It is the start of the year, which means everyone has to try to be better than they were last week. Even if the good intentions are not going to last much longer than it takes to write them down, it is the time to make a list. Who should be doing what in 2016?
Ben Stokes — be a hero
Tick. Done.
India — be more punctual
India have a weird take on being fashionably late. It is supposed to be the guests who rock up after the appointed time, sashaying in after the party has started, looking all cool.
India invert that thinking, preferring to organise the party at the last minute instead, then send out the RSVPs in the knowledge everyone is going to turn up anyway.
Evidence the short-notice exile of the Indian Premier League to South Africa and the UAE in the past. Both were thrown together in no time at all, both were great. Now they have done the same with this year’s World Twenty20. They do carry off their tardiness with a certain panache, but, still, a little more notice would be appreciated in future.
Talking points: Afghanistan's Mohammed Shahzad proves cricket is not all about fitness
For everyone’s sake. Not wishing to overstate it, but February could herald the final death knell for Test cricket.
AB de Villiers might be stepping away, and Brendon McCullum definitely will be. That means the game is losing the man who has done more than anyone else in the recent past to give it some much needed pep.
Few have stood up for fair play on and off the field quite as prominently, either. When New Zealand’s captain goes, there will be a black hole in the Black Caps.
Pakistan — preserve Misbah
There has already been a teaser for what might follow the ultimate departure of Misbah-ul-Haq from the scene of Pakistan cricket. Chaos.
Yasir Shah has failed a dope test. Players, including Misbah’s likely successor, have been trying — and failing — to be unavailable in protest at the selection of another.
It is at times like this when a calm hand on the tiller is a must. OK, so Misbah’s reign as Test captain has to end at some point, but Pakistan could do with the 41-year-old batsman holding out for a little while yet.
Their summer assignment is to England. You do not need to be a student of history to realise tours there are usually fraught ones for Pakistan. Keeping Misbah in tow until the end of that would be handy for all concerned.
ICC — be in the pink
So far, so good when it comes to the great pink-ball, Saving Test Cricket campaign. But, even if the numbers that went to the game between Australia and New Zealand recently were startling, getting a crowd for Test in Adelaide is not that remarkable.
The format needs desperate remedial work elsewhere, though. The ICC needs to compel, coerce, demand, or just do whatever it can to get its member boards to try pink-ball, day-night matches, at times when spectators can actually get to the games. Such a venture in the UAE would be ideal.
South Africa: Hashim Amla — quit captaincy
Given the additional political issues unique to South African sport, the captain of the Test cricket team needs especially broad shoulders.
For years, they had the perfect leader, in the form of the man mountain Graeme Smith.
Following him was always going to be a tough ask. Landing it upon a man who gave away the captaincy of his domestic side earlier in his career as he wanted to focus on his own game seemed a touch ambitious, possibly even foolhardy.
Evidence that Amla has been struggling with it so far is plenty, not least in his own form and the fact South Africa have a best of 248 from their past 11 innings. Maybe he will go on to become a captaincy great, but he needs a turnaround in fortune asap.
ALSO READ: Ben Stokes misses Nasthan Astle record for fastest Test double-hundred
Marlon Samuels — try to look bothered
Smiling after dropping a dolly off Usman Khawaja when Australia were piling on the runs in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Scandalous.
UAE — deliver the plan: Cricket in the UAE is in the throes of a substantial overhaul. The recent past has been one of great achievement, but the immediate future is going to be tough.
Even if the results suggest otherwise, the Emirates Cricket Board need to believe in the changes they are attempting to implement if they are going to enjoy long-term success.
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ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 1,400m
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh125,000; 1,600m
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1; Dh5,000,000; 1,600m
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
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
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
SPEC SHEET
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Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
