By Grockle
September 21 2013

It's 8:30 in the morning and 95F with about 70% humidity and a bunch of cricketers are taking a step they are the first to make.  Today a full Omani side OCT Muscat takes the field for a 50 over game against the experienced A league side Enhance.  The first of their kind to play in their own top league of cricket.  It is a very important day for the "nationals".

I know we have our own issues to worry about at the moment but I thought that before Trent Bridge you might want to take a short time to read about a bunch of cricketers who dream of being where Somerset are in their own country.

The view may be the same (and it isn't a bad one with the 'Shield Wall' in the background) but the names on the shirts and the number of Omani's watching the game is definitely different

Up until Friday 20 September 2013, the best an Omani cricketer could hope for is to be picked as the A league required "Omani" player on a top level side.  The chances of batting or bowling were pretty slim but you'd field in the top league.   Most of the able players of national origin plied their trade in the lower leagues and dreamed of better days.  OCT Muscat looked a little higher.  With a little help and pressure on the ACC and OCC to push Omani membership of the national side (after poor results), plus a good season in 2012, they have earned their right to enter the higher echelons by winning the B league title.  The new regulations mean that the other A league sides don't need to have Omani team members to qualify any more so these men are now the ambassadors for Omani national cricket.

It would have still been hard to persuade the officials that they were ready for it (it's a bit like a minor league county persuading Lord's they should join the County Championship) without that help. A bunch of unusual cricketers trying to break into an Asian 'club' where "Asian centric" administrators looked for Asian like players and if they couldn't find one then considered the possibility of playing an exceptional Omani. 

But things are changing a little as the government asks the OCC why they should fund a national side made up of foreign imports who lose in tournaments to sides of national players?  Nepal in 2012 saw an aged Oman side relegated to the lower divisions of world cricket as Nepal, Uganda and Bermuda (all with mostly national players) passed them and went upwards.  The ACC saw one of their stronger Arab nations failing and started discussing with OCC officials ways to change a position where Omani cricketers felt exiled from their own internal competitions and their external representative side.

And here we are.  OCT Muscat - a full Omani team playing their first top league match on grass against one of the best sides in the country, Enhance.  Names like Ali Akbar, Shakeel,  Aslam, Mohammed, Rafeeq,  Rashad, Ahmed and Waseem on the backs of shirts in a game of top league cricket in Oman. Isn't that the way it should be?

Mr Abdullah, part of the management of the side, admits it is going to be hard.  The 'tennis court' type wickets that the lower leagues are played on are nothing like this slow and low pitch at Al Amerat.  But he is SO happy to be here.  The Enhance coach (the highest qualified of his kind in Oman - 3rd level Australian qualified) is coaching the Omani side as well and has set them an initial target - make it through 50 overs..  "We'll worry about run targets later".   You still hear "Shabash" from both sides with monotonous regularity and it is quite obvious how big the gap between Enhance's experience and Muscat's is, but there is an U16 T20 side playing on the municipal ground a mile away and the second all Omani side is being put through it's paces in the lower leagues this morning at T20 level in the hope that it might be ready to join the B league next season to fight its way up to this standard as well. 

At 37 for 5 in the 18th over, some of the players start to see how long that road actually is.  It's the pace of the pitch and the quality of the slow bowling that is working them over.   There is no doubt the batsmmen have ability but this is not the cricket they are used to. The ball does not come on to the bat in the same way, fielding is less hesitant on grass and singles are harder to come by, boundaries on a slow outfield don't come automatically and the skill of calling and running needs work.  Shoib and Rafeeq show they can cope with this as they work hard against the slow ball 'press' of Enhance during the middle overs. They push it to 50 by the 26th but then can't cope with the return to pace quickly enough.  Rafeeq goes at 51 and Nado, Rashad and Aslam all struggle against the tight seam bowling of Kunal and Ramkumar.  51 is as far as they go just before the 30th over.

Omani's are stroke players, they are going to have to learn solid defence and patience in this league because the Asian guys know how to remove stroke players, especially when they are not experienced on turf wickets and feel constrained by the conditions and try and break out.

With little to bowl at, the young pacemen of OCT Muscat really weren't expected to be on the field long.  However, with the pace of the pitch working in their favour, the young bowlers Rashad and Waseem commit themselves to making it very hard for Riaz and Shahib, the Enhance opening pair, to get anything.  They are helped by the fact that the ball is reaching the keeper on the second bounce. (I later find out that the pitch, after being laid for less than a year was dug up and relaid over the summer - no idea why).

Yorker length balls outside off and sharp fielding keeps the more experienced side to 3 an over and Enhance have only 17 off 6 when Riaz falls to Rashad - the first Omani League A wicket.  Ramkumar comes in at 3 but a change in the bowling at the 'mountain' end sees him dismissed by Mohammed F.  However the inevitable is always going to happen and by the 13th with 40 on the board, the Omani's bring on the spin of Ali Akbar and learn a lesson on how to play spin on this wicket, use your feet!  Shahib comes down the wicket and takes 10 off the first 3 balls before chopping one too close to try and cut into the hands of square leg.  Vishnu hits his first, a full toss, for 4 and the game is done.

The courtesy of the two sides is excellent to see, you get the feeling that both see this as the right thing to be happening and although it is going to be a hard slog for the new boys into 2014, it has to be the way forward.  I want to come back before the end of this season and see a hard fought 50 over game between two sides of equal merit.  Now that will be progress.

Be thankful for what you have boys and girls.   We watch English cricket played by English cricketers predominently on turf wickets in slightly cooler conditions and take it for granted.  Not quite there yet in the Sultanate but things are moving. 

Great Day in the Morning - Omani Cricket takes another step

Discussion started by Grockles.com , 21/09/2013 16:35

Grockles.com
21/09/2013 16:35

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:09:23:15:40:51 by Grockle.

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Wickham
21/09/2013 17:00

Fascinating, Grockle.

Losing by seven wickets will feel a good deal better than losing by ten. Let's hope for even better things in the future.

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Grockle
21/09/2013 17:10

It's given me something else to look at over the winter Wickham. These players are SO happy to be playing at this level and want to learn everything.

The pitch is so slow and low though. Why would a groundsman lay a pitch in July, start playing on it in early October and then dig it up and relay it less than a year later?

We are going to have no idea what it is going to be like until March at the earliest and all the experience learned last year has to be taken with a pinch of salt on a new strip this year.

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Bobstan
21/09/2013 18:27

Really interesting piece, thanks, Grockle.

It certainly sounds like a small step in the right direction for genuine Omani cricket; perhaps not so small.

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Grockle
21/09/2013 20:09

I think they might have to wait for a season to see how large or small this step is Bob.

How quickly can these guys adapt and start to put up valid competition.

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Clarence Parker
21/09/2013 22:06

Remember that a journey of 1,000 miles starts with one small step.

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Wickham
22/09/2013 07:15

... and one small step for Oman can be a giant leap for mankind.

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Mike TA1
22/09/2013 08:38

A very enlightening read.

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mikeindex
22/09/2013 11:52

Quote:

Wickham
... and one small step for Oman can be a giant leap for mankind.

Very neat, I like it!

Altogether a very interesting read, many thanks for sharing this Grockle. What nationality are most of the players in the Oman A league - Pakistani?

I well remember seeing the match scores of the Oman games in a tournament a few years ago (?World Cup Qualifiers) and being fascinated by the approach they revealed: 84/2 after eight overs, 20/1 off one (No. 1 out to 6th ball after hitting the first five for four, 59/3 off 5 chasing 300 (they eventually won that one by one wicket with 13 overs to spare). I felt that honorary admission to the World T20 would have been appropriate.

PS my continuing connection problems are clearly down to my computer and not the site as I can sign in with no trouble using my son's.

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Grockle
22/09/2013 14:03

Most of the side you probably saw are still about the place Mike. The majority of the players are from Punjab and Karachi in Pakistan. There are three Indians from Gujat and Calcutta.

The second problem is the average age of the present squad. Most of the present players were born in the mid 70's to the early 80's. One player is 8 years younger than me!! (b1965).

The Omani's usually picked are one figurehead (Qias Bin Khalid Al Said) who is 34 and has very dodgy knees (rarely plays but is a good ambassador to take along) and two others Sufiyan who is 22 and Jatinder Singh (a naturalised Omani) who is 24.

No-one is questioning the commitment of these men to the Omani cause but they have had their day and they need to be replaced (especially for T20 tournaments) by younger players. The present question is by who? More naturalised Asian players or Omani's (of which there are a number).

It's a knotty and difficult problem but really interesting to observe. No idea how it is going to pan out.

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