In the gentleman’s sport of cricket, it would not be complete without the humble man in a white coat and hat, watching over the game.

In fact, there are two on each end of the pitch- this helps to get a greater scope of what is going on. Thanks to new technology a third umpire settles off the field- and has many resources and tools to make a final informed decision- tools like the snick-o-meter, which records the sound of the ball hitting the bat. And ball tracing which follows the path of the ball to see where it would end up, to determine if it would hit the wicket.

Unlike a referee that just implements the rules and runs around and blows whistles. An Umpire on the other hand has more responsibility; they inspect the equipment, choose which balls to play with, decide the duration of breaks during a match, judge whether the crease is up to standard, Umpires can even call off matches due to weather and bad lighting and even fine players for misconduct.

There is no doubt cricket has had a facelift. Long are the days where overweight hairy men would bowl and bat and most of the crowd would fall asleep. See my article on “How T20 cricket revolutionised cricket”  With the introduction of T20 cricket, the format encourages sponsors, partnerships, and shares of ownership are bought by corporations. Just like a dragon’s den situation. In return, they get a huge audience as potential customers. Therefore millions and millions are invested, this adds more pressure for the Umpires.

They face serious sticks and sometimes get their lives threatened if they make a decision that does not agree with the fans. Thankfully the third umpire can lighten the load by taking some of the blame, but some fans still don’t see it like that. With the responsibilities and in some cases lives at stake. Umpires get compensated for their time at 100 thousand dollars a year. This works out at 3k per ODI match 5k for a test match 1.5k for a T20 match and 3k for ICC Tournament. All of this and not much attention is given to Umpires outside of the pitch.

The life of an umpire is hard, with over 200 days of work abroad a year, it would make it difficult to raise a family. It was this precise reason why the legendary Umpire Dickie Bird was never married. He wrote an autobiography that sold millions of copies, he was knighted and had a statue made of him with the famous finger. Dickie bird had it all-but the biggest regret is not being married. He said he was married to cricket and got very close but decided otherwise.

Aleem Dar from Pakistan is one of the most experienced umpires in the game. With over 100 test matches and over 200 ODI matches, under his belt and winning umpire of the year 3 times in a row. His house is decorated with trophies and pictures of himself with cricketers and Bollywood film stars. This success is due to accurate decisions, Aleem dar can tell if a ball traveling over 80mph has kissed the bat or not. This is even before the third umpire looked at the cameras. Aleem is over 50 years of age, supports a beard, and has a wife and two kids. Yet his expertise is still in demand. Aleem Dar is part of the elite panel of umpires. This consists of umpires from all over the world to officiate in Test matches and ODI matches.

The Covid 19 epidemic has affected the world, many people are suffering and many competitions have been put on hold. Pakistan was one of the first countries to be hit. However, Aleem Darr felt the need to kindly distribute free food from his restaurant “Darr’s delighto” in Lahore.

So next time you watch a cricket game remember that being an umpire is not as easy as it looks, it involves a lot of responsibility and dedication. Some have regrets whilst others have managed and wouldn’t change a thing.

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As the second most-watched sport after football. Cricket is enjoyed all over the world. The old British sport that spread its wings all over the commonwealth, introducing cricket throughout the world. It grew to be a popular sport in South Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe.

Cricket has expanded over the last hundred years all over the planet. But the funny thing is only 12 teams play..2 teams from Europe 5 teams in South Asia, 2 from Africa, 1 in west indies
representing 15 Caribbean countries and 2 from the very bottom of the earth in Australiasia

These countries are full members whilst 93 countries remain as associate countries.It wasn’t too long that Ireland and Afghanistan joined as members in 2018 and ten years before that Bangladesh joined also. It is promising to see new countries join- but at such a slow rate?

The Netherlands and Cricket?

The Netherlands and Dutch cricket is not the first thing you think of when visualising cricket-Even though the name Cricket” comes from the Dutch word “Kricke” and the “Krickstoel” resembled the stumps we see today behind the batsmen. The dutch cricket board was established in 1883. It is one of the oldest national governing bodies in the sport- it is even older than some of the full members
of the ICC.
Dutch cricket has been enjoyed for many years since an English traveler played on dutch soil in 1780. It didn’t stop their many foreigners played cricket in the Netherlands.

In 1969 The England team stopped by before an ashes match and embarrassingly lost against the home team. Cricket was the most popular sport in the Netherlands in the 19th century until football came. This didn’t get in the way of Dutch cricket. The team plodded along and made a few more upsets. In 2003 the Netherlands made an impressive 320 runs in the Icc world cup and beat Namibia by 64
runs. Jacob Jan Esmeijer was one of the Netherlands ‘ best-left arm spinners. He would not let anyone go for more than 5 runs an over.

Jan was one of the names in the hall of fame of Dutch cricket. Anton Bakker played in the 1969 match against England and was considered the best captain in Dutch cricket. Steven lubbers also is a
great. Even though he didn’t do much in the first few competitions, he found his confidence and got 12 wickets in 1986 and made 3 half centuries. He stayed put and guided his country through matches and tournaments. He retired on a high note, in 1996 and now sadly a gymnastic teacher.

A talent wasted, 6000 cricketers in the Netherlands are yearning to bring it back. There needs to be a push for this sport in this country. Captain Paul Borren retired at 34 leading the orange team for nine years. He contributed over 1000 runs with the bat and 46 wickets. Paul led the team to another historic victory, against England in 2009, winning by 4 wickets. The left-arm spinner Peter
Seelar succeeds him. He is determined to push the team to new boundaries but understands he has big boots to fill.

The future could possibly be…Orange?

Things have progressed…In 2017 the Netherlands has regained ODI status after 4 years, which is a huge achievement. Ryan Campbell is the coach of the Orange team and he is confident that his team will continue to make more upsets and surprises. But they need to “Up their game” for the big teams. Last year in Dubai and Abu Dhabi the Netherlands won eight of nine games to qualify and beat
Papua New Guinea, in the final, to win the ICC T20 World cup qualifier trophy.

This sport survived the first world war as the dutch continued to tour England. Cricket has a new formidable force. It is the Royal dutch lions, they are fighting for what they once had. “Kricke”
Ryan Campbell the coach said that Netherlands will not accept that they are just known as the “13th” member in the ICC but a team that never forgets and never gives up.

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Born in 1987 in Bogra Bangladesh. Mushfiqur Rahim was the only child and came from a loving family. He graduated from the same school as Shakib Al Hasan, was very smart, and liked studying and educating himself. Mushy became the most educated sportsman in the country.

Very passionate about cricket and he went on to play the beautiful sport. He was selected randomly for a maiden tour of England in 2005.
At a ripe age of 16 he was nervous, but he was about to jump in the deep end and was included in test matches, ODI’s, and even a tour of Australia.
Soon after, he was to become U19 captain and played with his friends Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, and of course Shakib. This group of friends would later become the powerhouse of the Bangladesh team.

Shakib al Hasan in an interview said he knows Mushy more than his own family. As Mushfiqur played more his passion and responsibility grew.
Losing, missing a stump all played with his mind and confidence.

Mushfiqur Rahim’s Family 

Mushfiqur Rahim is from a devout Muslim family, he went to the Muslim pilgrimage (Umrah) and came back with a stronger mind. Ready for anything.
He found love and got married to his good friend Mahmudullah Riyad’s sister in law. Jannatul Kifayet. She is 23 years old and shares the same hometown of Bogra City. They also both completed BBA from prime university Dhaka, Bangladesh.  His marriage really strengthened the bond between the team members.
Mushfiqur felt more relaxed and had no reason to be stressed. As he now had a wife and son to go home to. This gave him more drive on the field.

Mushy’s achievements for his country

His stance is flexible bouncing on his knees- this maintains his cheeky slog sweeps. He would put a knee down to get more elevation on his hit. Mushy even dared to do the ramp and scoop shot. There is no doubt his fierce cheeky attitude helped his country on many occasions.
In 2013 he made 200 alongside Mohammed Ashraful- against Sri Lanka.

When he wasn’t behind the wicket, he was in front of it. Mushfiqur is also an accomplished wicket-keeper and is most known for it. You will remember his
chuckling and encouraging his bowlers. The infamous Khaled Masud handed his gloves to him after a great career for Bangladesh. Dav Whatmore said Khaled was the best wicketkeeper in Asia.

Mush had big gloves to fill and he did. An astounding 223 dismissals 179 caught and 44 stumping in one-day internationals just two under Brendan McCullum
He has earned a very respectable position among the greatest wicketkeepers in Cricket. His hard work put him in the top 10 in the world for ODI matches and ranked number 4 in T20 matches.

Unfortunately because of the Coronavirus pandemic he is not able to play the sport, he loves so dearly. But he is determined to practice more batting and enjoys exercising and running. Mushfiqur is also fasting for Ramadan but he does not let this affect his training in his home gym. He is determined to stay fit and healthy

The Bangladeshi superstar with the bat and the glove enjoys his downtime with his family. He is very close to his parents and wife and son. Worth 87 crore BDT (8 million GBP) he has two residences in his birthplace Bogra and in the capital city Dhaka.

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Cricket has come a long way- from it’s 50 over matches with chubby hairy men bowling and batting until the sun goes down.

Things had to change and it began in England in 2003, where cricket was born.

They had to find a way to make the game shorter in length but more exciting. The 20/20 idea encouraged players to be fitter, stronger and smarter with the ball and bat.

This way it would get the crowd on their feet and not sleeping reading a book like in test cricket.

It became a hit and was rolled out throughout the world. This new dynamic twist to the sport attracted younger crowds. With more crowds came more money.

Sponsors would queue up to get a slice of pie. Companies would compete to get their name on advertising boards on the pitch and through televised sponsorship and sponsors for prizes and tournaments

A cricket-mad country like India took advantage of this. The IPL (Indian premier league) started a T20 tournament and it has become the biggest tournament the world has ever seen.

The IPL brand is worth $6.3 billion US dollars, and it contributes $114 million to Indian GDP in 2015 It was a matter of time other countries followed suit: The Big Bash League in Australia, Natwest T20
Caribbean premier league and The BPL Bangladesh Premier League.

The leagues almost compete with each other, flaunting cash on prize money, celebrity endorsements and drafting new players and old legends from all over the world.
In India filmstar, Shahrukh khan owns KKR Kolkata knight riders it is worth 105 million dollars. Whilst in Bangladesh BPL earned $51million just on sponsorship in 2017. In the Natwest, T20 teams are given a $45
million budget for players.

How is t20 cricket played?

As the name suggests each team has 20 overs (120 balls) to make the most runs and bowl batsmen out.
There are 9 batsmen and teams can only use 5 bowlers with a maximum of 4 overs each (24 balls)

Bowlers have to bowl with a straight arm and not overstep the mark- to get a no-ball. They would be facing the batsmen and behind him a wicketkeeper ready to catch a ball that clips the bat or run him out.

Only five fielders to stand in the circle and only two players patrol the outside. If they catch a ball the batsmen are out, that is if they don’t hit the ball over the head for a 6 or let it go for a 4 when it rolls to the boundary line.

After 13-15 overs they have a tea break and then back for an exciting run chase.

Prizes go for the man of the match sometimes best fielder, most sixes, and most wickets.

It is a very exciting 3 to 4 hours of cricket. Players are tested. Every bowl, run, catch makes a massive difference. You hear the crowds roar. Trumpets blowing after every boundary,
Cheerleaders dancing.

We have to thank the ECB (English cricket board) for concocting the idea and revolutionizing the sport. Cricket is not just “the gentlemen’s game” it is a beautiful game played and watched by all.

More recently with the Coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to cricket tournaments and matches around the world. This is because of the worldwide social distancing law that disallows any large gathering
Pakistan Super League was due to start this year. It would of been 4 years this year that they have played on their home soil. The IPL has also been canceled. It has caused drama in the camps over pay and contracts

We hope that this virus fizzles out soon and that we can all enjoy once the beautiful game.

The post What is T20 Cricket?  And how has it revolutionised the beautiful game. appeared first on Cricket's Finest.

Sheikh Kamal International Stadium in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh which is used to serve the country’s most popular sport – cricket. However, with the same name as Sheikh Kamal International Stadium, there are two grounds in Bangladesh. One of them is located in Gopalganj, Bangladesh which is the former home to Brothers football club. It has a mere capacity of 28000 

The new cricket ground in Cox’s Bazar which will be one of the largest cricket stadiums in the world with the seating capacity of currently 78 000  would increase to 100 000 making it the 2nd largest cricket stadium in the world. However, no men’s International cricket competition has not taken place there yet.

One thing that is clear in the upcoming years, Cox’s Bazar is a major port for Bangladesh, It will also be a major town for cricket. The stadium consists of 55 acres of land. The Prime Minister of the country Sheikh Hasina gifted the land to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) earlier and in 2013, BCB started their construction for the stadium. Now, the ground is hosted local matches along with Under-19 World Cup so far.

The national stadium of Bangladesh Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium has only 25,416 seat capacity that placed it on the 35th position in the World. On the other hand, the current largest cricket ground is Melbourne Cricket Ground which is located in Melbourne, Australia with 100,024 seat capacity so far. India’s Eden Gardens are in the 2nd position but the difference is vast. It can host 68,000 people at the same time. making, Sheikh Kamal International Stadium placed between these two.

The Cox’s Bazar Cricket Stadium was shortlisted for the last 2014 ICC World T20 tournament though it could not host any match. Because the ground was not fully ready to host. The very first match in the ground was the Women’s One Day International match on 5th March 2014 between Bangladesh and Pakistan. The ground also hosted two matches of the Youth’s One Day International between South Africa and the host nation Bangladesh. Four one-day matches between Bangladesh A and Ireland A team took place here one match was washed out due to bad weather.

Cox’s Bazar Cricket Stadium would solve the problem of the grounds in Bangladesh. It seems that most of the cricket matches are hosted at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in recent time. Some others used to take place in Chittagong. But when Sheikh Kamal International Stadium is fully open, it will become the main ground and the problem will temporarily solve.

However, due to the lack of the grounds, most of the clubs of the Dhaka Premier League have no training grounds of their own and also, in Chittagong, there are not many facilities for training.

Sheikh Kamal International Stadium has another full-sized ground which is called the academy ground and also they have a separate training facility. There are a total of 36 pitches in the three different grounds. Even though the pitches are slow as usual as the rest of the pitches in the country the BCB does not agree.

The BCB’s ground committee Chairman Hanif Bhuiyan stated that the ground Sheikh Kamal International Stadium would be flooded during the monsoons, it would make sense to have an effective plan for it. It was revealed that after the Under-19 World Cup, the engineers would install the proper drainage system into the three different grounds.

As part of the beautification plan, to ensure the beauty, they have already planted 400 coconut trees and after two years, they will make the grounds look much better. Hanif hopes that within a few years time, Sheikh Kamal International Stadium will be a major cricket facility in Bangladesh.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury was the President of the BCB in 1996 and he first thought about making a cricket ground in Cox’s Bazar. Four years later, he looked for better land. However, BCB waited for a long time to get a fine piece of land next to the beach and now, the dream has come true.

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