If the adage is true that you are only as good as your last game, some of the UAE’s cricketers must be glad of the extended break they are having.
Take Sultan Ahmed, for instance. In the last game he played, he took four wickets for nine runs to bowl the national team to a trophy in the first phase of qualifying for the Asia Cup.
That match in Muscat is the best part of three months ago now, and it might turn out to have been a futile exercise, anyway.
It feels highly unlikely given the current situation that the next leg of qualifying – a four-team tournament scheduled for August in Malaysia – will go ahead, or even the main event in September.
Rather than basking in the glow of that success last time out, Sultan and his colleagues have grown as frustrated by everyone else by the absence of cricket from their lives.
Sultan himself has an individual landmark in his sights. The left-arm spinner has an economy rate of 5.91 in the 22 Twenty20 internationals he has played so far.
That would have put him in second place in the all-time list of thriftiest bowlers in the format, behind just Daniel Vettori, and ahead of Imad Wasim, Sunil Narine, and everyone else who has played the game.
To be considered for that list, he needs to have bowled a minimum of 500 deliveries.
He has sent down 432 so far, which is another reason for him being impatient about returning to the bowling crease.
“I'm working very hard to give my best performances, and it would be a proud moment for me to become a No 1 bowler in any format of cricket,” Sultan said. “I hope all cricket lovers will pray for my success.”
While that tournament-winning effort in Muscat in February might have been in a low-key competition, Sultan has proved a good fit for bigger stages, too.
He was a reliable performer in the Abu Dhabi T10 at the end of 2019 for Qalandars.
He hopes his performances with the ball in that competition might persuade the Lahore-based franchise to consider him for their Pakistan Super League side in the future, too.
“I'm grateful to Almighty Allah for this particular performance,” he said.
“Inshallah, you will soon watch me not only in PSL but also in other international leagues.”
The 30-year-old spinner left Pakistan to move to UAE in 2013, having initially harboured the dream of playing for the country of his birth in international cricket.
“Why not? Everyone wants to represent his country, but I feel proud to be a UAE national player,” he said.
“It is my second homeland. When I came to UAE, it was with the intention only to play cricket.
"I had played departmental cricket in Pakistan and after arriving in UAE, I was confident I could play for the national team.”
Since debuting in the T20 side in 2017, Sultan has been among the most consistent performers in a side that has faced its share of troubles.
He is a close friend of two players who were banned for corruption last year, Shaiman Anwar and Mohammed Naveed, the former captain who deems Sultan "like a brother to me".
“When you play in a team, it is necessary to play and live like a unit,” Sultan said.
“I always have good relationships with my teammates. I thank Allah that I have a good nature and a sense of humour.
“I don't know what happened to Naveed. We spent good times together.
“Every person, especially when you are a leading personality, you have to face many kinds of negative things.
“But I think it makes you more positive in how you do things. We should not worry at all. It’s part of life.”
FA Cup fifth round draw
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Reading/Cardiff City v Sheffield United
Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town/Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United/Oxford United
Leicester City v Coventry City/Birmingham City
Northampton Town/Derby County v Manchester United
Southampton/Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
Portsmouth v Arsenal
Brief scores
Barcelona 2
Pique 36', Alena 87'
Villarreal 0
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
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Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
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Rating:**
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The Ashes
Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
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Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Fast%20X
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
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AndhaDhun
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Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
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Fresh faces in UAE side
Khalifa Mubarak (24) An accomplished centre-back, the Al Nasr defender’s progress has been hampered in the past by injury. With not many options in central defence, he would bolster what can be a problem area.
Ali Salmeen (22) Has been superb at the heart of Al Wasl’s midfield these past two seasons, with the Dubai club flourishing under manager Rodolfo Arrubarrena. Would add workrate and composure to the centre of the park.
Mohammed Jamal (23) Enjoyed a stellar 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League campaign, proving integral to Al Jazira as the capital club sealed the championship for only a second time. A tenacious and disciplined central midfielder.
Khalfan Mubarak (22) One of the most exciting players in the UAE, the Al Jazira playmaker has been likened in style to Omar Abdulrahman. Has minimal international experience already, but there should be much more to come.
Jassim Yaqoub (20) Another incredibly exciting prospect, the Al Nasr winger is becoming a regular contributor at club level. Pacey, direct and with an eye for goal, he would provide the team’s attack an extra dimension.
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HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah
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Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
National Editorial: Suleimani has been killed, now we must de-escalate
Mina Al Oraibi: Air strike casts a long shadow over the decade ahead
Jack Moore: Why the assassination is such a monumental gamble
Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks
Hussein Ibish: Trump's order on solid constitutional ground
Simon Waldman: Cautious Israel keeping a low profile
