Few of the UAE national team’s cricketers have had much to stew on during lockdown.
Their last assignment before sport was suspended because of the pandemic went as well as could be expected.
They won every match of the first round of Asia Cup qualifying in Muscat in February, razed Kuwait in the final, and most had the chance to buff their averages.
All except for Mohammed Ayaz. No-one else on tour in Oman had awaited that series with such anticipation as the left-arm quick bowler.
He was, after all, set to make his full international debut four years after injury had curtailed his first shot at it.
Back in 2015, he had dismissed Eoin Morgan in a T20 friendly against England.
He seemed set for a long run in the squad, only for injury to keep him out of the side until the start of this year.
A first T20 international against Saudi Arabia in a low-key competition should have been a soft opener for someone who had reached the top of domestic cricket in Pakistan before starting a new life in Dubai.
Instead, it was a nightmare, as the unheralded Saudi batsmen swished away freely. Ayaz ended with two overs, no wicket for 25.
“I have enough experience, and it wasn’t down to nervousness,” Ayaz, 32, said. “There is not much club cricket now in UAE, and I had not played that many matches, so coming back after four years, it is a big gap.
“The conditions and the batters did not make it that difficult to bowl, but I was missing that spark.
“When the batsman hit me for two fours, obviously it was frustrating, and it meant I tried to bowl quicker and I was not using my bowling weapons.
“I have a quick bouncer I can bowl to any batsman at any time, and I did not try that.
“I was really disappointed, as that was not the level I wanted to play at.
“If I was coming back, I wanted to do well. I wanted to perform and contribute to wins for my team.”
Luckily for Ayaz, his teammates know better than to write him off on the back of his nervy start.
One of them in particular is well aware of his merit.
"I had a talk with Ahmed later," Ayaz said of the UAE captain Ahmed Raza, who had been his club-mate with UBL in the past.
“We reached the hotel. I told him I wasn’t pressurised, but at the same time I was wondering what had happened.
“I had felt strange in the field, and that had never happened before with me.
“Ahmed just said: ‘You are coming back after three or four years, and whatever the opposition are like, this is your first T20 international game. It is OK’.
“He reminded me about when I first came to UAE and we were playing together for UBL, and my first match was like this.
“Whoever was coming in, they were hitting and I was getting frustrated. And I had played first-class cricket in Pakistan before, represented the state team.
“These people don’t know how to play proper cricket, yet they were still hitting fours and sixes.
“It is the pressure you feel when you are coming into a new team, no matter who you are playing for.
“Ahmed said that it would be fine, and to just focus on the next couple of games. It is nice to have a captain like Ahmed.”
Ayaz has not had the chance either to show his worth or repay the faith of his captain since.
Two UAE tours – to United States and Papua New Guinea – have so far been cancelled because of the pandemic, while that Asia Cup qualifying campaign might even have been in vain, too.
Instead, he has been focused on his day job as a web design and digital marketing consultant, while fitting in as much fitness training as the lockdown restrictions have permitted.
“I got my chance, and now I thought I could show my skills and potential, and show what I could do for the national team,” Ayaz said.
“Then all of a sudden, there were so many tours [on the schedule]. It has been frustrating, but what can we do?
“It is a natural thing, we can’t do anything about it but wait and try to keep ourselves fit.
“Whenever training starts again, we have to be fit if we want to compete at that level.”
TALE OF THE TAPE
Manny Pacquiao
Record: 59-6-2 (38 KOs)
Age: 38
Weight: 146lbs
Height: 166cm
Reach: 170cm
Jeff Horn
Record: 16-0-1 (11 KOs)
Age: 29
Weight: 146.2lbs
Height: 175cm
Reach: 173cm
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go...
Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
Brief scores
Day 1
Toss England, chose to bat
England, 1st innings 357-5 (87 overs): Root 184 not out, Moeen 61 not out, Stokes 56; Philander 3-46
Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Mountain%20Boy
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MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Voy!%20Voy!%20Voy!
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
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The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
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