Street Cricket: stumped

An article published in Khaleej Times on Jul 3 2009.


Park rules and limited space means cricket enthusiasts have a hard time finding space to play. Olivia Olarte finds them taking it to the streets

It is a hot and humid early evening. The sun is just about to set behind one of the many rows of squat buildings that serve as accommodation for thousands of workers in the UAE capital’s industrial zone and nearby areas.

As if on cue, groups of men start coming out of their buildings at Shabiah in Mussafah. Chatting away in their native languages they head towards the parking lot in front of a school that is now bereft of cars as teachers and students have left for the day. The men — mostly Asian — sport shorts, shirts and jogging pants. Some wear their traditional shalwar kameez that one would think they are out on a stroll rather playing cricket.

The street lights flicker to life and the players, all 16 of them, assume their positions, eight on each side. Others settle themselves on the pavement, eagerly awaiting the start of the match.

One of the players, 32-year-old Selvaraj Anand from India, has been in Abu Dhabi for the last 10 years. He says playing street cricket is a means to amuse himself and forget his longing for his wife and two kids who are in Mumbai. As a hygiene shift leader at the Abu Dhabi Airport Catering, Anand could not afford to bring them here.

“It is better to play than staying inside my room and getting bored. There’s not much to do in Mussafah” he says.

Pointing to his teammates, Anand says “they are company staff, we play everyday after our duty. Depends on the match, we play for at least two hours from 5pm. We play later during the summer, around 6pm.”

According to Anand, a year ago there were around 10 places in Mussafah where cricketers can practice their bat. “It was not [too] busy, we could play in parking lots and the main road. Now there’s only a few left.”

He mentions the parking lot behind Al Noor Hospital near Shabiya, the labour camp next to a big mosque where labourers play every Thursday night until 1am, and the school parking where he now plays.

There is also a waste ground in Saniya area where tournaments and matches are played. “Some people put 22 foot carpet, cut and spread on the sand so the ball can jump,” Anand says.

But Anand prefers to play on the car park near his accommodation, so he doesn’t have to pay for a taxi to go to Saniya. Besides, “it is more comfortable to play here and go back to accommodation afterwards,” he says.

In Abu Dhabi, as soon as everyone prepares to either go to sleep or go out on a Thursday night, Indian national Syed Quadri is gearing up for another weekly cricket match. He drives to a shopping mall parking lot at Muroor Road where other players like him are also assembling.

“We play from 9:30pm until 3am on Thursday. I play with friends from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh,” says Quadri, an assistant customer service officer at Synergy Establishment.

“I love cricket. I grew up with cricket in India. We have good cricket grounds in Hyderabad, where people are playing everyday. I play 10 to 15 matches whenever I’m home,” says the 25-year-old.

For these men, far away from their families, finding a large area of green space to play the sport they love can be difficult.

Rules that reserve parks for families mean that many areas aren’t available to them and there is no proper area to play in Abu Dhabi. “One day, we played in a park in the Corniche, but somebody came and said this is a family park and if you continue you will be fined. There is a board that says ‘Don’t Play’,” says Quadri, noting the lights go off at 10:30 pm.

Although, the car parks provide the space for these street cricketers, they prefer to play on the grass if there’s an opportunity. The problem with playing on concrete ground is “when you drive for the ball and you fall down, it hurts. There is nothing but very hard surface,” Quadri says.

Playing cricket is not just to pass the time for these players, it is also a way to unload one’s personal problems and share plans with friends. “We talk about our personal life, how to have a good future in the UAE, how to get good salary and we also plan of going home together.”

As a bachelor, Quadri mostly worries about his parents and of not being near his father and mother who are old and sometimes ill. “I miss my native place. But when I play, I forget about everything, the pain, problems, work. [There’s] only the cricket,” he says with a sad note in his voice.

Because of the few available spaces for recreational sports, his favourite spot is becoming crowded with four or five teams playing simultaneously every night. “It gets too crowded playing at Madinat Zayed, so we play in Mussafah now,” Quadri reveals. He adds that he also plays sometimes at the Baladiya parking lot.

For Pakistani-born Khawar Mumtaz, playing cricket is more than just passing time, it’s a physical exercise. “Physical activity makes you fit for other things. For a healthy mind, you must have some physical activity,” he enthuses. Since he too loves the game, cricket is an uncontested choice.

A stock controller at Al Masaood Automobiles, the 32-year-old father is one of the lucky few who are living with his family in Abu Dhabi. “I play every Thursday from 11pm to 3 or 4am, but not on Friday. I reserve my Fridays for family,” he says.

Mumtaz says he usually plays at a parking lot behind Al Quooz Bakery at Muroor Road, Madinat Zayed or at any empty or vacant parking lots “wherever there’s good light.”
“We play with a tennis ball, so it doesn’t dent the car if there’s one [parked],” he says.

Although he laments the lack of a proper place to play in Abu Dhabi, he says he continues to play because it’s “another way to meet other people. It will relax you and keep you away from the week’s tension.”

Link http://www.khaleejtimes.com/weekend/inside.asp?xfile=/data/weekend/2009/July/weekend_July17.xml&section=weekend&col=

Sixth consecutive win for candors

Though this is our first match in the tournament, for Candor’s it’s our sixth consecutive win.

The strength is not only our top order batsmen and discipline bowling, it's also our stylish specialist wicket keeper – Prasanth.

As a bowler I am free to try different things when he is behind the stumps. Even if I angle down the legs I am sure there will be a pair of gloves to collect it. The batsmen will think twice before leaving the crease with keeper standing up. This adds a lot of pressure on the batsman and helps us contain them.

Sajid and Razak opened up with a quick fire 16 runs in the first over. This is a dream start for any team in the tournament. Sajid played quite sensibly and fell short of a well deserved century.
This is top order cricket man.
If we look at the innings (defending) 12-16 over gave away most of the runs. This is when we had an attacking field set and when we needed a few wickets. But I think this is quite often in any format of the game after the break the scoring rate goes up. We need to have a plan for these overs. The idea of falling back to a defensive field set in the last four overs really paid of. We didn’t aim for wickets instead simply contained them. This is a credit to all the fielders considering the opposition was a batting force.

We attacked as a team; we kept the momentum going till the last ball even when this day could easily be the hottest day of the season. 

 

 

Why do we feel good to win? reply to: Mabrook Guys......08 wicket victory

So we won again!!! Hmm…Impressive. But not surprising. Probably that’s because the quality of players that is swelling up our team today is so high, that a win don’t come as a shock. Our team sure have what it takes to snatch a win and to top it all, a talismanic captain who plays his cards right.

But there is a question I’d like you to ponder……It does feel good to win, doesn’t it? Did you ever feel this happy when you used to play against eachother? In the past a Friday would have been just another day of cricket…cricket practice to be specific. Today we are talking about victory and defeats. It pains when we lose and euphoric when we win, especially the hard fought ones. Why is that? The answer is simple…..it’s because we play for the TEAM. We play against an opposition and not against eachother…only when we have an enemy that we tend to bring out our best. It’s the presence of an external opposition that makes us stick together and fight for eachother and fight like warriors to the end.

In the process we are also beginning to realize that the Team is more important than the individual. Whether one player got a chance to bat or bowl is Not more important than the team winning. What does it matter if I play fantastic and the team lose? Only when our team wins that we all win, otherwise it’s a defeat for all.

Its only when this feeling sets in, that there will be camaraderie. Only when there is camaraderie shall there be bonding. It’s this bonding that we envisioned when we laid the corner stone of Candor.

We are in the right track. May the spirit of Candor reign.

Congrats once again to each of those players who made their mark on the field in every little way.

Proudly Candor

Rajiv Philip

US Under Pressure

Preview - Match on 11th June

From the moment the group was formed, we all waited for this day, the first win.

We didnt have to wait long.

Candors were gifted their sweet victory as a reward for their team work beating

Capital CC by over 50 runs.

Congrats to each one of you.