Still recovering from a stroke, Marcus Codrington Fernandez made the arduous journey to Edgbaston and Headingley every day to watch England and Australia fight out this summer's Ashes series.
He loves Test cricket, so it is surprising that he is the inventor of a bat that could help to kill off the five-day format of the game.
His "Mongoose" bat has a longer handle and a shorter, thicker blade to actually connect with the ball.
To some, his proposition that a new bat is needed for the demands of the run-heavy Twenty20 format of cricket may seem preposterous. Why would any cricketer change the touch and feel of his bat, and his stance, overnight after years of growing up with a piece of cricket equipment that has barely varied over centuries? As one cricketer who tried it said: "It makes you feel naked."
But while the measurements may be different, the bat's changes are modest enough that it has been accepted by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the body that uphold the laws of the game. In a sport where aluminium and graphite bats failed to make the MCC budge, the Mongoose maker managed to convince them to agree to a change in the bat for the first time since their inception in 1787.
"I knew that the bat design has not changed for more than 200 years," said Fernandez. "Also, I knew that I am doing something new in the most traditional sport in the world."
Fernandez also realises that the change will not be immediate, even if his claims are confirmed that the Mongoose offers 20 per cent more power and 15 per cent added bat speed which allows a batsman more time to play or change his shots at the last moment, a huge benefit with strokes such as the switch-hit that Kevin Pietersen most famously employs.
It is the new array of shots - a requisite for T20 - with the same old bat that set the ball rolling for Fernandez, the global creative director of an advertising company. While in bed recuperating from his stroke, he was watching film of Geoffrey Boycott, the Yorkshire and English opener famous for setting up camp at the wicket.
It struck Fernandez that the bat Boycott wielded decades ago was the same as the one modern cricketers use in T20. "I wanted a new tool for the T20 format of the game. But I didn't knew then what shape it would be."
That was two years ago. Before long, Fernandez had identified the problem area as the upper area of the traditional bat surface, which is used only for defence against rising balls - a technique that would not be part of a T20 batsman's attack-oriented arsenal of strokes.
"By using the old bat, you effectively made one third of the bat defunct. So we experimented with the bat splice [the portion where the handle joins the bat]," said Fernandez.
After four months, Fernandez's prototype had a longer handle but retained the conjoining mechanism, using a different technique to retain the strength of the splice to match that of the big-hitting T20 specialists. Importantly there was no change in what the bat's blade is made of, willow, and hence the Mongoose satisfied the criteria spelled out by the MCC in Law 6 of the game's rules. That means the world governing body, the Dubai-based ICC, have no problems if batsmen start using it right away.
But the battle for acceptance has just begun for Fernandez, who travels to cricket grounds by bus to contact big-name players. And he's enjoyed some success. His most prominent "converts" are Stuart Law (Australia), Lou Vincent (New Zealand) and Dwayne Smith (West Indies). Smith gave the most eloquent demonstration so far of what the Mongoose can do with a blistering 26-ball knock of 59, including three sixes, that was instrumental in Sussex winning the English Twenty20 Cup final against Somerset on August 16.
Says Law: "Based on the few times I've used it this season [in T20 matches in England], it's caused quite a stir among players and fans. It's even being called a 'weapon of mass destruction'."
"Once the player hits a few practice balls he understands what a difference the bat makes," said Fernandez. "The problem is the funding. I had pockets as deep as it could take us to the launch. I would love to get a player like Sachin Tendulkar. I am still hoping to get him to take up the bat one day.
"The other problem is that 90 per cent of the players already have existing contracts with bat manufacturers and even if they want to, they can't make the switch."
Fernandez hopes his favourite cricketers - Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Andrew Flintoff, Kumar Sangakkara and Adam Gilchrist [retired from Test cricket but still playing T20 in the Indian Premier League] - will embrace the Mongoose. In the meanwhile, he has taken the precaution of getting legal protection by way of patents, design and logo registration and trademarks.
For the concept to take off, large scale production and widespread acceptance by cricketers is needed, and this could be a gradual process, considering the years of tradition. It is also why Fernandez is holding back on his next target for innovation - the ball.
While Fernandez is confident of handling the commercial aspects of getting his bat accepted, he feels getting Test specialists to use the Mongoose would give him even more satisfaction than acceptance by bit hitters such as Pietersen.
"Players like Pietersen can hit hard even with a pencil. The best way to use the Mongoose is to get players who are looking to hit straight and from the middle of the bat.
"It is for those conventional players who have been trying but unable to hit sixes like others."
Technically correct players like Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis struggled when the IPL was launched but they were doing their best to come to grips in the second season earlier this year. The Mongoose might help speed up things.
kshyam@thenational.ae
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
UK%20record%20temperature
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
If you go
Flying
Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.
Touring
Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
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.”
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
Ovo's tips to find extra heat
- Open your curtains when it’s sunny
- Keep your oven open after cooking
- Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
- Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
- Put on extra layers
- Do a few star jumps
- Avoid alcohol
