Dubai: The Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) will next month host its once popular inter-school cricket tournament after a gap of six years.
The council had discontinued its schools tournament for under-16s due to a lack of grounds, but has now decided to stage a new tournament called the CSS Homeward Bound Dubai Inter School Cricket Tournament from the second week of October.
Turf wickets
Shiva Pagarani, the convener of finance and administration at the DCC, told Gulf News: “We decided to resume this tournament after a gap of six years by approaching different venues with turf wickets. Unlike in the past, this tournament will not be played on cement wickets but on turf as our aim is develop cricket at the grassroots level.”
The DCC has decided to bolster its activities under a new committee and has got sponsorship support from Consolidated Shipping Services (CSS) as title sponsor, with Smart Bag and Nesa Radiation Solutions as support sponsors. The CSS cricket team has produced many top players who have gone on to represent the UAE in international matches.
“We are delighted with the support from CSS, who are keen to help us catch youngsters early and groom them for a career in cricket. So the tournament dress will be the traditional white clothing and matches played with a red ball to ensure they get a feel of Test cricket, for which they should aim to play,” added Pagarani.
Four groups
The 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four, with the round–robin matches consisting of 25 overs per side. The matches for the knockout stages will be 30 overs each.
The revamped DCC — with Amin Faisal Farooq as honorary secretary, Farrukh Siddiqui in charge of the grounds and umpires committee, convener of special projects Shoeb Muljiani, and Gopal Jasapara as convener of the tournament committee — has also decided to resume its inter university tournament.
“Interested schools should send their entries through email to dxbcricketcouncil@gmail.com or contact Seddiqi on 055-8979580 or Jasapara on 050-4559083,” Pagarani said.