JEDDAH, 15 February — The much-fancied Pakistan International School-Jeddah A (PISJ-A) have won this year’s inter-school cricket championship.
They won the trophy for the third time in a row when they thrashed the school’s B team in the final of the Arab News, Power Horse Inter-School tournament, organized by the Jeddah Cricket League, at the JCL grounds yesterday. PISJ-A, who remained undefeated in all matches of the tournament, beat PISJ-B by 10 wickets in a one-sided game.
Although PISJ-B was outplayed in all departments of the game, the standard and tenor of the league-cum-knockout championship was high as evidenced by the various matches played over the weekends from Jan. 18. The winners received their trophy from Arab News Editor-in- Chief Khaled A. Al-Maeena, who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony.
PISJ-B batted first on winning the toss and were all out for 139 with some balls to spare in their limited 20 overs. The school’s A team proved too strong for them as their opening batsmen Rizwan Riyaz and Rabie Zubair remained unbeaten with 59 and 68 runs respectively. This was despite B team captain Farhan Ahmed, who was the highest scorer for his team with 35 runs, using as many as six bowlers. “Little” Shoaib was impressive as a spinner but could not break the opening partnership. PISJ-A reached the target in 16.5 overs. Rabie carried the day with his all-round performance.
He claimed four wickets of the B team giving away only 12 runs in his 2.5 overs. He won prizes including man of the final, man of the semifinal, batsman with maximum runs in the tournament and batsman with highest runs in a match.
Speaking on the occasion Al-Maeena said Arab News had plans to send an Under-19 Jeddah Cricket League team to play matches in Dubai in October. JCL President Shahid Amin and other members of the league’s executive committee greeted the announcement with cheers.
Al-Maeena, who has played a pioneering role in promoting cricket in this part of the world, welcomed the keen interest shown by Bangladesh International School and announced that in the interest of promoting the game Arab News would sponsor a coach and cricket gear for one year.
In all eight schools - four each in A and B groups - took part in the tournament this year. They included four teams from Pakistani schools. Group A had PISJ-A, Bangladesh Eng., Pakistan Eng.-A and PCS (American), while Group B had IISJ, Al-Wadi, Pakistan Eng.-B and PISJ-B.
“Sports should be encouraged as they promote tolerance, love and understanding among us irrespective of race, country and religion. Such regular sports activities would go a long way in forging understanding for a better world for the present and future generations,” he said.
Amin said the winners were so good that they could face any team in the Gulf. Recalling his own interest in the game as a player from the age of five, Amin said some of the players had the potential of making it big in their future endeavor. “Some of you will be stars one day,” he said. Amin, however, regretted that the excitement of the final was curtailed by the absence of IISJ, which failed to reach the final unlike in the first two annual tournaments.
Amin also reminded the boys that the circumstances favored them as they could play overseas matches. Some of the local boys, including Rabie Zubair, who was the star attraction of the final through his batting and bowling performance of the day, had represented the Kingdom’s team in the Asian Under-17 tournament held in Karachi, Pakistan, in July 2000. “We were deprived of such opportunities during our days,” he said.
He explained that families could not attend the final this time, unlike in the past two years, due to the upcoming board examinations. Bangladesh International School Principal Claudia Baker was, however, present with her school team.
Amin said the staging of three annual tournaments so far was a remarkable achievement for JCL. “Until January 2000, when the first tournament was held, thanks to Al-Maeena’s keen interest and support, cricket was non-existent here. But now Jeddah is setting the pace and the game is spreading like wild fire,” he said, adding: “Aside
from instilling the competitive spirit in school boys through such physical activities, my effort was aimed at weaning you away from TV and TV games.”
Arab News Sports Editor Javed Akhtar said the tremendous interest of Al-Maeena in cricket and organizational skills of Amin had made this year’s tournament a big success. He hoped the tournament would grow in scope and strength in the future.
Al-Maeena presented the trophy to the winning team, which was received by PISJ-A captain. Amin and Akhtar gave away prizes to individual winners. Majidul Hassan of JCL conducted the proceedings. The ground arrangements were done by Syed Mussarrat Khalil who also provided a running commentary of the final match in English and Urdu. The 14-member JCL executive had appointed Hamid Rana and Naim Ullah as coordinators of the tournament. Players from the two teams and also their coaches - Nisar Mohammed, director of physical education, and Syed Mohsin Farooq, aside from umpires also received their cups.
Following is the list of awards presented at the closing ceremony:
Man of the match (final) - Rabie Zubair, PISJ-A; man of the match (semifinals) - Rabie Zubair and Zain, of the PISJ A and B teams respectively; batsman with maximum runs in the tournament - Rabie Zubair (PISJ-A - 358 runs); batsman with highest runs in a match - shared by Farhan Ahmad (PISJ-B - 103 runs) and Rabie Zubair (PISJ-A - 139); bowler with maximum wickets in the tournament - shared by Zahid Anwar (PISJ-A - 8 for 76 avg. 9.5) and Shoaib (PISJ-B - 8 for 84, avg. 10.5); bowler with highest wickets in a match - Shoaib (PISJ-B - 4 for 9) (Also the tournament had five bowlers with a haul of 4 wickets each in a match); best allrounder of the tournament - Nadir Toor (Pak-Eng. A - 122, 7 for 98); all-round performance in a match - Zain (PISJ-B - 58, 2 for 15); best wicketkeeper - Ammar (IISJ - 8 victims); and best partnership of the tournament - Rabie Zubair and Rizwan Riyaz (PISJ-A - 250 runs).
