Umm Al Quwain: The emirate of Umm Al Quwain staged 473 matches last season despite not having a cricket council.
They honored the outstanding performers in those matches at a colorful ceremony last week.
Afridi Cricket Club hogged the limelight, winning four out of the 13 tournaments.
The Umm Al Quwain tournaments are organized by Mushtaq Ahmad Chowdhary, an ardent cricket lover who works as a salesman for a water company.
He has created many cricket pitches and stages at least 10 tournaments every year.
Enthusiasm
Speaking to Gulf News, Chowdhary said: “To stage over 473 matches wasn’t easy but the enthusiasm of the teams to play here makes me work hard to stage as many tournaments as possible every year.”
Due to the absence of a council in his emirate, he seeks the permission of the Emirates Cricket Board and stages the matches under the auspices of the Ajman Cricket Council.
“A total of 264 teams played here last season,” said Chowdhary, who makes sure that every team is presented with trophies and all individual performers are honored.
“The success of my tournament is purely due to the co-operation from the teams.
“Sometimes teams have to play two matches a day but most captains agree for it.”
Afridi Cricket Club won the third UAQ Premier Twenty20, the third UAQ Twenty20 League, the fourth Invitational Premier Twenty20, and the third UAQ Municipality Premier Twenty20.
The club’s top performers were Hasmat Khan, Saqlain Hyder, Mohammad Adnan, Mohammad Zahid, Shahzad Manna, and Faraz Naeem, who won individual awards.
Mohammad Azem of Age Group took the honors of recording the biggest innings, hitting 175 off 57 balls which included a dozen sixes and 21 fours.
Murtuza Mogul of AEN Dubai bagged the best all-rounder award for scoring 392 runs and bagging 37 wickets from two tournaments.
Afridi’s Manna picked up the prize for most sixes with 57.
Prizes were even given for the most disciplined teams which were won by Dubai Islamic Bank, Fanatics RAK, Golden Tower, Dulsco SC, and ETA Ascon.
