The UAE’s cricketers put to an end 17 years of hurt by booking a return to the World Cup for the first time since 1996 on Thursday.
Those years of hurt were generally characterised by acute anguish – usually at the very last hurdle of the qualifying process.
1 Toronto, 2001
The UAE won the final match of the 2001 ICC Trophy by five wickets over Denmark, with Khurram Khan taking two wickets and scoring 43 not out. It counted for nought, though. They finished fifth, with only the top three qualifying.
2 Dublin, 2005
Only in cricket could a fifth-place play-off be the most important fixture in a tournament. The UAE lost out to Netherlands by 145 runs in that match in Ireland in 2005, thus losing out on two months in the Caribbean two years later.
3 Benoni, 2009
Under the guidance of an English coach, Colin Wells, the UAE navigated alien conditions in South Africa to get to within one win of qualifying for the subcontinent World Cup. Their hopes were extinguished at the last by Scotland.
4 Dubai, 2010
The UAE’s woes have not been confined to the 50 over format. They missed out on a place at the World Twenty20 in the West Indies in 2010 when an Afghanistan side back by partisan support beat them in the decisive fixture in Dubai.
5 Sharjah 2012
The national team only missed out on a direct flight to Australia next year after finishing a single point behind Afghanistan, whose home ground is kindly loaned to them by Sharjah, in the qualifying league. It was only a matter of time, though.
pradley@thenational.ae
