Monthlong cricket extravaganza to have 118 matches to be played in 4 different grounds

The 8th edition of the Gulf Cup cricket tournament will be held under as “Interface Gulf Cup 2010” from February 19 to March 19, 2010. This year’s extravaganza has attracted over 750 players in 56 teams, guaranteed to provide some exhilarating cricket.

The tournament is being organized by Young Talents Cricket Academy and will be played under the auspices of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council.  The venues for the tournament will be Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium Abu Dhabi, Delhi Private School in Sharjah and Jebel Ali, and Zabeel Park Dubai.

Interface Transworld LLC are the Title Sponsors. Nissan Tiida and Cool & Cool are Co Sponsors while Khaleej Times, Copthorne Hotel, Everest Sports and Oudh Al Anfar make up the Support Sponsors.
Nalin Khaitan,  Director, Interface Transworld, said: “As the title sponsors, Interface  aims to play a pivotal role in driving the game of cricket in this part of the world.”

The tournament will have an exciting line up of teams battling for the 8 winners’ trophies. The tournament is sure to produce some exceptional performances in the 118 matches to be played over the 1 month period.

This premier tournament includes some of the UAE’s well-known academies, clubs, schools, colleges/universities as well as corporate teams. These teams have been divided into various age groups and categories. The youth categories will include the following age groups: Under 10, 12, 14, 16 & 18. The Inter-Collegiate tournament has been split into 2 categories, i.e. “The Elite Cup” which will include the same 8 teams that participated last year, and “The Challenger Cup”, which will feature 8 new teams. Moreover, a new category for Corporate Teams has been added.

To introduce more professionalism into the tournament, 2 umpires from England and South Africa — Alan Clark and Marius Wayne Mackenzie – and one scorer from Pakistan are being flown in. Feedem Western Cape from South Africa will have its Under 12 and 14 teams participating in the tournament.

Manish Dhakan, Tournament Director went on to add that this years top performers will be given a chance to play against English County Champions, Durham County Cricket Club when they make their trip to Abu Dhabi in March and April. He said, “Geoff Cook, Head Coach at Durham has bestowed this honour on YTCA to play against their team in 2 one day matches to be played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium Abu Dhabi, on April 2 and 3.” The 2 teams will be made after carefully reviewing the performances of players in the university tournaments, corporate tournament as well as the Under 18 tournament.

The Gulf Cup has been a regular fixture on UAE cricket calendar since 2003 and the importance of such a tournament is now more evident as 4 players who participated in the Gulf Cup over the years, represented their national teams in the recently concluded ICC Under 19 World Cup.

The players are ANDRI BERENGER who represented YTCA in 2003 Gulf Cup, played for Sri Lanka U-19;  RAMEEZ AZIZ, who represented Customs Academy in 2005 Gulf Cup, played for Pakistan U-19; BEN STOKES, who represented Durham CCC in 2005 Gulf Cup, played for England  U-19 and JAMIE ATKINSON who represented Durham CCC in 2005 Gulf Cup, was captain of Hong Kong U-19.