Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

Entertainment Cricket and Other Sports
1

Saudi Arabia will host three unofficial one-day matches between Pakistan XI and an International XI on July 15, 21 and 22. This would be the first time Saudi Arabia would stage such an event, and the matches would be played in Riyadh and Jeddah.

“The ICC has given us approval for these unofficial matches, which will be played on artificial turf,” Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan captain and one of the organisers, told Reuters. “The idea is to help develop and promote cricket in that country.”

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, will lead the Pakistan XI team which includes Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik. The international side includes five South Africans - Mark Boucher, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph and Andre Nel - and New Zealanders Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori.

Saudi Arabia was scheduled to host two exhibition matches in February between the same sides, but the games were cancelled.

Source Cricinfo

2

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

i wonder how they’re gonna play in the hot weather :eek:

3

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

May be they’ll have closed stadiums. Temperature in Riyadh in July will be scorching 45+C, they’ll be roasted… after that nobody will ever talk about playing in Saudi Arabia :hehe: … only time they can play in Jeddah/Riyadh IMO is Dec-January, otherwise they’ll dehydrate and sweat to death.

4

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

^ this is the only free time available for the pak team, the stadiums are mainly football stadiums, and they have put artificial turf on them,,,

matches will start from 4:00 pm saudi time, sunset is at around 6:30 and lights will be on...

the ad from the local newspaper "Arab News"...........

[thumb=H]ad10325_2109073.JPG[/thumb]

Dont we have any other choice?
5

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

They have invited Javagal Srinath? :hehe: … if they had to invite an Indian bowler, they should’ve invited from the current lot i.e. Pathan, Balaji, Zaheer, Agarkar, Bhandari(?) etc.

6

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

there's no news on the result of the 1st match .. what's happened?

7

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

First match in Riyadh was cancelled as Pakistani players didnt get the Saudi visa on time. Now they are having only 2 matches, and both in Jeddah, on next weekend.

8

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

1st cancelled match has been rearranged for the 29th.

9

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

** Star-Studded Pakistani Team Arrive in Kingdom **
Mohammed Rasooldeen & Arshad Raza, Arab News

Dashing Pakistani opener Shahid Afridi in a colorful T-shirt was the cynosure of all eyes on arrival at the Riyadh airport.

RIYADH/JEDDAH, 19 July 2005 — The star-studded Pakistan cricket team, led by captain Inzamam ul-Haq, arrived in Riyadh last night to participate in three one-day matches between Pakistan XI and International XI to be played during the next 10 days in Jeddah and Riyadh.

This is the first time high-profile cricket matches are being organized in the Kingdom. The first two one-dayers will be played in Jeddah on July 21 and July 22 at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. The third will be played in Riyadh on July 29 at the King Fahd Stadium.

The games are being organized by the Al-Jawad Group. The sponsors include Hanco, Radisson Hotel, La Sani and Arab News.

The Pakistani team — which included the flamboyant Shahid Afridi, the stylish Yousuf Youhana, “Mr. Dependable” Abdul Razzaq, the sedate Younis Khan, the sober Shoaib Malik, the orderly Kamran Akmal, the gutsy opener Salman Butt, speedster Muhammad Sami and offspinner Arshad Khan — was received at the King Khaled International Airport by Al-Jawad Group’s Ahmad Khaja, Mian Manzar Hafeez of the Pakistan Embassy and Shamshad Ali Siddiqui of Pakistan Cultural Forum among others.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, who arranged the itinerary of the Pakistan team, said: “The ICC has given us approval for these unofficial matches; they will be played on astroturf in Saudi Arabia’s two leading stadia.”

Latif was obviously delighted. “I am happy that the Pakistani team is here. These matches will give a big boost to the game in the Kingdom. It will also give a different exposure to our players. They are used to playing in hot and humid conditions but this will be a different atmosphere altogether,” said Latif on phone from Riyadh.

“All arrangements for the Pakistani cricket team were handled by him with great help from Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shahryar Khan,” he said. “It is because of Mr. Khan that we could get the no-objection certificates for the players. This would not have happened without his kind help.”

Latif said the players were not only excited about playing cricket in Saudi Arabia but were also spiritually charged. “They are eager to perform Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and pray at the Prophet’s Mosque. For Muslims that is a great honor,” he said.

The team is expected to arrive in Jeddah later tonight. Latif who runs his own cricket academy in Karachi, said he was proud of having given some of the best players to Pakistani teams in recent times.

“Younis Khan, Muhammad Sami, Danish Kaneria and Asim Kamal are all products of the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA)… This gives me immense pleasure,” said Latif. “It is a non-profit organization committed to attracting the best talent that is available in Pakistan and to refine and hone their skills, raising them to international standards,” he said. The academy has in its ranks qualified coaches in Basit Ali, Sarwat Ali, Shaukat Hussain and Muhammad Hasnain.

John Manoj, the man entrusted with laying the astroturf at the two stadia, also arrived in Riyadh yesterday from Hyderabad. “I will inspect the pitch at Jeddah stadium before laying the new astroturf,” he told Arab News last night.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=8&section=0&article=67190&d=19&m=7&y=2005

Afridi & Younis coming out of the airport…

[thumb=H]afridi_younis10325_6057193.JPG[/thumb]

10

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

Is ARY going to show the matches or any other channel, anyone has any info on this?

11

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

so does anyone have any info about the first match that was supposed to be played today??

12

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

The series has been cancelled because of financial dispute between the organizers and the teams.

13

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

** Efforts on to salvage Saudi Arabia cricket series **

By Waheed Khan

KARACHI: Efforts are being made to salvage some cricket from the fiasco that has occurred in Saudi Arabia in the last 48 hours when matches between a Pakistan eleven and the Lashings International eleven have not been held on schedule due to a row over sponsors.

“It is an unfortunate situation. What has happened in Jeddah. Because from the reports we have got from the Pakistan embassy in Jeddah it was not a good situation for our players when they reached there to play the matches,” a senior Pakistan board official said on Friday.

The first two matches which were scheduled on July 21 and 22 in Jeddah could not be held after the main sponsor of the series apparently backed out of the project leaving former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif and some of the local organisers in an embarrassing situation.

Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan who had gone with the Pakistan team to play the matches in Jeddah said on his return home on Friday that he was not aware of what really had transpired.

“I had to rush to back home because I have to leave tomorrow to join Nottinghamshire in England. But we were all disappointed the matches could not be held,” he said.

According to details, the problem occurred after the main sponsor backed out as the matches could not be televised live and this resulted in the promised funds not being delivered to the organisers for onward payment to the players.

“The situation was so bad that apparently when our players landed in Jeddah they had no place to go to and we had to contact our embassy to sort things out,” the board official said.

The Pakistan Board had given clearance to Rashid Latif to sign up players for the exhibition matches which were to be held to also promote the game in the Saudi kingdom which has a large population of expatriates from the sub-continent who were looking forward to the matches.

The senior official said they had got reports that efforts were being made to salvage something from the fiasco with at least one match on Sunday but nothing had been worked as yet.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had also given its approval for the matches which got a lot of build-up and publicity internationally as Saudi Arabia is not known as a cricket venue.

14

Re: Saudi Arabia to host unofficial one-day matches

This is what Lashings is saying about the incident:

Lashings Forced to Withdraw from Saudi Event
Lashings Cricket Club have confirmed that they will not be participating in the proposed “Gold Cup” series to be played in Saudi Arabia this month.

Lashings CEO Andrew Fitch-Holland issued the following statement:

“On 10th June 2005 Lashings met with a representative of the Al-Jawad Group, from Saudi Arabia. At that time we were invited to organise an International team to participate in a series of matches to be played against a Pakistani XI in July of this year. These negotiations progressed and on 17th June Lashings entered in to a formal agreement with the Al-Jawad Group in relation to our participation.

That agreement required the Al-Jawad Group to put in place various arrangements by specified dates. Obviously organising a major cricket event, with international players travelling from around the World, is a highly complex process. Lashings has a proud record of delivering the greatest names in the sport to an ever-growing audience across the globe. Unfortunately in this case our counterparty, the Al-Jawad Group, did not fulfil their obligations as agreed and with great regret we have had to withdraw from this event

We worked with all parties to try and make this event a reality, but unfortunately and in spite of repeated assurances to the contrary, Al-Jawad Group were unable to put all the necessary arrangements in place. We were particularly concerned that the event had not been granted unconditional approval by the Saudi Cricket Centre, who are the ICC member association with responsibility for cricket in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Lashings has an unrivalled history of involvement in the development of events of this nature and we are always mindful of the difficulties involved in bringing such schemes to fruition. We must always act to uphold our values and reputation and indeed to safeguard the interests of the international sportsman who represent our club.

We remain fully supportive of the development of cricket in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Indeed our Chairman David Folb and Club Captain Richie Richardson visited Saudi Arabia and were extremely impressed with the potential facilities. We have received an admirable level of assistance from the Saudi Cricket Centre, and also wish to acknowledge the support offered by Dr. Faiz Al-Abideen, a Special Advisor to members of the Saudi Royal Family. We are naturally disappointed that the current circumstances preclude our involvement on this occasion, but hope to one day bring the Legends of Lashings to the Kingdom.”