Mana Ibrahim al-Mana, chairman of West End Park, and Syed Bobby Refaie, executive director of PCB-backed Pakistan Super League, and Qatar Cricket Association officials pose after a press conference yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram
Big dreams often have small beginnings. The upcoming tri-nations Qatar International Women’s Cricket Championship, to be played at the West End Park cricket stadium from January 10 to 24, seems to be the first of those small steps towards a bigger cause.
This is the first time an ICC-sanctioned cricket tournament is being held in Qatar.
“This is the beginning. It’s better to start with something than nothing. This event (involving the national women’s cricket teams of Pakistan, South Africa and Ireland) was supposed to be played in Dubai. We managed to persuade the people concerned to give us a chance to host it,” said Mana Ibrahim al-Mana, chairman of West End Park.
“We have an international standard cricket stadium, with the best of facilities, and we have big plans for the future. But not many people outside Qatar know about it. This event will help us showcase those facilities to the world. And this is just the start, let me assure you,” he added.
As of now, al-Mana plans to make this event an annual feature. “We hope to make this a regular event. Next year, we would be adding two more teams, most likely India and Sri Lanka, as they have big fan base here. We also plan to invite big teams like Australia and England. We realise it would take some time to get international men’s cricket teams here, but that’s our ultimate goal. If teams can play in the UAE, why not Qatar?” he asks.
In fact, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) already has plans to use Qatar as one of their off-shore ‘home’ venues. Since the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore, international teams have refused to tour Pakistan, and the team has been playing their home matches on foreign grounds, particularly in the UAE.
“The PCB is keen to add Doha as one of their off-shore venues. We have sent one of our most experienced curators, Mohamed Bashir, to prepare the pitch at the cricket stadium here. We will see how this tournament fares, and will give a report to our board, which in turn will submit a proposal to the ICC (International Cricket Council) to accommodate Doha as one of our off-shore venues. It will take some time, but we are keen to use the facilities here for our men’s team too. We are in for a long-term partnership with Qatar,” said Syed Bobby Refaie, executive director of PCB-backed Pakistan Super League.
Refaie added that this tournament was a dress rehearsal for the teams ahead of the ICC women’s Under-19 World Cup, to be held in Abu Dhabi in February-March. “All these three teams are in the same group in the World Cup. So it will be a good outing for them ahead of the big test. We hope the crowds will come in big numbers to cheer the girls,” he said.
The Pakistan ‘A’ team too could set their base here later this year. “That’s one the many things we are thinking about. We also would talk to other cricket boards, including India, to see if they can send their ‘A’ teams. There are a lot of initiatives in the pipeline. This is just the start,” said al-Mana.
Ticket sales commence
The sale of tickets for the Qatar International Women’s Cricket Championship began at the West End Park yesterday. The tickets would also be available at all leading shopping malls in Doha and the Industrial Area.
There are four categories of tickets: VVIP, VIP, Silver and Normal. While the VVIP and VIP season tickets have been priced at QR 200 and QR 100 respectively, the Silver ticket will cost QR 50 for multiple entries. The Normal daily ticket has been priced at QR 10 for single entry.
The triangular One-day and Twenty20 championship, to be played between January 10-24, is being organised under the patronage of HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, Minister of Youth and Sports, Qatar, who will also grace the opening ceremony of the event.