Omani Wisden
By Grockle et al
April 27 2016
As the copy of Wisden is now on sale and people have it I can use the article as a front page. The report here is not quite what has gone into Wisden and this time (as opposed to last) I am grateful to the sub editor for his/her work on the piece. It is pretty much all there but the structure of it has benefitted greatly from the rewording. This was the original piece. The end is a bit messy but it is difficult to take a subject like a fundamental change in the structure of sport in a country and do it justice in 400 words. Anyway - for what it is......
"To say that people who know Omani cricket were surprised by the country's qualification for the T20 World Cup in India in March 2016 is an understatement. This small nation, with the population of Greater Manchester occupying a land mass equivalent to the UK, where temperatures make it the hottest place on earth at certain times is not well known for its cricketing prowess.
The development of cricket since 2003 has gone almost un-noticed in a place where football and cars are the main preoccupations of Omani youth. After slipping down the world rankings from the second division in 2007 to a mid table place in division five this year, little was expected from the national side when they won the ACC T20 Cup in 2015 and earned a place in the World T20 qualification event in Scotland and Ireland. Few Omanis even knew they had gone there until a sudden live telecast brought the last game into their homes in late July of last year.
Oman's success in a damp Northern Europe summer was nothing short of miraculous. With most people not expecting them to win a game they demolished Canada, Holland and most satisfyingly Afghanistan in the league stages. Although they had to gain the last place for India via a nail biting 19th over victory against Namibia, it is a fact that presently they sit as the 15th best T20 side in the world.
At home, the Al Amerat National Cricket Centre has a single official grass pitch laid in 2013 which many believe is the best in the Middle East. A second pitch is in the final stages of preparation for September 2016 with a pavilion and indoor training centre planned to open by the end of the year. The floodlights are already up, the TV and audio cables are already laid and the governing body wants to see international matches played in the Amerat basin surrounded by its impressive mountains before 2020.
The Omani Premier League started in January with the top eight sides, including an all Omani eleven, fighting for honours. But the most successful international sport here is seen by most Arabs as a minority activity played by 'sub continentals' on any piece of waste ground every Friday and Saturday. However, over 100 registered Omani players spend their own weekends doing exactly the same thing in Muscat but the leagues tend to be an Asian corporate 'closed shop' for interested Omanis who tend to play in the lower leagues on scrub after showing promise at U19 level. Getting young talented Omanis to carry on the game into their twenties is a significant barrier.
While local officials beg the ICC to shorten qualification periods for overseas players and OPL corporate sides sign the likes of ex Pakistani Test batsman Zulqarnain Haider to play for them, one has to wonder how important finding a solution to that particular difficulty is in the future planning of Omani cricket."
Since this article was written, the Omani Youth Development side have won the B League title after deciding in 2015 that they needed at least a season before they joined the Premier League. This will hopefully mean that there will be two 'Omani-centric' teams in the top echelon of Omani Domestic cricket as well as a senior place for school leaving Omani cricketers to go to carry on their cricket after playing at a junior level. A step in the right direction perhaps.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:04:30:08:38:58 by Grockle.
He's also gone up in the world: this year the piece is in the 'overseas cricket' section - the Test countries followed by Afghanistan, PNG, Nepal, Oman - rather than the more minor 'cricket round the world' bit. Is this a reflection of a growing interest in cricket in Oman, or is it due to the increasing gravitas of the author??
They now have to justify it by moving up to Division 4 after a tournament in Guernsey in May and then try for 3 in September. Thanks for the info it is much appreciated though while it is an advance copy I can't share it with Omani contacts just yet and see what they think.
