Dubai launches Arabian Cricket League
Dubai Sports City (DSC) has launched a new Twenty20 tournament titled Arabian Cricket League (ACL) to be staged at the ICC Global Cricket Academy (GCA) from Tuesday.
TNT Express have joined as title sponsors of this inaugural competition for local corporate and club teams.
The tournament, which will take place from Monday to Thursday every week under the lights of the ICC GCA ovals, runs until December 29 with each of the 16 teams taking part playing at least six matches.
Khalid Al Zarooni, the President of Dubai Sports City, said: “We are delighted to welcome TNT Express as title sponsor of the inaugural Arabian Cricket League hosted at the ICC Global Cricket Academy at Dubai Sports City.
“The scale of the TNT ACL, with 16 teams playing matches over a period of 50 days, is something that is unique within the UAE and to have a TNT Express support it through the title sponsorship is something that we at Dubai Sports City are extremely proud of.”
Mark Pell, Country General Manager for TNT Express UAE, said: “Cricket is such a popular sport around the region, especially in the Asian community. We decided to support the Arabian Cricket League as it is such a high profile event and many of our employees are very keen to participate. We are delighted to associate our brand with the ICC GCA and look forward to a fantastic tournament.”
Run under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council, the TNT ACL will see 16 teams competing in 51 matches over 50 days with matches taking place from 7 to 10.30pm for four days every week.
The 16 teams will be divided into four groups with each team playing the other three sides in its group twice. The top team of each group qualifies for the semifinals.
The winning team will receive Dh15,000, the TNT ACL trophy and sponsors’ awards, while the runners-up will take home Dh7,000, as well as a trophy and sponsors’ awards.
Maqbul Dudhia, General Manager – Sports Business DSC said: “After the success of several indoor tournaments at the ICC Global Cricket Academy at Dubai Sports City, the staging of the TNT Arabian Cricket League, making use of the ICC GCA’s magnificent outdoor facilities, was a natural progression.
“The ICC Global Cricket Academy, where the tournament is taking place, and TNT are both globally recognised brands and both are renowned for excellence.
“The TNT Arabian Cricket League fits ideally with Dubai Sports City’s vision of being the hub of sporting activity in the Emirate and we look forward to it being a great success.”
ICC GCA General Manager Salman Hanif said: “When we started planning the TNT Arabian Cricket League, our idea was to give cricketers something they had never experienced before.
“Most local tournaments involve teams playing over a 10 to 15-day period but we wanted to give those passionate people something more and to be involved for a longer period of time and this tournament is the result.”
The tournament is set to be part of the ICC GCA’s annual calendar of events and cricket fans can come and watch the action free of charge.
The participating teams in the TNT Arabian Cricket League are: ACE Cricket Club, Barclays, BTB Veterans, Digi Photo Hunters, Dubai Bank, Dubai Lions, Du Telecom, Farooq Cricket Club, Fly Emirates, HSBC, Interface Transworld, Phoenix Medicines, Sport 360, TNT Express, Yogi Group, and Zahara PCL.