Dubai Sports City Hosts Invitational Under-17
Cricket Team from New Zealand
“The Willows” Under 17 Cricket Team Visit the Site of the ICC Global Cricket Academy On Route to India
Dubai Sports City has hosted the under-17 invitational schoolboy side from ‘The Willows’ Cricket Club in New Zealand who were visiting Dubai en-route to play a series of matches in India and the Middle East.
‘The Willows’ Cricket Club is dedicated to encouraging secondary school players to play with and against experienced players and promoting the traditions of the game to young people through high-quality coaching and overseas trips.
“The vision for Dubai Sports City and the plans for the ICC Global Cricket Academy are amazing. We can’t wait to return in the near future to play some fixtures at the outstanding facilities. The development is simply incredible,” said Paul McEwan, Coach, ‘The Willows’ Cricket Club.
Among the group of rising stars, selected from various schools across New Zealand, were several siblings of well known international cricketers including: Harry Wright (son of John Wright, former opening batsmen for New Zealand and former Coach of India), Tom Rutherford (son of Ken Rutherford, former Captain of New Zealand), Thomas Latham (son of Rod Latham, former One Day International player), and Matthew McEwan (son of Paul McEwen, former batsman for New Zealand).
Historically, New Zealand is one of the strongest sides in International Cricket and the game is the highest profile summer sport in the country. New Zealand played its first test in 1930, claiming its first victory in 1956. The country’s most famous cricketer is the fast bowler Sir Richard Hadlee who was the first bowler to take 400 wickets in test cricket.
The team was hosted by Marc Archer, General Manager, International Cricket Council (ICC) Global Cricket Academy (GCA), who discussed future plans for Dubai Sports City with the team and took them on a tour of the 25,000 seat cricket stadium and future site of the ICC GCA.
“Our aim is to build bridges between continents, countries and communities and we are achieving this through visits such as this one; It has been a privilege to host ‘The Willows’ Cricket Club,” said Marc Archer.
“We endeavour to build a world-class facility which is considered the centre of excellence for world cricket. Supporting regional and international schoolboy teams and local grass roots cricket in the UAE is a significant part of achieving this goal,” he added.
Photo caption: Marc Archer, ICC Global Cricket Academy General Manager with members of the Under-17 touring side from ‘The Willows’ Cricket Club, New Zealand.
