Tape-ball cricket takes root in Neom with a little help from Rahul Dravid and Rajasthan Royals

A $500 billion mega project in Saudi Arabia’s northwest, whose masterplan includes flying taxis and a floating industrial complex, might not seem the likeliest place for cricket’s most basic format to flower.

By the time it is completed, Neom is projected to be home to nine million residents. Construction is underway for a 170km long sub-city that is 500m high and 200m wide.

A 46,000-capacity football stadium with a space age design should be ready there when the kingdom stages the 2034 World Cup.

And the region’s football club have grand ambitions for joining Asia’s elite, having sealed promotion to the Saudi Pro League next season, with an impending spending spree that could target big names from some of Europe's top clubs.

For now, though, the ambitious project is seeing the growth of a no-frills version of cricket which has its origins in the densely populated urban areas of the subcontinent.

Tape-ball cricket – played with a tennis ball wrapped with electrical tape – is a staple for thousands of people across the region, particularly within Pakistani and Indian communities.

Of the 150,000 people currently living in the Neom region, it is estimated around 70 per cent originate from South Asia. That is what led to the idea to promote cricket as a way to keep workers active and entertained.

“You can’t develop anything unless you can attract that workforce and retain that workforce,” Nathan Homer, the commercial director of Neom Sport, said.

He points out that sport is not as significant in terms of “liveability” for expatriate workers than priorities like food, accommodation and wages.

He does, though, say the Neom project has a commitment to getting people active.

“We want everybody in our communities, whether they are there now, in the development phase, or there living and working once we are open, to be physically active,” Homer said.

“For that, you need easy access, and it needs to be inclusive. It is not just designing some high-end activity system; we are designing an activity system that anybody can access.”

He pointed out there were plenty of visual clues as to what might prove a popular centrepiece of their grassroots sports offering.

“We could see people playing cricket on any flat piece of hard ground they could,” Homer said.

“Tape-ball cricket is accessible as you don’t need equipment. You just need a bat and a ball. A set of wickets is nice, but you can use anything for a set of wickets.

“We asked, what can we do that would make a meaningful difference?”

The initial idea was to construct two astroturf cricket ovals, with a hard wicket in the centre, and organise a tournament for a format of the sport which is otherwise largely unstructured.

Three years on, participation has grown from “a few hundred to a few thousand,” according to Homer.

Companies have seen the impact on their workforce, and followed the lead. Each have constructed – or plan to – astroturf ovals at their own premises. It means that the region, having started out with two grounds, now has nine, a number that will rise to 13 by the end of the year.

There were 160 contractor companies who played in the tournament last year. Oxagon, the project that is set to be the largest floating industrial complex in the world, has so many teams that want to enter next season it will stage its own pre-qualifying tournament.

The tournaments have included women’s matches, and there are also timetabled periods for women’s only use of the ovals.

“We are ecstatic that we have all these facilities all over the region, and are proud we have so many people playing, but the real win is that those pitches are being used every day,” Homer said.

“Workers come off their shifts and go and play. Every time you walk past an oval in any camp, there will be someone on there playing cricket.

“Hopefully we are inspiring that through the tournament, and the sparkle the [Rajasthan] Royals can bring.”

For the most recent tournament grand final, played in December, the crowd of around 2,500 spectators included Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara.

The former international stars were there as part of their roles with Rajasthan Royals, the IPL franchise who are backing the promotion of cricket in Neom. Their trip to the project included providing a coaching session the night before the final, as well as a meet and greet with supporters at the game.

“It is about bringing cricket to life in this part of the world, and I think trying to work on that and work at the grassroots level,” Dravid said in December.

“I think the Royals are uniquely placed to be able to bring together all those aspects. I think we are going to have some good support for Rajasthan Royals in Neom.”

Homer said there are other effects of the tape-ball matches, too.

“Cricket breaks down hierarchy,” Homer said. “We have teams who have the CEO of a contractor playing in the same team as the guy off the shop floor.

“The idea that sport can break down hierarchies and cultures, we see it come alive. That is the classic value of sport. It doesn’t matter who you are, what level you are, or where you are from.”

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