A former teacher, who spent the first season of the DP World International League T20 trying to get his students to attend matches, was to thank for discovering one of the outstanding new players of Season 3.
Khuzaima Tanveer grabbed the attention of cricket lovers midway through the latest campaign of the UAE’s franchise tournament.
He was unknown ahead of his debut for Desert Vipers against Sharjah Warriorz. By the end of that match, he had four wickets, a player of the match trophy, and had conducted three TV interviews, including with the great Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis.
By the end of the tournament, he had a runner-up medal, and the endorsement of one of the world’s leading fast bowlers. Lockie Ferguson, the Vipers captain, said he envied Khuzaima’s bowling action.
The Pakistan-born newcomer’s emergence came about by chance, when he was bowling in a low-key domestic tournament. The opposing batter happened to be Jack Luffman, the development lead for the Vipers.
“I was opening the batting against him and I thought, ‘Oh dear, I might be getting a bit too old for this,’” Luffman said.
Luffman played minor counties cricket in the UK before moving to Dubai to take up a teaching job. It was in his role as the head of sixth form at a GEMS school that he was asked to help spread the word about the new franchise league in 2023.
That included giving out Desert Vipers shirts and hats, as well as tickets to their matches. He stayed in close contact with the franchise, and, as a Level 3 qualified cricket coach, was offered a role as part of their plan to lay down roots.
He left his teaching job last year to work full time with the Vipers’ schools and development programme.
“Getting a full-time role in cricket was too good an offer to turn down,” Luffman said. “It has its risks because we are in professional sport, and I was going from a fairly stable job within education.
“We want to be a franchise that is here for 12 months of the year, not just for four or five weeks. That is not a criticism [of the other teams]. It is just the nature of the T20 merry-go-round.”
Luffman also plays amateur cricket for the club he helped found, Dubai Wanderers. It was while playing for them that he first encountered Khuzaima, who was newly arrived from Pakistan.
With the endorsement of his Wanderers teammates, Arron Lilley and Jordan Clark, who both have experience of county cricket, he closely monitored Khuzaima’s progress.
“It is not just about ability,” Luffman said. “[The Vipers] are really big on the environment we create. You have to be a certain type of player.
“What struck us about Khuzaima was, other than the fact he bowls quick, is strong, can field and hold the bat, is that he is a really, really nice kid.
“He wants to ask questions and learn. He looks after himself, does extra stretches before warm ups, and does cool downs afterwards, even between innings.
“It became obvious he was someone we needed to go for in the main draft [ahead of ILT20 Season 3]. We were delighted to get him. We are really excited about what he can bring to the Vipers and UAE cricket.
“Like Tom Moody [Vipers’ director of cricket] said, if there is a better fast bowler in the country than him, I would like to see them.”
Ferguson, the New Zealand fast bowler, echoed that sentiment.
“Khuzaima has been a real stand out,” Ferguson said. “The way he has gone about his training from the very beginning of the tournament shows he is constantly trying to get better.
“I love his bowling action. I wish mine looked as pretty as that. He is very young in terms of a fast-bowling career, but his skill set is exceptional.
“Even in the short time he has been in this tournament we have seen him grow and grow, including in the [qualifier play-off against the Warriorz] when he bowled a beautiful last over.
“He is an exciting prospect for UAE in terms of international cricket and I think he is going to have a lot of success in the future.”
Khuzaima had to bide his time until he got his chance in the tournament. The game against the Warriorz in which he debuted was the Vipers’ sixth of the season.
Luffman said he was thrilled for the 25-year-old quick, who will have to wait for around a year and a half to be eligible for selection for the UAE via the ICC’s residency criteria.
“I saw him that morning at breakfast, and he thanked me,” Luffman said.
“He calls everybody ‘sir’. To see him doing so well in that first game and beyond, it shows he has pace, he is a fit, strong boy, he has skills, and he has bottle, which goes a long way at this level.
“We are really excited by what he can do. He seemed to rush everybody, even some of the world’s best players. Now they know who he is, which is his next challenge when he plays against them.
“But that day in Sharjah, I was absolutely delighted for him, a little like a proud dad.”
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
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Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Key facilities
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Lexus LX700h specs
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Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
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