Dubai to stage cricket feast during Ramadan

Twelve top local teams will provide a provide a feast of entertainment during the Interface Ramadan Cricket Tournament which will be held from August 2 to 28 at the ICC Global Cricket Academy grounds under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC).

"Eleven teams have already confirmed their participation and we will take one more team to make it a total of 12 teams which will be divided into thre groups. It is a league cum knock-out tournament whereby 23 matches will be played and we hope to see some tough and exciting cricket with most teams evenly matched," said DCC's Honorary Secretary Mohamed Lokhandwala after the draw on Sunday.

"We are very thankful to Nalin Khaitan, Director of Interface Transworld for sponsoring this important tournament," he said.

Khaitan thanked DCC for giving them this opportunity and paid a glowing tribute to the local cricket administrators.

"Interface has been supporting cricket at the local and international level since many years. We are thankful to the Rulers of Dubai for supporting the game and also would like to thank Abdul Rahman Bukhatir and Abdul Rahman Falaknaz for initiating cricket in this country and putting up such great facilities where the game can be played and enjoyed. We have lent our support to the Emirates Cricket Board in the past and we are delighted to now support the Dubai Cricket Council who have a great team of dedicated members running cricket in Dubai," he said.

The sponsors hope to add foriegn flavour to their team.

"We also have our own cricket team made up of local youngsters and we have done quite well in local tournaments. We are planning to invite a couple of good cricketers from India to bolster our team and aim to make a mark in this tournament," added Khaitan.

"The winners will be awarded Dh10,000 cash and a trophy while the runners-up will get Dh5,000 and a trophy. There are cash awards and trophies for the Best Bowler, Best Batsman and the Man of the Tournament. Colour kit will be provided to all teams along with refreshments during the break. Matches will start at 7.30 pm and the 25-over matches will end at 11.30 pm," said Lokhandwala.

Former New Zealand great Dayle Hadlee who is the resident coach at ICC GCA and Mazhar Khan the ECB Administrator and in the management of Dubai Sports City, were happy to see top quality local cricket being played alongside international cricket at the ICC Global Academy grounds.

Hadlee was amazed with the local talent and some of the outstanding performances which were on show in the Debonair Cup. He expected to see similar performances in the Interface Ramadan Cup.

"The participating teams will not only have an opportunity to compete with top class teams at a superb facility but will benefit from a package of goodies to add value to their entry in the tournament. Every team will get a unique opportunity for sixty minutes of exclusive coaching session from international Coaches Dayle Hadlee or Muddasar Nazar for which they need to book in advance. Every team will also get equal number of net sessions matching the number of games they play in the tournament," added Lokhandwala.

The top three teams - Yogi group, Fly Emirates and Phoenix medicines - were first drawn out of the hat by Khaitan and then the rest of the teams were drawn with the final groupings as follows:

Group A: Yogi Group, Emirates Islamic Bank, Dummy, Transgulf.
Group B: Fly Emirates, Eurocon Alubond, HSBC, Mashreq Bank
Group C: Phoenix Medicine, Seven Seas Strikers, Interface Transworld, Farooq C.C.

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