DUBAI // Unsurprisingly, it was the renowned straight-shooting Graeme Swann who said it like it is back in December when the Masters Champions League (MCL) held its player auction.
Plenty of big money was spent that day, on a collection of long-retired legends and still-active players: the six franchises spent US$4.2 million (Dh15.4m) in total. That kind of money, said Swann, would have jarred any players thinking this to be a “jolly”.
“I think the realisation of how much money is at stake now and there are owners here who want results makes you pull your fingers out of your backside,” he had said.
“You can’t just turn up and treat it as a jolly. It’s not a holiday, it’s a serious tournament and each player will feel that when they get here.”
Read more:
Masters Champions League: Everything you need to know
Swann is serious about Masters Champions League and says ‘it is not a holiday’
Former UAE captain Saqib Ali honoured to ‘mix with legends’ at Masters Champions League
MCL owners ‘will see a return on their passion and investment’ despite overlap with PSL
Well, they are here now and if we cannot quite predict the quality of the contests we are about to witness over the next two weeks, we can safely assume that there will be a degree of competitiveness.
That, after all, is just the natural result when you throw a group of elite sportsmen, retired or otherwise, together into a league, arrange them into teams, give them an incentive to play for and reward them well.
Through 18 matches and two weeks, in Dubai and Sharjah, that is the one truth all players will attest to, whether you are Brian Lara, retired in 2007, or the Australian Ben Laughlin, who took the wicket of Shane Watson in the Big Bash League semi-final last week and is here for the Capricorn Commanders.
That is what Paul Collingwood, who will lead the Commanders in the tournament, realised the other night as he oversaw a training session for his side in Dubai.
“You could sense that the competitive edge is there,” he said on Monday. “Once you get international cricketers together, no matter where they are from around the world, they want to win. They have pride in their performance.”
As if to emphasise the point, much of the pre-tournament talk from three teams on Monday concerned itself with cricketing matters: the time for revelling in the novelty of such a concept is over.
The pitches, and adapting to them, will be key; the team combinations will have to be right; fielding and running between the wickets will be important; athleticism will be vital; currently active players will make a huge difference. In other words, this will be no holiday.
“First of all, speaking on my behalf, I do expect to play hard,” said Lara, who will be leading the Leo Lions. “I would not be here otherwise if I couldn’t play hard. We are looking for a team performance more than anything else.
“We have a good group of guys. If we can get the team working well, we can win matches.”
He said great former players maintain that ability but will be more vulnerable to good bowling. “People know Virender Sehwag and what he is capable of but he might not be able to manoeuvre the ball like he once did 10-15 years ago and we will work on that,” Lara said.
“Whoever we come up against, [Adam] Gilchrist, [Jacques] Kallis, you target their faults as quickly as possible.”
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
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Rating: 5/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
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Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Company%20Profile
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Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
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