UAE cricket have the door open – in Scotland, they intend to start walking through

Paul Radley previews the UAE cricket team's series in Scotland ahead of a make or break Intercontinental Cup four-day match.

UAE bowler Mohammed Naveed. Christopher Pike / The National

The UAE's cricketers will have to arrest a wretched run of form if they are to take anything from their series in Scotland, which starts on Tuesday.

No wins and no points from three matches in the Intercontinental Cup so far shows the UAE have yet to get to grips with the four-day format.

It also speaks more broadly of a miserable past 12 months for the national team, which has brought with it pitiful results in all three forms of the game.

Despite that background, though, the players have arrived in Scotland in cheerful mood. They had a promising warm up match in Hampshire, with performances from Shaiman Anwar, Amjad Javed and Laxman Sreekumar, in particular, suggesting they are in good touch.

And, anyway, form often counts for nought when the national team’s leading players are in the right mood. Or, in the case of Mohammed Naveed, the leading strike bowler, fit and available.

Naveed was absent when the UAE opened their Intercontinental Cup in Ireland last summer with an innings defeat. A groin injury kept him out of action for six months, and the side lacked a cutting edge without him.

He subsequently showed his worth to the side by playing a star role as they inverted all that had gone before them by beating Afghanistan, Oman and Hong Kong to qualify for the Asia Cup in Dhaka in February.

He then proved his commitment to the game, too, by staying on to play domestic cricket instead of returning to Pakistan for the birth of his son, Abu Bakr.

“Cricket is my passion and that comes first to me,” Naveed said. “I was over the moon when I saw my son for the first time. I’m looking forward to him to follow my footsteps.”

Naveed went to the World Cup last year with one specified aim: to hit Dale Steyn for six. He duly achieved that, by mowing the South African fast bowler into the empty yellow seats at Wellington’s stadium.

That has since been replaced as his No 1 favourite moment as an international cricketer, though. At the Asia Cup, once the television cameras had been switched on, one of Naveed’s deliveries registered 147kmh on the speedgun.

He readily admitted that his pace was fuelled by the avid crowd watching the Asia Cup in Dhaka, but he is sure he can reprise it in Scotland, too.

“Whenever I play in front of a crowd I feel at my best and want to entertain the crowd as much as I can,” Naveed said. “But with the vision to do well for UAE, crowd or no crowd, it doesn’t matter to me.”

The four-day match, as well as the two 50-over World Cricket League fixtures that follow this week, had to be moved from their original venue.

Excessive rainfall of late meant the ground in Aberdeen was unsuitable for play, so the games were moved nearly 200kms to Ayr on the other side of Scotland.

Either way, there are unlikely to be the sort of crowds that followed the team in Bangladesh on their last outing.

Paul Franks, the UAE coach, says the chance to play international cricket should be motivation enough for Naveed and his colleagues.

“Being a professional cricketer means you get to play in all sorts of conditions,” Franks said.

“It can be in front of one man and his dog, or 100,000 people at the MCG. That is the range that international cricket offers. IPL, CPL, Big Bash League – if you are serious about doing that, the relevant level of motivation comes from within.

“We can try to steer them in the right direction, but the desire to want to be better, the desire to move on to the next stage, comes from within.

“If you are happy with your lot, and cruise along, you won’t get to the next level. You might open the door, but you won’t walk through.”

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