Dubai’s Labour Force gets a Taste of Cricket Excitement

Media Release

Dubai, May 25: Thanks to the marketing initiative undertaken by a leading soft drink brand Sprite, Dubai’s labour force in particular are now in a position to experience the thrill of playing competitive cricket.

After a hard day’s labour in extreme conditions perhaps, the labourers are back in their hut for a well deserved rest.  The accommodation provided by most contracting companies is good enough for the workers to rest their head and seek a good night’s sleep and get ready for the next day’s toil. 

Under the circumstances, it is a welcome change for the labour force that they can now look forward to a game of cricket under floodlights.  At least 8 labour camps have been short listed and the labourers who are willing to play cricket have been invited to try out their skills.  The response has been great with almost everyone registering  to ensure that they get picked into the camp team.  Some robust, some well built and some not upto the mark have all been honing their skills to bowl at their best or wield their bat like any cricket star.  The enthusiasm has to be seen to be believed in what is a novel idea to rope in the people to love their brand via the game of cricket.  The cricket activity has been organized with the cooperation of the Ministry of Labour.

At every camp, there have been selection trials continuing for 6 consecutive days ending with the final selection of 20 top players on the last day to represent the camp team.  The response from the camp has been great with huge queues at the registration desk.  The camps have been going on for the last 2 months with at least 6 days at each of the 8 camps.

Overseeing the entire cricket operations is Dubai’s  well known organizer and event manager Denzil Fernandes.  Denzil has the responsibility of finalizing the  8 camp teams who will then play in a tournament to decide the champion team.  With his huge experience of managing several tournaments and sports activities wherever he has been, Denzil has assembled  former cricketers who are given the task of coaching the 8 respective teams selected. 

Some of the coaches are former Pakistan and India hopefuls who have now turned their back and come to the U.A.E. and are now plying their trade here.  All  the coaches  have been selected by Denzil and they will then turn out with the respective camp teams as their coaches to guide them to victory when the tournament starts among the 8 camp teams.  These coaches also play top cricket in the local league and some of them for the UAE national  team as well.  Apart from the coaches, there are other assistants guiding the camp players to tone up with their physical conditioning and fielding too.

In fact, Denzil was also the first ever Indian to be the Tournament Director of the inaugural Dubai Super Sixes which was held last year where 48 teams took part.  There were  8 international test cricketers taking part  that included Wasim Akram, Venkatesh Prasad, Kaluwathirana, Aravinda DSilva, Rohan Gavaskar, Lance Kluesner, Moin Khan and Vinod Kambli.

The tournament for the labour force promises to be an exciting one with some of the teams boasting of promising performers who can easily fit into their camp team.  A nice mix of players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and other countries also augurs well for the camp unity.  When the round robin matches begin, all the  camp labourers are expected to be at the ground to support their respective teams.  The  champion team will be given air tickets for all the members as the winning prize.  The organizers are also providing attractive uniforms for all the 8 teams that will be seen in action.

The 8 camp teams will be from DUTCO, DULSCO, ETA, ARABTEC, NABOODAH, AL FUTTAIM, AL JABER and AL HABTOOR.

The round robin matches will be played at the Dulsco grounds in Al Quos on July 1, 8, 15 and 22 with the semi finals and finals at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on 16th Sept. 2011.  All the matches will be played in the T10 format.  Each team will get to play at least 3 matches in their group before trying to get into the semi finals.

There is immense joy as one sees the intensity of the labourers on  the cricket ground when they strive to get into the playing team.  One can also feel the agony when the coaches and the selectors tell them that they have not been chosen and many a times there is that urge and argument to consider them even if they have been bowled all ends up !

It is a demanding job to handle the excited players who are backed by their colleagues who watch them from the stands.  The coaches and the selectors go about doing their best in giving a fair trial for all aspirants and one knows everyone cannot be picked for the side.

The entire exercise has to be commended because of the opportunities provided by the soft drink maker to the labourers in giving them the luxury of playing cricket.  After a hard day’s grind, it is indeed tough to play but the sheer joy of being watched and marked by their colleagues ensures that each and every cricket loving labourer saves his best shot to impress everyone.

One hopes that from the mass of labourers around a genuine and promising cricketer will emerge to outscore and outshine all his rivals.