NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND // Reaching two global events in the space of 12 months was a great achievement by the national cricket team.
Those who had gone before them had spent the previous two decades trying and failing to do the same, so their feat deserved to be celebrated.
When they arrived on the big stage, though, results were poor. Played nine, lost nine, over the course of the World Twenty20 last year and this 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
For the national team to have real credibility in international cricket, they need to start winning matches at the big events.
Ireland and Afghanistan have managed it.
RELATED
– The good, the bad and the ugly of the UAE’s cricket World Cup campaign
Yet those two nations are bearing the fruits of a committed programme of improvement over the space of more than a decade.
Over the same space of time, UAE cricket has just existed, two steps forward, two steps back, with no real direction or plan.
Until Aaqib Javed took charge of the team three years ago, that is.
His arrival from Pakistan has given cricket in the Emirates the impetus required to start believing they can become a competitive force on the world stage.
Here is what needs to happen next for that to become a reality:
1 Make sure to keep Aaqib as coach
At one point near the start of this competition, Aaqib, the coach, looked to be hot property. His home nation, Pakistan, were – typically – in crisis, due to infighting and two defeats. Their coaching staff were said to be on borrowed time.
Aaqib’s UAE charges, meanwhile, were making a name for themselves via some plucky performances against Zimbabwe and Ireland.
His stock was high, but ahead of the UAE’s pool match with Pakistan he said he was not looking for a move home.
“I am not looking for any job, I am happy with what I am doing,” he said in Brisbane.
During Aaqib’s three-year stint in charge, the senior team have put to an end years of near misses by qualifying for major events.
The record of nine losses, though, is something Aaqib would surely like to attempt to rectify.
Qualifying takes place for the next World Twenty20 this summer. He needs to be in charge then, and a long time thereafter, too.
2 Make high performance the norm
It feels like the World Cup is the end. The leading senior players will move on now, and some of the back-room staff are likely do the same.
It cannot be allowed to happen, but it will be difficult to stop. For example, Paul Franks, the popular assistant coach, was only with the team on a temporary posting.
He was loaned by his employers, Nottinghamshire in England, for the duration of the World Cup. He would happily remain involved, but it does not seem feasible.
Qualifying for the World Cup unlocked funding from the ICC which was put to good use. But it will only have short-term benefits if the likes of Franks, Mudassar Nazar, the batting coach, and Peter Kelly, the strength and conditioning consultant, who were borrowed from the ICC Academy, no longer have any involvement.
“I’ve really enjoyed it and I have learnt a lot from Mudassar and Aaqib,” said Franks, 36, who is still a registered player in county cricket.
“Working in a different environment was always going to be a big challenge. These guys come from a different background and culture to what I’m used to.”
3 Get major nations to reciprocate
It is stating the blindingly obvious to say sides like the UAE will not progress unless they get regular matches against the sides above them.
“It is harsh on Associates that you expect them to do well, after four years you give them two matches then expect them to beat everybody,” Khurram Khan, the vice-captain, said.
The national team should be in a good position to get fixtures against leading sides. Due to the facilities and the basic fact that Dubai is a travel hub, the traffic of teams through the country is vast.
The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) should be more demanding when the major nations come to use their stadia.
Pakistan have played 160 one-day internationals in the UAE since Sharjah first opened for business in 1984.
Only one has been against the host country, though.
It should be mandatory for Pakistan – as well as whoever they are “hosting” for bilateral series in the UAE – to play at least one game against the UAE.
“The more we play against the Test nations or their A sides, the more exposure we get, the better we become,” Mohammed Tauqir, the captain, said.
“I think we cannot learn by just simply watching them on TV. We need to play more cricket against them.”
4 Get Emiratis involved
Not an easy one, this. Both Emiratis and expatriates who have been involved in the sport in the UAE have expressed doubts as to whether this is a marriage that will ever truly work. Some administrators think they have already tried and failed to get UAE nationals involved.
By contrast, some Emiratis who have come to the game by chance suggest the game’s rulers have never really been seriously bothered at all.
But it goes without saying that inclusiveness is vital for the sport to flourish. As Tim Anderson, the ICC’s global development manager, said on the eve of the World Cup: “You want to try to access 100 per cent of your population. You want to have a national team that is reflective of your nation.”
Apart from the obvious benefit of boosting the player base, it could also provide new revenue streams from both the government and private enterprise.
New interest in cricket from within the UAE’s private sector was apparently piqued by the massive buzz created when the Indian Premier League decamped to the country last year.
A development programme targeting Emiratis is now in place, with corporate funding provided by Al Ain Water. That can only be a good thing, even if the effects of it will take some years to be seen.
5 Invest in the future
Talent spotting in the unique socio-economic environment of the UAE is different to elsewhere.
A teenager may be a nailed-on certainty to be a top-class senior player in the future. They will not necessarily be certain to stay in the country, though.
Andri Berenger, for instance, was born in Dubai, excelled at cricket, so moved to Colombo to further his game and have a crack at representing Sri Lanka. The UAE were lucky he came back, as it does not always happen. In expatriate dominated sports such as cricket and rugby union, there is a glitch in the development pathway from classroom to senior international representation.
Between the ages of 18 and 21 many talented youngsters go abroad to study. Often, they do not return.
The University of Woollongong Dubai have a scheme which could go towards stemming the talent drain.
The Adam Gilchrist Sports Award sponsors one student’s tertiary education in Dubai, while encouraging them to pursue the sport at which they excel. The most recent recipient, Dan D’Souza, is a promising cricketer from Abu Dhabi.
If the ECB can broker similar initiatives like that with other higher education institutions, the effects on the national cricket team could be significant.
pradley@thenational.ae
Follow us at our new home on Twitter @NatSportUAE