Dubai: Maxtalent Global Sports Academy helped inspire budding cricketers in the UAE with a 12-day tour to England. Many innovative ideas were implemented by the academy during the tour to give the players — including a training session at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground and even playing a two-day mini Test match.
The tour took off after an intense acclimatisation-cum-training session with former England and ECB Level-4 coach Keith Medlycott. The two-day Test match against Star Cricket Academy saw Maxtalent bowl out Star Cricket Academy at the Reeds Schools ground for 163 in 31 overs with skipper Atharva Inamdar’s spell of 4 for 49 setting the tone for their performance. Sharman Shukla proved an able foil to Inamdar, taking two wickets for 18 runs.
Maxtalent raced past Star Academy’s total thanks to Amrit Pal Singh’s brilliant knock of 116 off just 69 balls. The second day’s play was affected by rain and the match ended in a draw with Maxtalent at 184 for 5 in 31 overs.
The Under-16 boys then went on to defeat Whitgift Cricket Club by 7 wickets. Atharva sparkled in that match too by taking three wickets for 15 runs, bowling out Whitgit for a paltry 100 in 21 overs. Maxtalent raced to the target in 14 overs through Amrit Pal Singh’s 40 off just 29 balls and Fuzan Mohammad’s 24 runs.
Singh also sparkled in Maxtalent’s 76 runs win over Echer Cricket Club with an unbeaten 54 runs off 33 balls. Maxtalent posted an impressive 197 for 4 in 25 overs with Keith D’Souza scoring 31 and Fauzan 29.
Singh went on to amass 305 runs to take home the best batsman of the tour award while Atharva won the best all-rounder award. Jihan Khan, who took nine wickets, was the best bowler. Keith D’Souza and Yash Hegde were jointly adjudged ‘most hardworking player of the tour’ for their consistent performances.
For the Maxtalent Under-13 side, it was a special occasion as it was the first tour to the UK for most of the players. Captain Kurt D’Souza led the team from the front with his accurate fast bowling along with his ability to keep batsmen guessing with canny changes in pace. The team played five matches but lost four with a lone victory against Parkside School. Nine-year-old Aarav Trivedi produced the best all-rounder performance while Tarun Rajan sparkled with the bat. Darsh Golani stood out as a fielder while Kurt D’Souza and Sayed Amir Beige were the pick among the bowlers.
