Emirates' top youngsters to test skills in England

Twenty-two promising young cricketers have embarked on a tour of England to help them realise their potential in the game. The youngsters, from Under 12 and Under 14 teams, flew out from Dubai yesterday to play a series of matches against leading English sides. The tour has been organised by the Sharjah Cricket Council Academy, their first overseas tour for the junior teams in more than eight years.

Mohammed Hyder Kazmi, who is accompanying the team as head coach, said the youngsters, particularly those who have grown up in the Emirates, would benefit from an early introduction to playing the game outside the UAE against traditionally strong opponents. "They will learn to do things on their own by staying away from their families," Kazmi said. "It is a good learning curve and they get confident from such exposure."

The youngster are to play matches against teams from Surrey, the English county championship side, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. One of the high points of the tour is their visit to Lord's cricket ground on Saturday. Kazmi said the team include talented players like Sameer Tanveer and Mudassar Azeez, both all-rounders, and Abdullah Ali, a left-handed batsman. "We have been hosting teams from England and as such didn't have much time to travel. But we have received a lot of invites and now intend to reciprocate," Mazhar Khan, of the Sharjah Cricket Council, said.

"The very intension behind organising this tour is to expose the young boys to a good level of cricket. I am sure the boys will return home with some fond memories of the tour. "England, as we all know, have very good academies and playing against their teams will be a great experience, something they will savour for a long time, in particular their visit to the Lord's. "We have arranged matches so that the boys get a chance to play on different grounds. It will be interesting to see if our teams face the swing and seam bowling."

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