees will be hit.
For instance, the non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Cold coffee brands are likely to be hit too. Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The specs
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Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
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Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
