Dubai One of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, Graham Gooch, OBE, was part of a delegation from Essex County Cricket Club (CCC) that toured Dubai Sports City's cricket facilities this week.
Essex CCC chief executive David East was also a member of the delegation, which visited the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, the 25,000-seat facility which will be completed later this year. The delegates also reviewed the construction of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Global Academy and the new ICC headquarters.
Gooch - former captain of both Essex and England - expressed his excitement at the prospect of the world's first city dedicated to sport and in particular the range of venues and training centres being created specifically for cricket.
'Incredible environment'
"Dubai Sports City is a truly amazing project, which will provide an incredible environment for people to live and play. It will certainly help encourage the growth of sports in the region and there's a lot of potential for international sides to use it as a base for tours and training," said Gooch.
Essex is among the UK sides visiting the UAE to compete in the Arch Trophy, along with the UAE national team, Somerset, Lancashire, Sussex and Yorkshire.
The ICC Global Cricket Academy will combine the most advanced sporting facilities and technologies available, with a staff of leading coaches and visiting professionals. Part of its attraction for visiting teams is that it will replicate the pitch conditions of major cricket nations around the world to provide an ideal location for overseas training.
Marc Archer, general manager for the Global Cricket Academy, said: "We're in discussion with a number of teams from almost every cricketing nation about the potential to use the facilities at Dubai Sports City for training."
