From pit of despair to the global stage: UAE cricket’s fairytale

Let’s not understate this: UAE’s qualification for the T20 World Cup is a cricket fairytale.

From the pit of despair, ravaged by corruption, a crisis that has now seen seven senior players thrown out of the sport for a combined total of 49 years. To this. The global stage. And a chance, finally, to show the good face of UAE cricket.

All in the space of two-and-a-half years. A span of time in which all the hard work done by a persevering group of players has frequently been undermined by the outcomes of anti-corruption hearings.

The last UAE player to be chucked out of cricket for corruption was as recently as December. Waheed Ahmed was suspended for eight years for contriving to fix aspects of domestic matches.

Ironically, he had been one of the players enlisted for the national team to cover for the first three who were thrown out, at the 2019 World Cup Qualifier, back when all the problems first started.

The national team’s resilience at rolling with the punches in the time since has been extraordinary. Now it is they, not the cheats, who will enjoy the fruits of a trip to Australia to mix with the sport’s best.

Alhumdulliah…!!Thank you everyone who supported us all the way !! https://t.co/qMOMWZw62T

Who is to thank for all this? Ahmed Raza, the dutiful captain, was quick to praise the backroom staff for their part in it.

When Robin Singh was appointed as director of cricket in 2020, the first thing he said was he wanted his teams playing in World Cups.

The Under 19 side already have. With distinction, too, beating two Test nations to win the plate tournament in the Caribbean earlier this month.

The women’s team are into a global qualifier of their own. And now the senior men’s side are through to the T20 version at