Dubai: Desert Cubs Cricket Academy (DCCA), one of the leading cricket academies in the UAE that has groomed many youngsters playing in the UAE junior teams, will embark on a twin tour to give its budding players exposure to different conditions.
The tour will help youngsters not only sample English wickets by playing in a tournament in Yorkshire, but also Asian ones through a trip to Sri Lanka.
Speaking to Gulf News, Presley Polonnowita, the head coach of the DCCA, said: “We have planned to play in a junior tournament in Yorkshire for Under-11 and Under-13 age categories. It will be a good opportunity for the youngsters to show their skills against Yorkshire counterparts while competing in at least seven or more games during the 12 days.”
Polonowita also plans to inspire the youngsters by taking them to the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground to highlight the game’s traditions and also its modern aspects with a practice session complete with Hawkeye facilities. A visit to the historic venue’s cricket museum is also being planned.
The tours are being supported and sponsored by Dubai Duty Free, with Scope Lubricants and Al Diyar Electronic showrooms as support sponsors.
“The Sri Lankan tour will be for two weeks. The highlight of the tour will be Under-15 and Under-17 tournaments, which are being organised by Desert Cubs. I launched this tournament to get youngsters here to play against some of the best junior teams around the world. Some of the well-known schools that are participating in this tournament are Ananda, Royal, St Peters, Nalanda, Trinity and St Anne’s Kurunegala. Our tour party will be around 85 persons strong. They will also play few warm-up games in Kandy, which is the hometown of Sri Lanka greats Kumar Sangakkara and the former stalwart Muttiah Muralitharan,” said Polonowitta, who played for the Sri Lanka junior team along with Sanath Jayasuriya and Muralitharan.
“It is important to get our cricketers accustomed to venues outside the UAE as it enables them to build a strong cricketing personality. One can progress only through facing competitive opponents, weather patterns and playing surfaces,” said Polonowita, who has previously taken the academy players to Qatar and Cape Town in South Africa.
