The first time a side of 11 Emiratis played cricket against another nation, they lined up and sang the national anthem before starting, as though it was an international football match.
When a wicket fell or a boundary was scored, hijab and khandoura-wearing supporters threw green, red, black and white confetti and sang Arabic folk songs.
They had taken an international sport and, for the first time, given it an Emirati twist. It felt like a very exclusive private party.
And why not? Until then, few nationals had been involved in the game, and those who were had seldom felt welcome.
The tournament itself, the first Gulf Cup for Arab nationals staged in December 2009, had not been officially sanctioned.
The players were regarded as rebels and had to raise funds themselves for travel, hotels and the hire of Dubai Aluminium's private ground.
All the while, they were disregarded by the powers that be, who had eyes only for the official, expatriate-dominated national team. Had the national anthem played before their matches (it is not a regular convention in cricket) few of the players would have known the tune, let alone the words.
Thirteen months on, peace has broken out and the future looks bright. The Emirates Cricket Board has thrown its support behind the second edition of the nationals-only regional tournament, which concluded in Sharjah last night.
The governing body has reinforced its commitment to having a full complement of Emiratis in the official national team one day. This tournament is the first step towards that objective.
The next step will be integrating the developing Emirati players into senior cricket in the right way.
Tentative steps have been made in this regard in the past, not least when a policy was introduced ahead of the 2007 Asia Cup which said a quota of four Emirati players must be picked in every senior squad from then on. It barely lasted a month.
In an opinion piece in Sunday's edition of The National, Khalid al Ameri considered the difficulties of the Emiratisation of the private sector workforce.
"Give Emiratis a sense of responsibility and a reason for doing the work they are doing and they will deliver time and again," he wrote.
That is the next step needed in cricket. The players should not simply have their names written on the team sheet to satisfy a quota, then batted at No 7 or 8 and hidden in the field.
They will be making a valid contribution only when they are batting in the top four, or bowling the critical final overs. And proving they are there on merit by making runs and taking wickets.
Cricket's bosses well know the importance of having Emiratis playing the game. For one thing, it is very good PR. Sponsors are rarely more generous than those in the Emirati community.
There is also a practical reason. The UAE has been unable to send teams to junior Asian Cricket Council competitions since the governing body introduced a rule stating at least two players per team below the under 19 level must be nationals.
In some ways, the rules hinder the UAE more than other countries. Many of the leading players in this country have lived here all their lives, but are not classified as nationals as they do not have a UAE passport. Naeemuddin Aslam and Shoaib Sarwar, both UAE internationals, are two examples. Each has lived here all his life, regards the UAE as home, yet is still regarded as an expatriate.
Cricket is massive in the Gulf, thanks mainly to the large expatriate workforce from South Asia. There is no doubt the expatriate players have had an outstanding impact on the game here, least of all in their exemplary attitude to playing the game.
The sport is so ingrained in the make-up of players from the subcontinent they cannot be without it. They would sooner miss a night's sleep than a game of cricket.
Take the case of Fayyaz Ahmed, a Pakistani-born all-rounder who dovetails working as a technician specialising in fixing walkie-talkies with being one of the UAE's leading spin bowlers.
He lives in Al Ain and rarely misses a game in Sharjah, Dubai or Abu Dhabi, even though he has to take a bus to get there. If he wants to get to an early game, he either has to get up at stupid-o'clock or stay at a teammate's home. He thinks nothing of it.
Such commitment has occasionally washed off on nationals. Mohammed Tauqir, the longest-serving Emirati player, shares that hunger for playing the game, which he first learnt from Indian friends at school.
He has juggled his job in corporate banking with making more appearances for the full national team than anyone else. He clearly has an eye to the future, too, as he has been happy to play for the nascent Emirati side. He is an excellent role model for the young players.
Attempts to bring indigenous players to cricket have been flimsy in the past. These are the firmest foundations that have been laid yet, and the best chance to build a future together.
pradley@thenational.ae
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Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
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if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Emergency
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
