FairBreak Invitational re-imagined cricket for the better – and it worked

It is highly likely the FairBreak Invitational will not come back to Dubai.

The new T20 tournament is a privately organised venture, run in conjunction with Cricket Hong Kong.

It only came to the UAE for its pilot edition this month because of the logistical challenges of the lengthy Covid quarantine process in that territory.

In his closing comments after Sunday’s final, Shaun Martyn, the tournament’s founder, said he is already looking forward to welcoming everyone to Hong Kong in March 2023.

Which is a pity. It has been a blast. But at least we can say we were there when cricket was re-imagined for the better.

In some ways, it was exactly like every other start-up tournament. Six teams with no discernible identity. Spurious names. Flashy kits.

A plain format – round-robin, then semis and a final. All played at a stadium which had seen it all before. After all, more T20 cricket has been played the Dubai International Stadium than any other cricket ground in the world.

And yet it was so, so much more. The pervading feeling among the FairBreak players could not have been anymore different to the atmosphere of the travelling circus of men’s T20 cricket.

All too often, the samey shows of the franchise circuit in the men’s game carry with them a strong air of entitlement. The usual players, turning up to perform on demand, and perhaps wondering: “Who is it we are playing for again today?”

Contrast that with FairBreak. For the majority of the tournament it felt as though at least two-thirds of the players involved were pinching themselves and thinking: Am I really here? Is this really happening to me?

She might be playing against the Army but @Sita_magar8 is the one with the salute