That Wisden Thing
By Grockle
June 10 2013
With a couple of days until the Unicorns game I have a gap to post the versions of the article about Omani cricket looking at it from November, March and June. See which one you like best. Thank you to Wisden for the article from Page 1229. The rest is all me I'm am sorry to say - maybe the editors did us all a favour.
So I wanted to write about Oman and the situation cricket finds itself in here. I contacted Wisden to see if there was any chance of getting something into the tome for 2013. "Send us something" they said. So I talked to some people and sent them 350 words. "We like it" they said. "Full of local flavour" they said. "Give us a bit more on this grass wicket" they said. They asked about the Sultan's cousin and I told them he had almost retired now and wasn't the main story in Omani cricket in 2012. "OK" they said.
So I sent them this;
"Omani Cricket finds itself at a proverbial crossroads in its 13th year of ICC membership. Memories of the 2007 highs as runners up in the second division of the ICC World Cricket League are fading. Presently Oman is third in Division 3 finding life against international rivals increasingly difficult. The Omani Ministry of Sports Affairs is asking questions about future policy and linking that to future funding. Like many other Gulf States, Arab players competing for places against naturalised Asian origin players are a point of focus. After stating their ‘deep disappointment’ at Oman’s recent performance in Nepal during the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier, the Ministry asked why more nationals could not be considered. With an estimated 1100 regular cricketers active in 72 sides registered to play in the Omani leagues in 2012/2013, one would think this could be achieved. However, many league games are between sub continental corporate sides picked from squads of semi-professional imported Asian players taking on others of the same vein Where can the keen and gifted Omani amateur get a game other than as the token ‘national’ required for League membership?
If you add to this the lack of cricket awareness among young Omanis (43% are under 25) coupled with a lack of enthusiasm for an “Asian” sport as they see it, you can appreciate the job facing the Oman Cricket Club (OCC).
However if you expect the OCC to give up under this pressure you are very much mistaken. Revitalisation starts in October 2012 with the opening of the first turf wicket at Al Amerat on the outskirts of Muscat. For the first time, league cricketers will be able to replace unpredictable scorched earth and desert scrub pitches with a proper cricket surface. They can learn to attack the ball in the field rather than standing close to the boundary trying to predict bounce and trajectory. Bowlers and batsmen will finally get off matting wickets and learn to work with more responsive surfaces. At the same time, more truly Omani sides are joining the leagues, the five fully OCC funded teams of 2011 have become seven in 2012. People are starting to work in schools where both boys and girls are finding, to their surprise, that the most successful international sport in the Sultanate is cricket. Pankaj Khimji, Oman’s ICC affiliate representative is at pains to point out that Oman is probably the only Arab state to initiate a mandatory policy of playing true nationals in their representative sides. All ACC and ICC sponsored games including Oman involve a self adopted policy of at least three full Omanis in the teams at every level from Under 16 upwards.
“Until cricket receives government financial support it cannot proliferate into a mainstream sport. Youth has to be lured into cricket with job offers and monetary rewards, failing which it will remain a predominantly expatriate sport” says Mr Khimji. The fight for improved national recognition of cricket in Oman is going to be a long one but the OCC is making a decent fist of it. "
I expected some cleaning up by the editors of the 510 words provided and that is what they did. Based on what I found out almost immediately I sent it, there was certainly a need to revise the comments. Omani cricketers are not particularly represented in theiir own national side. Three players may be chosen but they rarely play consistently and seem to spend a lot of time on the bench for major important games. My report arrived on page 1229 of the 150th Wisden in March of 2013 and it had turned into the 262 words below;
"Oman's capital can claim the title of the driest city in the cricket-playing world, traditionally leading to rough and unsafe surfaces. So, perhaps it is no surprise that country's best known Arab cricketer, HH Qais bin Khalid Al Said, a cousin of the Sultan, learned the game at Millfield School rather than Muscat. But now Al Emerat, the first fully turf ground in the Sultanate, has been assiduously prepared for the new season. For the first time, fielders will be able to attack the ball, rather than edge in tentatively from the boundary trying to predict bounce and trajectory on scorched-earth round. Batsmen and bowlers will finally get off matting wickets and learn to deal with spin and seam. When Oman finished 15th out of 16 at the 2012 World T20 Qualifying tournament, the sports ministry expressed their 'deep disappointment', and enquired why more Omani nationals had not been considered for election. As in many Gulf states, many league matches are often sub continental corporate affairs between ex pat semi-professionals - with a single token Omani thrown in to satisfy league membership regulations. Yet Oman has the best record in the Middle East for producing indigenous cricketers : around 200 of the 1,100 regular players in the country are Arabs. Oman is the only country in the region to insist upon three nationals in their representative youth sides from 16 upwards. And, as coaches head into schools , more and more Arab boys and girls are discovering , to their surprise, that this peculiar game is their nation's most successful international sport."
Hmm....
Well it isn't really what I wrote and it certainly doesn't identify the issues within Omani cricket but it does give the old school world of establishment cricket a nice little look at those quaint Arabs trying to play the game doesn't it?
My origiinal article was to some extent misinformed about the true nature of OCC policy by officials who play lip service to their own commitments but the version that appeared in the main cricket publication in the world almost emasculated the position entirely. Half the size with half the words related to the position as a secondary point to where the ruling family learned their cricket.
So I get my first experience of editorial power and leave with a feeling of unfinished business. I decided to have a go at trying to finish it and write about the actual picture as I see it now some 7 months later for www.Omancricket.com and the players here who are living with this on a daily basis. It means a whole lot more to them than it does to Messrs Wisden and co and I feel slightly guilty that they didn't get a decent intro to the rest of the cricketing world;
Oman cricket IS at a crossroads. There is a loss of trust and therefore communication between the future of the game here - the Omani cricketers - and their present representative body - the Oman Cricket Club.
Oman has an ageing international side of well meaning players and no effective youth resources coming through to develop that side or even keep it treading water. There is no money because there is no real development of the 'Omaniness' of the representative side and therefore no central government interest in funding the sport.
OCC officials seem to be happy to play safe and with Asian resources rather than take the bull by the horns and work to integrate indigenous Omani cricketers into playing for their country. On the other side of the argument, the Omani cricketers have little faith that if they turn up at trials they will get a fair shake in terms of selection and as they populate the lower leagues while the 'sub continental corporate sides of semi-professionals' rule the A league, they have poorer skill sets and need development. They also seem to like to complain rather than getting up in the OCC's face and demanding changes. Both sides seem complacent and fatalistic about doing anything to change this position!
Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lankan temporary coach of the national side, must have been beside himself trying to sort this out in the limited time he had at his disposal. He set up international trials and invited 24 Omani players before the last trip to Bermuda. They voted with their feet for what they felt were good reasons and so a side with only two Omani's on the roster and an average age of 32 went to keep the country in Division 3, lost to sides they should have beaten well and now face a fight back from Division 4 after relegation.
Now the ACC is starting to worry about this loss of strength in a mainstay of Middle Eastern cricket. They offered to arbitrate and it looks like there may be movement. The A league will have a representative Omani side in its ranks in 2013/2014 that is there on merit (Muscat CC). The ACC also seem to have negotiated a second full Omani side to be in there sponsored by the OCC. The details of how this side is to be chosen and managed are a little sketchy but it has to be a move in the right direction IF it is carefully thought out and organised . It also seems that the number of Omani's required in each side has been doubled (to two) but personally I don't see that as any kind of move forward unless those players are young, talented and on the corporate payroll as cricketers playing the game with their team mates as equals rather than being the token who takes the field but never bats or bowls unless unavoidable. The corporations should contribute to the country they practice their 'religion' in by integrating Omani converts to the game into their squads rather than playing lip service to the term of 'team'.
Oman needs to balance the contributions of the Asian cricketing community with the needs of the Omani cricket community. The officials must be aware of both and treat them as equals in terms of opportunity to contribute to the national team. On one side the industrial concerns have to understand that it isn't their personal ego trips that are important but the strengthening of Omani cricket. They have the team setups and the skills to help develop young Omanis already keen to play the game. The Omani sports representatives and cricket management have to identify and foster the young talent and get it to the places where it can interact with the money and develop through the leagues and on to the international stage.
The questions are; Firstly does the country see this as a good investment? Presently the answer is obviously no. They have to be convinced. Secondly, will the leagues accept the changes? The answer to this is simple. They will have to and the organisers have to make that clear to them or send them on their way to play the game outside of the organised league structure on their own pitches.
Is the commitment there? Well if it isn't then 2007 will have been the heyday of Omani cricket and we will never see that level of international success again. Without solid management that is trusted by the players that it is looking to pick for its sides there will be no progress. A permanent international coach has to be employed and the only way that can happen is if the people involved play more than lip service to sorting out the issues in the league structure. That should make more funds available from central sources. They have to convince the government that they are serious and then back that up with success. Bouncing straight back into Division 3 at the earliest opportunity with a much more representative side has to happen and quickly.
But it is more than this. If the Omani side is ever to be like Bermuda, Nepal and Uganda - all sides it lost to in the last international tournament and all predominantly represented by national cricketers - then it has to foster a love of the game in its young people and offer them opportunities to be international stars within the sport.
The Wisden article was keen to talk about HH Qais and called him the "...best known Arab cricketer..." in Oman. I doubt he is hardly known as a cricket player in the country.. He is known in the West as a sort of oddity. Omani's know almost nothing of their most successful international sport and that is where the key to success is... The day an Omani schoolboy can name an Omani cricketer as popular as Ali Al Habsi is the day Omani cricket will have arrived!!
Thanks
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:06:11:53:52 by Grockle.
LoL
Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Quote:Nice parental timing. Unlike some.Loyal of Lhasa.
Mine will arrive on my birthday, which is fairly imminent...
He told me who their Six (yes, 6) Cricketers of the Year are, although I have now forgotten. Mainly because I hadn't heard of most of them.
I suppose we would come under the Indian version but as books are not big on the Omani shopping list I have no real way of knowing. I'd probably have to fly to Dubai to find one so I'll wait until I get home where yellow payment for my small and insignificant contribution should be waiting.
However, as no one will be checking my version for a couple of months I'd still appreciate knowing when the birthday pressies arrive gentlemen.. Thanks
After losing to a second string Afganistan side, they went on to do the same to UAE and Kuwait before managing to beat Bahrain.
The squad had only two Omani born players in it and only one of them had anything to do with the games. Not surprisingly the Omani's are asking what the point of the OCC is and are asking for enquiries and wholesale resignations. Not the OCC's finest hour or their professed policy last November when I presented the piece
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:01:10:36:41 by Grockle.
Bobstan, 1889
In an exclusive Wisden press release to all journals west of Salisbury we can inform you that among the five Cricketers of the Year this year are HT Hewett and LCH Palairet.
Bobstan, 1893
Bobstan 2013 More than my job's worth. (if I had one)
Congratulations to our Wisden-published leader
I sent it from my phone, which is a tad unpredictable at the best of times, and sitting on a bus outside Neath could never be described as that.
Looking forward to seeing you this season, I'll be bringing a well known author with me at some stage, it'll be nice to get together and catch up.
Of course some 5 months after submitting and seven months after writing it, it's all a load of rubbish because the Omani cricketers have just made an official request for a sit down meeting with Omani cricket and Duleep Mendis, the national coach, over Omani representation in the national squad.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:07:15:30:32 by Grockle.
I await the arrival of Bishop Odo's Wisden to read your piece.
"I love it when a plan comes together".
Having said that if Nick isn't on the list it will be a travesty. I fully expect him to be one of the 5. My other picks would be Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla, Marlon Samuels and either Chris Wright or Varun Chopra.
Not a bad quintet!
More details here Wisden press release
Quote:BristolRob
Congratulations to Nick alongside Amla,Kallis,Samuels and Steyn.
Not a bad quintet!
You were right, Bagpuss, they did put Kallis in there as well, this time around.
LoL
Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter
I had a brief word with Nick afterwards, congratulating him on his breakthrough hundreds for England and wishing him luck for the season.
He was modest, guarded and matter-of-fact about it all, reinforcing my impression that he can go further and that we're lucky to have him (even though we may not see very much of him for a while).
Really enjoyed those little blighters did I.
LoL
Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter
LoL
Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter
t's a romance that merges two dynasties as well as social and sporting bibles Debrett’s and Wisden.
Lady Kitty Spencer, niece of the late Princess of Wales, and England batsman Nick Compton, Harrow-educated grandson of cricketing royalty, have gone public with their relationship.
Compton, 29, and Kitty, 22 — who was once named the most eligible girl in Britain — were photographed together during a dinner at Lord’s, where the Somerset player was named Cricketer of the Year by the 150th edition of the Wisden Almanack.
Kitty gave her boyfriend a huge hug as he went up to receive his award in recognition of a year in which he was England’s leading run-scorer.
The romance has blue-blood pedigree on both sides. Nick is the grandson of Denis Compton, who played in 78 Tests for England, while Kitty is the eldest child of Princess Diana’s brother Charles, Earl Spencer, from his first marriage to Victoria Lockwood.
FULL STORY
Quote:eRoger ivanhoe
Kitty, 22 — who was once named the most eligible girl in Britain
They've obviously never heard of Bagpuss...
Quote:Let's hope it's a while before we get another of those inflicted on us and on our tax bill.old boy!
The trouble is that Nick will be unavailable for us whenever there is a Royal Wedding!!!
Though I'm not too sure the Spencer family would be invited anyway.
Not blurred enough to stop me being able to read the article and get that feeling I'm sure every person who is employed to do this regularly has when the article you produced bears very little resemblence to the one the editor/sub-editor has put into the publication.
I purposefully made no mention of the Omani Royal family's involvement in the national side as that wasn't the issue and despite being asked to do a profile of the man as part of it I thought I had persuaded Wisden to let me write about the issues and not the personality (a minor aspect even here). Nevertheless there it is, first sentence but not my words. The official quotes from people involved have gone even though one of the reasons the piece was given extra space was because it had a 'local feel'. That extra space has been allocated to HH Qais instead (and they've spelled the name of the ground wrong though it was correct in the article sent).
I'm sure it happens all the time but it does feel like the issue - a lack of Omani presence in their own sport has been lost in favour of letting everyone know that a semi-retired rubgy player plays a bit of cricket and is related to the ruler of the country.
Ahh well.... still published in Wisden so there we go :-)
Once I get to actually look at the copy I'll post the article and my version and anyone interested can see whether the professional or the amateur told people more about the situation in Omani cricket.
Alas, over-eager sub-editing is an occupational hazard for all writers, though from what you say they do seem to have been even more zealous than usual. I'd very much like to see your original version.
The main gist of what I was trying to talk about is there but they obviously desperately wanted to talk about a team with a member of the Royal Family in it and he really isn't any more. He's a very nice guy but his knees have gone and he gets put in the squad but rarely plays and it isn't the issue Omani international cricket is dealing with.
I won't actually get to see the article properly until I get back to the UK in June where my 'payment' is waiting at home in a package. But I am writing something for the cricket guys over here, partly as an apology for the semi-misrepresentation and partly because the problem has gone on a little now so I'll stick that up if we have a quiet little time on the frontpage and the actual article will probably go up with that.
I'm sure the real guys who do this for a living get used to this and would have probably agreed to put HH Qais in to get control over the other stuff themselves... what does an amateur like me know? But I'm still in Wisden and that was part of the fun.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:06:16:22:08:06 by Grockle.
All make interesting reading but my knowledge on the subject is such that I cannot comment on the substance of the articles.
I will say that I wish Oman all the best in developing its indigenous cricket and that, more generally, I'd love to see the quality base of international cricket widened so that there are more good teams.
The real position is the one in the third I think.
The problem of the controlling bodies in some new cricket countries where the interest is not in the indigenous population is that they end up trying to do what they can with the Asian cricketing religious zealots and lose sight of what they should be trying to do - generate interest in their own population USING the skills of the Asians rather than replacing the absent skills WITH those of the Asians.
The OCC has lost the faith of the indigenous cricketing minority but can't really see that and seem quite happy to see that minority shrink until it will be unsustainable as it as become in the UAE. Meanwhile the African nations are starting to become real powerhouses in the ICC associates - the Nigerians, the Kenyans and the Ugandans particularly under the support of SA.