In the International Spotlight…United Arab Emirates Cricket
Posted by wildkiwi25 on March 27, 2008
The United Arab Emirates cricket team represents the United Arab Emirates at the sport of cricket. The UAE joined the International Cricket Council as an affiliate member in 1989, and were elected to associate membership in 1990.
HISTORY:
They won the ICC Trophy in 1994, which carried with it a place in the 1996 cricket World Cup, but they were elimated in the first round. The team was dominated by ex-patriates from the Test playing nations of South Asia who make up a large part of the United Arab Emirates population. After the 1996 World Cup, the rules were changed requiring a set number of players to be native-born, and the team has never been so strong since. They only managed to win the ICC Plate (a competition for teams eliminated early from the ICC Trophy) in 1997.
The ruling families for the UAE have invested substantially in cricket. Many One Day International matches between the leading cricket nations have been played in Sharjah – and also a Test match series between Pakistan and Australia when security reasons prevented Pakistan from hosting the matches. The International Cricket Council has recently relocated their headquarters to Dubai.
In 2004 the team competed in the ICC Intercontinental Cup for the first time. This competition meant that they played two three-day matches against Nepal and Malaysia. They then progressed to the semi-finals, which were held at Sharjah, but lost to Canada. These matches were accorded first-class status, making them the first first-class games they had played. They also competed in the 2004 Asia Cup, which was granted official ODI status.
In 2005 they competed in the ICC Intercontinental Cup for the second time; this time they took on Nepal and Hong Kong. They qualified for the semi final, but were eliminated by eventual winners Ireland. They also competed in the 2005 ICC Trophy, finishing sixth. Their loss to the Netherlands in the fifth-place playoff meant that the UAE missed out on a place in the 2007 World Cup and full ODI status for the next four years.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
World Cup:
•1975 to 1987: Not eligible – not an ICC member
•1992: Did not participate
•1996: First round
•1999 to 2007: Did not qualify
Intercontinental Cup:
•2004: Semi Finals
•2005: Semi Finals
ICC Trophy:
•1979 to 1986: Not eligible – Not an ICC member
•1990: Did not participate
•1994: Won
•1997: 10th place
•2001: 5th place
•2005: 6th place
Asia Cup:
•1983 to 1988: Not eligible – Not an ACC member
•1990/91: Did not participate
•1995: Did not participate
•1997: Did not qualify
•2000: Did not qualify
•2004: First round
ACC Trophy:
•1996: Runners up
•1998: Semi Finals
•2000 to 2006: Won
CRICKET IN 2006/2007:
In August, the UAE participated in the ACC Trophy, where they won for the fourth consecutive time. After this, they played their group games in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup. They visited Namibia sometime in December, and hosted Ireland and Scotland in early 2007.
In November 2007, the UAE participated in the Division Two of the ICC World Cricket League. They will play Denmark, hosts Namibia and Oman in addition to the two qualifers from the Division Three, Uganda and Argentina. The UAE won tournament, beating Oman in the final. On the basis of their top four finish in this tournament, the UAE qualified for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier.
Links On cricket in United Arab Emirates are:
*Acknowledgements to Cricinfo.com, Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used
Cricket, the Brilliant Game! 
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