Colin Wells, the UAE head coach, heaped praise on his team of part-time cricketers for bouncing back from their aberration against Kenya to seal a berth in the Super Eight phase of the ICC World Cup Qualifier in South Africa. The national team continue their search for one of the four places on offer at the 2011 World Cup when they take on Namibia in Pretoria tomorrow.
It has been an amazing comeback after they plumbed the depths of despair in being shot out for 79 in their second pool match against Kenya. They could, conceivably, have buckled, yet rebounded with plucky wins over the much-fancied Netherlands, as well as Denmark and Afghanistan. Wells, who played one-day international cricket for England, likened his adopted side's revival to that of Andrew Strauss's men in the Caribbean recently.
He said: "It is a sign of good sides that they can bounce back from heavy defeats. To then go and beat one of the strongest, semi-professional sides [Netherlands] is a feat indeed. "All sides get bowled out for low scores. England got bowled out for 50 in a recent Test match and went and posted 600 in the very next innings. "One bad innings doesn't turn you into a bad team if you go and perform like you can perform and play to your ability."
His side will carry over two wins from the pool stage with them into the Super Eight, leaving them well-placed to land an all important semi-final place. Two wins from matches against Scotland, Canada, Ireland and Namibia could be enough for them to qualify. Despite losing to the UAE on the final afternoon of the pool phase, Afghanistan still progressed with them. They are coached by Kabir Khan, the former Pakistan bowler who is one of Wells's predecessors as UAE coach. He said: "This is a great achievement for us.
"We came from Division Five and now we have left behind us a team who played in the last World Cup [Bermuda], so we are delighted with the progress we are making. It's a great moment." pradley@thenational.ae
