The National’s Paul Radley is in Australia and New Zealand for the cricket World Cup. Here is his diary of his first week there.
Day 1
Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland-Nelson
This part of the world may be decked in bunting welcoming visitors to cricket’s big show, but the other national pastime is easy to spot, too.
While in transit at Melbourne airport, Glen Jackson, the former rugby player turned referee from New Zealand, is milling around, on his way home after officiating at the Six Nations in Europe last weekend.
Then at Auckland’s domestic terminal, for the final leg of the lengthy trip from Dubai to Nelson, players from the Brumbies Super Rugby team walk in.
Jackson goes completely unnoticed. Rugby union has yet to completely take hold in Melbourne, a city in thrall to other distractions, chiefly Australian rules football.
In contrast, dressed in team-issue kit, compression socks and recovery tights, the Brumbies are difficult to miss in Auckland.
You get the impression most Kiwi blokes – many of whom stop their conversations and ogle – would know them even if they were dressed in camouflage. In New Zealand, rugby is an obsession.
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Day 2
Nelson: Zimbabwe beat UAE by four wickets
Cannot imagine the UAE players are missing the home comforts of Sharjah.
Saxton Oval, where they make their World Cup 2015 debut, is a world away from the desert.
The main surviving footage of the national team playing at World Cups is of the 1996 vintage losing to South Africa.
The grainy images show a sparsely populated backdrop of grey concrete stands, at an unprepossessing stadium in Rawalpindi.
Nelson could not be any more different. The grass banks that circle the playing area are well-peopled by idling adults and kids wearing face paint, enthusiastically clapping thunder sticks.
Beyond that the vista is just sublime. Behind the players’ pavilion are the mountains of the Richmond Ranges and on the other side of the ground is Tasman Bay, then the Cook Strait, which separates New Zealand’s North and South islands.
On a clear day, it is a stunning scene and must be one of the most picturesque venues to have hosted a World Cup match.
Day 3
Nelson
Superficially, New Zealand seems to be defined by two things: rugby and the Lord of the Rings movies.
Directly opposite the UAE’s team hotel in Nelson is the jewellers that manufactured the ring that Elijah Wood’s Frodo Baggins was tasked with chaperoning all the way to Mount Doom in the films.
It is a small, unremarkable place named, prosaically, The Ringmaker. Still, the workmanship must be decent enough, Gollum was pretty convinced it was precious.
Various members of the UAE tour party are spotted in Nelson’s centre in the morning, killing time before their lunchtime flight 50 minutes south to Christchurch, then – Cyclone Marcia permitting – four hours north to Brisbane. Although they have played only one match, the UAE are halfway through their tour, having played warm-up matches in Napier and Melbourne before the tournament started.
The duration and geographical diversity of this trip must be taxing for the amateur players of the national team.
Handy, then, that they have three Emirates Airline employees among their number, who are used to flying.
Day 4
Nelson-Brisbane
The Maori name for New Zealand, Aotearoa, means “long white cloud”, and it is obvious to see why on the 6.40am flight from the South Island’s northern tip, to Auckland at the top of the country.
After crossing the Cook Strait, a blanket covers the northern land mass from coast to coast. It is disturbed only by the peak of Mount Taranaki poking through in the south-east corner of the North Island, like a forgotten-about salt-seller underneath a tablecloth.
Connecting flights to Brisbane are unaffected by tropical Cyclone Marcia, which is battering Queensland.
Flights to the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, are cancelled. In some areas, 100 millimetres of rain – close to the annual average in Abu Dhabi – has fallen in one hour. At boarding in Auckland, we are told to expect a bumpy ride.
Upon arrival, the skies are slate grey and water teems down the windows in Niagara-like proportions.
At the hotel, a family of Bangladeshis, all clad in the green shirts of their national team, look wholly forlorn as their fixture with Australia at The Gabba is a washout.
Day 5
Brisbane
Dodging showers, the UAE fit in a first training session since arriving in Brisbane, at Allan Border Field in a suburb called Albion.
A couple of players comment it was a hard session. Meaning good. In the bad old days, “hard” would have meant hassle.
It is a marker of the changing, upwards-looking perspective of the UAE team that challenges are now deemed a good thing.
Meet coach Aaqib Javed in the afternoon to discuss progress. Listening to him is always an uplifting experience, no more so than when he is on one of his favourite subjects: Imran Khan, his former Pakistan captain.
The way he describes Imran’s fabled wounded tiger speech, which set in motion the 1992 World Cup win, is stirring even now.
Twenty-three years on, you get the impression Pakistan’s old crew could get together and still win the World Cup if Imran willed them to.
Day 6
Brisbane
Aaqib estimates he has been to Brisbane 20 times, such is the repetitive circuit of international cricket tours. Life was probably very different the first time.
When Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992, they had little immediate sense of the frenzy it created back at home. No social media or Skype back then.
How times change. Walking into the city in the morning, a young backpacker is sat on a bench having an in-vision argument with her mother back home in the UK, via the wonders of FaceTime on her iPhone.
Travelling essentials have clearly moved on a long way from a Lonely Planet, a toothbrush and some mosquito repellent.
Billy Connolly, the Scottish comedian, is gigging at the Queensland Performance Arts Centre, on the south bank of the Brisbane River. Tickets are an eye-watering A$400 (Dh1,140) a pop. Availability is still scarce. Good work if you can get it.
Day 7
Brisbane
Brisbane gets its name from the river on which it was built, rather than the other way round. A pedestrian walkway that crosses it, the Kurilpa Bridge, is so named, apparently, after the Aboriginal word for South Brisbane.
It means “place for water rats” and reflects the fact Aboriginal ancestors used to cross the sandbars that formed at the river bend.
While the steamy heat of Queensland is likely to suit UAE’s players in their pool match on Wednesday, the Irish have a few reminders of the green, green grass of home, too. The outfield at the Gabba, where the teams have spent two days training ahead of their encounter, is a perfect hue.
Like Dubai International Stadium, the field is sand based. It drains rapidly, which is handy when a storm hits mid-match, but it is difficult to keep the grass looking lush. Exactly as in Dubai, it often requires a top-up of spray paint to ensure it looks good, which the curator is busy doing this afternoon.
pradley@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
The five pillars of Islam
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Tom Blyth
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE (+4 GMT)
Tuesday
Mairobr v Liverpool
Spartak Moscow v Sevilla
Feyenoord v Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City v Napoli
Monaco v Besiktas
RB Leipzig v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur
Wednesday
Benfica v Manchester United
CSKA Moscow v Basel
Bayern Munich v Celtic
Anderlecht v Paris Saint-Germain
Qarabag v Atletico Madrid
Chelsea v Roma
Barcelona v Olympiakos
Juventus v Sporting Lisbon
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
BlacKkKlansman
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington; Adam Driver
Five stars
Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
The specs
Engine: Single front-axle electric motor
Power: 218hp
Torque: 330Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 402km (claimed)
Price: From Dh215,000 (estimate)
On sale: September
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
RECORD BREAKER
Youngest debutant for Barcelona: 15 years and 290 days v Real Betis
Youngest La Liga starter in the 21st century: 16 years and 38 days v Cadiz
Youngest player to register an assist in La Liga in the 21st century: 16 years and 45 days v Villarreal
Youngest debutant for Spain: 16 years and 57 days v Georgia
Youngest goalscorer for Spain: 16 years and 57 days
Youngest player to score in a Euro qualifier: 16 years and 57 days
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Growdash
Started: July 2022
Founders: Sean Trevaskis and Enver Sorkun
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Restaurant technology
Funding so far: $750,000
Investors: Flat6Labs, Plus VC, Judah VC, TPN Investments and angel investors, including former Talabat chief executive Abdulhamid Alomar, and entrepreneur Zeid Husban
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 1 (Martinez 18' pen)
Juventus 2 (Dybala 4', Higuain 80')
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 299hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 420Nm at 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 12.4L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh157,395 (XLS); Dh199,395 (Limited)
HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
- Or try to keep the word count down
- Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
- That's about it
Specs
Power train: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and synchronous electric motor
Max power: 800hp
Max torque: 950Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Battery: 25.7kWh lithium-ion
0-100km/h: 3.4sec
0-200km/h: 11.4sec
Top speed: 312km/h
Max electric-only range: 60km (claimed)
On sale: Q3
Price: From Dh1.2m (estimate)
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder
Power: 101hp
Torque: 135Nm
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Price: From Dh79,900
On sale: Now
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
Asian Cup 2019
Quarter-final
UAE v Australia, Friday, 8pm, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Floward
Based: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Founders: Abdulaziz Al Loughani and Mohamed Al Arifi
Sector: E-commerce
Total funding: About $200 million
Investors: Aljazira Capital, Rainwater Partners, STV and Impact46
Number of employees: 1,200
More on Quran memorisation:
AS WE EXIST
Author: Kaoutar Harchi
Publisher: Other Press
Pages: 176
Available: Now
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Dengue fever symptoms
High fever (40°C/104°F)
Severe headache
Pain behind the eyes
Muscle and joint pains
Nausea
Vomiting
Swollen glands
Rash