DHAKA // Test cricket’s newest nations are in despair at plans to split the format into two divisions, fearing it could undo decades of hard-fought progress on the field and kill interest in the game.
Cricket’s governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) is meeting in Edinburgh this week to debate proposals for the seven top-ranked teams to establish a de facto premier league in a bid to boost waning interest in Tests.
Under the scheme being considered by the ICC, the other three countries with Test status would join a five-strong second division along with Afghanistan and Ireland.
While the shake-up would guarantee cricket’s leading nations play each other every other year, the other sides would be starved of matches that draw in crowds and lucrative broadcast deals.
As things stand, the two latest arrivals at cricket’s top table – Bangladesh and Zimbabwe – will be doomed to the second tier and could be joined by another relative newcomer Sri Lanka.
“This will spell the death of international cricket as we’ve known it,” said Ahmed Sazzadul Alam, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director.
Bangladesh lobbied for years to join cricket’s elite before playing their first Test in 2000.
Their record has been poor, winning just seven of their 93 Tests and they are currently ranked ninth, just above Zimbabwe.
However, performances have improved significantly of late and Bangladesh have only lost six of their last 18 Tests.
BCB vice president Mahbubul Anam warned Bangladesh “would go backwards” if they stop playing teams such as England and India, both of whom they are due to play later this year. “The more we play against competitive sides, the better we’ll get,” Anam said.
Alistair Campbell, a former director of Zimbabwe’s board, appreciated the arguments for a split because of the gulf in class between the top and bottom sides.
But Campbell, a former captain who played in Zimbabwe’s inaugural Test against India in 1992, said it would be heartbreaking if current players would never be able to compete against the best.
“It’s going to be a tragedy if you are growing up in a country like Zimbabwe or Bangladesh,” he told Agence France-Presse. “It means you might never get the opportunity to play with top tier sides. That might drive players to go and seek greener pastures.”
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There are similar fears in Sri Lanka which has fallen down the rankings in the past two years after batting greats Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene retired.
Sri Lanka are ranked seventh and in danger of being overtaken by an improving West Indies by the time the proposed split comes into force.
Sri Lanka also struggled in the first decade after their inaugural Test in 1982 but then found their feet and won the 1996 World Cup.
Sidath Wettimuny, who scored Sri Lanka’s first Test century, warned the architects of the split were playing with fire.
“It’s okay to make some tweaks but what is proposed is going to be a disaster in every sense of the word,” he said.
Sri Lankan board’s secretary Mohan de Silva was cool on the proposal.
“We are not very much in favour, but we need to discuss with our executive committee after studying it carefully before taking a final decision,” he wrote in a text from Scotland.
But sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekera insisted the shake-up should be opposed as it would “have a negative impact”.
Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped board is hugely dependent on TV money and ticket revenue from tours by the likes of India and Australia.
But neither broadcasters nor spectators will pay significant amounts for matches involving minnows such as Ireland.
“If you club the weakest teams in one league, who’ll be interested in watching those games? This will lead to financial ruin,” Jayasekera told Agence France-Presse.
The BCB’s Alam also warned of dire financial consequences.
“There would be an inevitable loss of interest among younger followers of and a decline in interest from the media and sponsors,” he said. “The resulting downturn in revenues would undermine development programmes and funding of domestic leagues.
“It will effectively mean the end of cricket for countries like us.”
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
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
Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
- This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030
- At least one third of common cancers are preventable
- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Marseille 0
Atletico Madrid 3
Greizmann (21', 49'), Gabi (89')
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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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:
- Former first lady Hillary Clinton
- Former US president Barack Obama
- Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
- Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
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Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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