| At the first glance this picture could have been taken anywhere in say Australia or New Zealand in January. Wrong!
A closer examination shows a dusky coloured gentleman with a beard inferring it was taken in, say, India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Wrong again!
The picture was actually taken in the International Cricket Council’s new complex located in Dubai Sports City. The facilities are about 30km from Dubai airport and 27km south of central Dubai. The ground is about 9km from the ICC in Dubai Media City, where it moved in 2005 after nearly a century at Lords. The temporary offices are very close to Dubai’s famous artificial “Palm Island” development. ICC will relocate to Dubai Sports City when the facilities are completed.
No expense has been spared, the facilites have the best of everything. The ICC’s cricket Academy imported soil from places as far afield as Austrlaia and UK as part of its mission to offer attendees the chance to experience as wide a range of conditions as possible. Former Australia wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh, who is the ICC GCA's first Director of Coaching, said: “By bringing soil in from abroad, it will allow us to create every type of pitch at the ICC Global Cricket Academy. We will be able to provide surfaces that offer seam movement, pace and bounce or spin and that means the ICC Global Cricket Academy will be an ideal location for teams as they prepare for tours.”
Another innovation of the ICC Global Cricket Academy is the creation of a first universal standard for cricketing qualifications. Rodney Marsh said: “At the moment there is no way of knowing, for example, how a coaching qualification in one country relates to a qualification somewhere else. What we are looking to establish is a series of benchmarks that everyone can understand and recognize, something that will allow people to know exactly where they sit in the scheme of things.” [Sound familiar?]
|
Dubai Sports City will shortly house four state-of-the-art stadiums:
60,000 football, rugby, athletics
25,000 cricket
10,000 multi-purpose hard-court games, ice hockey & concerts
5,000 Field hockey
Plus a spectacular Ernie Els championship golf course. There will also be cricket, golf, soccer, tennis and hocky academies.
The cricket academy will consist of:
Two international standard cricket grounds, each with a square of seven pitches
48 outdoor net pitches which will allow proper run-ups for bowlers at both ends as well as the chance for wicketkeepers to practice
Six indoor pitches of varying pace with an area large enough for full-scale centre-wicket practice
State-of-the-art video analysis, medical & fitness facilities
Accommodation for attendees.
Not bad for a city with a population of only 1.5million. Tony Hemming and Toby Lumsden late of the MCG arena groundstaff have been lured across to oversee the construction, preparation and maintenance of the cricket pitches. The job may be quite demanding considering Dubai only receives 76mm rain pa! And where did they turn for equipment? Australia naturally. Three containers of Australian made Mentay rollers (Aqua, Hydroglide, Ride-on & Tow) were delivered shortly before the opening.
|
