Heat stroke unlikely, but Kashif Daud still wary of challenge facing UAE in Scotland

Heatwaves are all relative. Ahead of the start of the Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series in Aberdeen in the far north east of Scotland, the UK has been enjoying record-breaking weather.

When the UAE start their campaign against their hosts from Scotland on Wednesday, paramedics will be on call in case any members of the crowd succumb to heat stroke.

And yet, as the temperatures peaked at a sultry 25 degrees at their final practice in Mannofield on Tuesday, a number of the touring players trained in sweaters and tracksuit tops.

This was, after all, a good 20 degrees cooler than they had been used to before making the trip to Scotland for the series.

Aberdeen is the most northerly venue at which the UAE have played international cricket. Waking up to single-digit temperatures, and going out to bat on wickets with actual green grass on them is alien to most of the players.

Not all of them, though. Kashif Daud, the UAE all-rounder, played a season as an overseas professional in Scotland in 2015, before moving to Dubai to take up a job as a coach.

His club, Farooqi CC, are based in Perth, approximately 90 minutes’ drive from Aberdeen – although he never played at this venue.

Daud says he is glad to be back in a country in which he had once envisaged his future.

“Staying here and trying to qualify to play for Scotland would have been very different to UAE,” Daud said.

“In Dubai, you can get an employment visa easily whereas over here it is difficult to get an indefinite visa, so it would have been a long procedure to play for Scotland.

“I’m used to adapting to conditions very easily, but the weather conditions in Dubai are very hot compared to Scotland. For us, this feels like nice weather.”

UAE will have two one-day