Security fears could take cricket test matches to Dubai
There was an interesting piece by Jamie Jackson in The Observer last week which could end up providing a welcome ray of light to Dubai. Apparently the member boards of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will hold a telephone conference to discuss what action, if any, needs to be taken in light of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore on March 3rd. The conference should have taken place by now, although it remains to be seen when details will emerge.
The Observer piece posits that whilst, until now, the major considerations involved in arranging Test series were commercial, with this emerging terrorist threat safety will become the primary concern. This shift is mainly driven by the players, as illustrated by Kevin Pietersen’s comment that he may not go to India for the start of the highly lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League in April. Pietersen is quoted as saying: “If I don’t think it’s right then I’ll not be going, I’ll be speaking to Bangalore, to the ECB, to my agent, and to security advisers.”
Pietersen is not alone, when surveyed, 83% of IPL players expressed concerns about security. With representatives of many other high profile players also echoing his sentiments, international cricket in South Asia may no longer be viable.
David Morgan, president of the ICC says “We will clearly not be sending cricketers to Pakistan until a significant change occurs there, the priority of the ICC is to find ways of providing international cricket away from Pakistan on neutral territory.” Some of his unnamed colleagues go much further, expressing doubts about the stability of the entire region.
This is where it gets interesting for Dubai and the other Gulf states. If it is considered that it is not safe to to play international cricket in Pakistan and the other subcontinental powerhouses, (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) then the Dubai based ICC may have to look elsewhere for venues with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah heading the queue.
The unnamed ICC source continues:
“There will be three state-of-the-art cricket grounds at Sports City in Dubai,
where Australian, Pakistani and English soil has already been imported for use. Abu Dhabi is ready right now. Don’t think these conversations are only just starting. For the past two years the ICC have been thinking of expanding the game. The Middle East also has plenty of money – think of the recent Asian Games in Doha, where the facilities were built very quickly. There are contingency plans in place.”
The source states that discussions on the subject of hosting games in the UAE had been going on for some time. This is confirmed by Dubai Sports City‘s director of sports business, Malcolm Thorpe, who said: “we’ve had conversations with every board of the Test playing nations.”
With its proximity to India and Pakistan and almost half of the UAE’s population being of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin, high attendances would be guaranteed. Throw high security, top class stadiums and facilities such as the £1bn Sports City complex into the mix and the logic is clear. It also explains the sudden interest in building cricket grounds in the emirates.
English county cricket sides, like their footballing equivalents, have already started using the UAE as a lucrative pre-season destination, playing friendly tournaments to prepare for the long season ahead. Competition, ironically enough, could come from England. Countries like Jamaica, Nigeria and Australia regularly play international football friendlies on English soil, taking advantage of the large immigrant and expatriate populations based in Britain, and this could become an option for cricket as well.
It could work out that Pakistan’s terrorist problems could cement Dubai’s status as a top class host for sporting events and give Dubai some much needed positive press.
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