‘Our aim is to make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination’: SACF chairman

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Updated 11 March 2023

Rashid Hassan

March 11, 2023 20:02

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‘Our aim is to make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination’: SACF chairman

Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud expresses joy at Kingdom’s triumph at ACC Men’s Challenger Cup 2023

Updated 11 March 2023

Rashid Hassan

March 11, 2023 20:02

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RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation Chairman Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud has expressed his delight at seeing the Kingdom’s national team win their first international trophy since the SACF’s formation in 2020.
Last Sunday, Saudi Arabia won the inaugural ACC Men’s Challenger Cup 2023 in Bangkok, beating Bahrain by 10 wickets in just four overs.
The men in green maintained a perfect record of five wins from five matches in the tournament.
“It’s our first win as a federation since we were established more than two years ago, and that would’ve never happened without the endless support of our government, the Ministry of Sports, the Olympic Committee and all regional associations,” said Prince Saud in an exclusive interview with Arab News after returning from Bangkok. “They honestly made our job easier to perform and reach this point.”
When asked if a professional cricket league system in the Kingdom is on the cards, he replied: “As we know, Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the region with the biggest number of teams and players. So there will be leagues on all levels, not just one league.
“And to answer that question precisely, we’ve developed throughout our time in the federation great relationships with the International Cricket Council, the global governing body of cricket, and the Asian Cricket Council, the organization that promotes and develops the sport of cricket in Asia, as well as some successful international cricket boards and big cricketers globally.”
High-profile figures form the world of cricket have offered their expertise and backing for cricket in the Kingdom.
“And then we hired experts to help us develop a model of a league that engages Saudi club brands along with all regional associations,” said Prince Saud.
“Of course, a lot of infrastructure and development are required, but we’ll announce when it’s time.”
Outlining his vision for the sport — including producing a competitive international team in Saudi Arabia — and his ambitions for domestic and international cricket over the coming years, he said: “Our aim is to create a sustainable industry for locals and expats living in the Kingdom and make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination.”
The Saudi team’s comprehensive victory in the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup in Thailand came in a 50-over one-day international competition.
The Challenger Cup is the first staging post in the ACC’s restructured three-tier pathway toward the Asia Cup 2023 to be hosted by Pakistan.
It was composed of eight teams divided into two groups, and was designed to provide increased opportunities for a larger number of its members to display their talents.
The Saudi cricket team will now play the first edition of the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup in Nepal, a tournament that provides a qualification pathway toward the Asia Cup 2023 in Pakistan.

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How Saudi’s elite clubs can avoid mistakes of Chinese Super League

Updated 07 June 2023

Paul Williams

June 07, 2023 11:08

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How Saudi’s elite clubs can avoid mistakes of Chinese Super League

Fleeting success of Guangzhou Evergrande, Tianjin Quanjian, Jiangsu Suning and others because spending was unsustainable
Source of investment in Kingdom’s league more secure than China’s individual-based backing

Updated 07 June 2023

Paul Williams

June 07, 2023 11:08

As rumors swirl linking a host of footballing superstars with a move to the Saudi professional league, including arguably the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi, fans of Asian football would be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja vu.

While the names are different, the sudden splurge from a nation looking to develop both its football, and standing within it, is eerily similar to what we saw from China less than a decade ago as it tried to upend the sport’s established order.

And for a period it did; the likes of Oscar, Jackson Martinez, Hulk, Paulinho, Renato Augusto, not to mention coaches including Marcello Lippi, Fabio Capelli and Manuel Pellegrini, were all tempted east as the Chinese Super League threatened to take over Asian football and become a big player on the global stage.

Guangzhou Evergrande led the charge, twice winning the AFC Champions League, while upstarts such as Shanghai SIPG, now Shanghai Port, Hebei CFFC, Tianjin Quanjian and Jiangsu Suning took the league by storm.

With China’s President Xi Jinping making it a national priority for the country to become a force in world football, countless businesses, mostly real estate developers, took the opportunity to invest in football, not just at home but around the world, in an attempt to curry favor with the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

By this time in their revolution, China was expected to be a powerhouse within Asia, but their reality serves as a warning for Saudi Arabian football as it embarks on its own journey for international prominence.

Less than a decade after China really started its extravagance, local football is arguably in a worse position than before it all started. The CSL has mostly been shed of all its star names, while the national team will likely struggle to qualify for the World Cup despite Asia’s allocation doubling from four to eight.

That is to say nothing of the country’s top football officials being detained on suspicion of fraud and bribery.

This is not how it was meant to be.

The once-mighty Guangzhou Evergrande, more recently renamed Guangzhou FC, has been relegated to China League One and are winless after eight games, placing them at risk of a second consecutive relegation. This is a long way from when they dominated the ACL with titles in 2013 and 2015.

Meanwhile, once-burgeoning outfits like Jiangsu, Hebei and Tianjin have all gone bust and no longer exist – standing as monuments of failure and a permanent reminder of just how quickly things can change.

“You need a vision, and then you need a strategy, and then you need to be able to put that strategy into action,” Prof. Simon Chadwick, an expert in sport and geopolitics, told Arab News.

“You need to have checks and balances within the system, that if the strategy is not working in the most appropriate way, then those checks and balances can be enacted, to keep you on the right path towards your vision.

“These are things that I sense a little more in Saudi Arabia that didn’t necessarily exist in China.”

With further details emerging this week of Saudi Arabia’s roadmap toward success, including the privatization of the country’s four biggest clubs – Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli – and a forecasted quadrupling of annual revenues, the Saudi experiment is already looking vastly different to that of China’s.

Whereas the largesse in China had the support of the ruling CCP party, it was more often than not financed by private individuals, albeit ones with links to the ruling communist party, using their own wealth accumulated through years of unsustainable growth in the real estate sector. By the time the heat came out of the real estate market, and the CCP tinkered to try and save clubs from themselves, it was too late.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, the investment is coming directly from the state via its sovereign wealth fund, known as the Public Investment Fund, the same source of funding for LIV Golf and Newcastle United. That alone makes this feel more secure and less at risk of an embarrassing collapse as was witnessed in China.

Chadwick also explained that the Kingdom needs to find its own uniqueness and not simply try to copy what is successful in Europe.

“One of the interesting things about both Saudi Arabia and China, I think, is a lot of people from outside the country advise and give guidance,” he said.

“(But) they don’t necessarily give the best advice or the best guidance, because what might work in Europe, for example, doesn’t necessarily work in Asia.

“So I think it’s really important, and I don’t think China did this, that Saudi Arabia needs to develop its own identity and its own system of governance, its own culture and its own way of working and not be overly preoccupied by replicating the experiences of what has happened in Europe.”

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Topics: football Saudi Arabia China chinese super league Lionel Messi

Hudson takes over at Qatari club a week after quitting American job

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 04:59

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Hudson takes over at Qatari club a week after quitting American job

Anthony Hudson has agreed a two-year deal to guide Al Markhiya in the Qatari soccer league
The club posted confirmation of the two-year contract on social media platforms

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 04:59

DOHA: Anthony Hudson has agreed a two-year deal to guide Al Markhiya in the Qatari soccer league a week after quitting as interim head coach of the US men’s national team.
The club posted confirmation of the two-year contract on its social media platforms late Wednesday, saying Hudson’s immediate goal is to help Al Markhiya improve on the seventh-place finish it achieved in its first season after promotion to the Qatar Stars League.
Hudson quit as interim head coach of the US men’s team last week, just two weeks before he was to lead the Americans in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals.
He was replaced by BJ Callaghan. At the time, the US Soccer Federation said Hudson was taking a job with a club but not identify the team or the role.
Hudson had been appointed to the US job on Jan. 4, and guided the Americans to two wins, one loss and two draws. His five games were the fewest for a US coach since John Kowalski in 1991.

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Topics: Anthony Hudson football Qatar

Tyler Herro’s return to the court remains a waiting game as the Heat keep winning

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 07:27

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Tyler Herro’s return to the court remains a waiting game as the Heat keep winning

He had surgery on April 21 for the fracture, with a four-to-six week recovery timetable, making a finals return possible
Players like Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent and Max Straus, have delivered in Herro’s absence

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 07:27

MIAMI: Since breaking his hand in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro has been relegated to offering his teammates support in conspicuously gaudy outfits — topics of much conversation — from the sidelines.

The Heat would much rather have their 20-point scorer on the court. But, his return is still pending, and though Miami are holding out hope that Herro could play basketball again this season, he is running out of time and games.

The NBA Finals head to Miami on Wednesday with the series against the Denver Nuggets tied 1-1. Miami’s Eric Spoelstra said Herro was to do a full-contact workout Tuesday, but the veteran coach remained noncommittal on the player’s possible return. Herro hasn’t yet been cleared to play.

“I don’t want to be Nostradamus right now. We’re taking it one day at a time,” Spoelstra said. “I know that sounds like a cliché. He did the practice with the group ... we’ll meet with the training staff later on today and probably tomorrow, and we’ll just continue this process. He has not been cleared yet, so that’s where we are, but we’re encouraged by the work that he’s been doing.”

Herro was diving for a loose ball late in the second quarter of the Eastern Conference playoff opener against the Milwaukee Bucks when the injury to his right hand occurred. He re-entered the game, but was leaning forward in obvious pain in front of Miami’s bench in the final minute of the first half.

“I feel like I had some things to prove this postseason,” Herro said in April. “It was a tough moment. I still can’t believe it.”

He had surgery on April 21 for the fracture, with a four-to-six week recovery timetable, making a finals return possible.

“He’s another guy that provides so much shot-making, playmaking ability,” forward Kevin Love said. “You saw in Game 1, we got cold from the 3-point line, didn’t shoot the ball particularly well from the field. He’s just one of those guys that provides so much firepower.”

Losing such a pivotal piece of their offense — their third-leading scorer behind Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo — seemed like a blow that would prematurely end the Heat’s postseason run.

But they just keep winning.

They eliminated the top-seeded Bucks in five games, handled the New York Knicks in six, and recovered from blowing a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston to advance to the championship series for the second time in four seasons.

Players like Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent and Max Straus, have delivered in Herro’s absence.

Vincent is Miami’s third-leading postseason scorer with 13.9 points and 3.9 assists in 31.6 minutes. And Martin, undrafted out of college with a stint in the G League, was the breakout star of the conference finals with 19.3 points on 60 percent shooting, including a playoff career-high 26 points at Boston in Game 7.

“I’m so happy for the city of Miami,” Butler said Wednesday. “This organization, they deserve to be in the finals. They deserve to win the finals and win a championship, and we will do everything in our power to make that happen.”

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Topics: basketball NBA miami heat

West Ham, Fiorentina aim to end long European trophy droughts in Europa Conference League final

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 02:38

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West Ham, Fiorentina aim to end long European trophy droughts in Europa Conference League final

West Ham earned their lone European title in 1965, the old European Cup Winners’ Cup
The reward for the winner of the final is not just a trophy but also a berth in the Europa League next season

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 02:38

PRAGUE: West Ham and Fiorentina haven’t won a European trophy for more than 50 years.

The drought will end for one of them when they play out the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday in Prague.

“This will be the biggest match that the club has had in so long, so it’s going to be an honor to be part of and hopefully we can create some history on the night for the fans to cheer about,” said West Ham captain Declan Rice, who is widely expected to leave the club after the season.

West Ham earned their lone European title in 1965, the old European Cup Winners’ Cup. Alan Sealey scored twice to beat 1860 Munich 2-0 at Wembley Stadium. The Hammers reached the final again in 1976.

Forward Jarrod Bowen scored four goals in helping West Ham reach its third European final and said it will be “certainly be the biggest game of my career.”

“I’ve played for England, but I think achieving this with your teammates who you’ve been with together to get to a final and you have the opportunity to win a trophy together, it will be a massive moment,” Bowen said. “We’re mentally ready, physically ready for a massive game tomorrow night.”

Fiorentina’s only European trophy was also the Cup Winners’ Cup, the first one back in 1961 when it defeated Rangers in a two-leg final 4-1 on aggregate.

By reaching the second final of the Europa Conference League, Fiorentina have become the first club to contest a final in four major continental competitions.

Fiorentina were defeated by Real Madrid for the 1957 European Cup (the forerunner of the Champions League), and by Juventus in the 1990 UEFA Cup final. They also failed to win the Cup Winners’ Cup back to back, losing the 1962 final to Atletico Madrid.

Fiorentina have had a good buildup. They played the Italian Cup final two weeks ago and were beaten by Inter Milan 2-1. That’s the only loss for the Florence-based club in their last six matches. The last warmup for the Conference final was beating Sassuolo 3-1 last Friday for an eighth-place finish in Serie A.

“We needed this victory,” Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano said after the match. “Now we have a mountain to climb but we will be aiming for the summit in Prague.”

Despite struggling to a 14th-place finish in the English Premier League, West Ham have been a European title contender for a second straight year under manager David Moyes.

Following a campaign to the Europa League semifinals a year ago, West Ham marched to Prague as the only undefeated team in the third-tier Europa Conference League. West Ham won 13 games including qualifying, and were held by Gent to 1-1 in the first leg of their quarterfinal. The Hammers were the first club to win all six group stage encounters.

“They’re a team that has a lot of ability, they’ve got some top level players, they have got strength all over the pitch,” Italiano said about West Ham in Prague on Tuesday. “But if we’ve made it to the final, then we clearly have some strength as well.”

At Eden Arena in the Czech capital, West Ham will face a team that scored the most goals in the campaign, 36, led by forward Arthur Cabral’s seven.

“I’ve been hugely impressed by Fiorentina,” Moyes said. “A difficult opponent, an Italian opponent is always difficult and we respect that.”

The reward for the winner of the final is not just a trophy but also a berth in the Europa League next season.

The first Conference final was won by Jose Mourinho’s Roma against Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana, Albania a year ago.

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Topics: West Ham United fiorentina UEFA Europa Conference League Europa Conference League

Novak Djokovic perfect in key tiebreaker at French Open and faces No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz next

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 02:40

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Novak Djokovic perfect in key tiebreaker at French Open and faces No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz next

Djokovic: Every point was perfectly scripted for me, so to say. Yeah, sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Karolina Muchova both reached the women’s semifinals

Updated 07 June 2023

June 07, 2023 02:40

PARIS: Novak Djokovic, in his words, felt “quite sluggish, quite slow” for nearly two full sets against Karen Khachanov in the French Open quarterfinals Tuesday.

Afterward, Djokovic called it his worst stretch of the tournament, a fair assessment. He dropped the opening set, something he hadn’t done at Roland Garros this year. As the second went to a tiebreaker in Court Philippe Chatrier, he knew it was vital to step up his game, bring forth his best.

It’s one thing to seek perfection; it’s another entirely to deliver. As if merely wanting so made it so, Djokovic did what he’s done before at crucial moments over the years en route to 22 Grand Slam titles.

Managing to choose the right shot every time, managing to put each ball precisely where he intended, Djokovic threw a shutout of a tiebreaker to point himself toward what would become a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 victory over the 11th-seeded Khachanov.

Djokovic, who will meet No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in a much-anticipated semifinal Friday, found one word to describe that segment of the match: “Amazing.”

Alcaraz beat Djokovic on clay at the Madrid Masters last year in their only previous encounter, and the 20-year-old from Spain got past No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) on Tuesday night.

“Since the draw came out, everyone was expecting that match — the semifinal against Novak. Myself, as well. I really want to play that match,” Alcaraz said. “Since last year, I really wanted to play again against Novak.”

No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Karolina Muchova both reached the women’s semifinals by winning earlier in the day. Sabalenka, the reigning champion at the Australian Open, eliminated Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4, then appeared at a news conference for the first time in nearly a week. Muchova defeated 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-2.

How does Djokovic approach a tiebreaker?

“It’s kind of a mentality of (locking down): ‘OK, I’m present, I’m focused only on the next point and I have to really think clearly about what I want to do against ... a given opponent. It worked really well for me,” said Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia who has spent more weeks ranked No. 1 than anyone in his sport’s history and is currently No. 3. “It worked really well for me.”

Well, there’s an understatement.

“Every point was perfectly scripted for me, so to say. Yeah, sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t,” he said. “I was lucky that, throughout my career, I have a very good and positive score in the tiebreaks. My opponents know that, and I know that. So, I think, mentally that serves me well.”

Indeed, he is 307-162, a winning percentage of .655, in those set-deciders now played at 6-all at every major. In 2023, it’s 14-4, including 5-0 in Paris. And get this: Those tiebreakers at the 2023 French Open have been comprised of 47 total points — and he has made a grand total of zero unforced errors.

On an 80-degree afternoon, Djokovic brought that brand of make-no-mistakes tennis to the next set, too, against Khachanov, a semifinalist at the US Open last September and the Australian Open this January.

“The energy of the court shifted to my side. I felt the momentum. I started releasing and relaxing through my shots a bit more,” Djokovic said, pantomiming a backhand swing, “and going for it more, with more confidence. And he backed up a bit.”

On the 10th point of the third set’s opening game, Djokovic flubbed a backhand. But he then would not commit an unforced error the rest of the way in that set, compiling 19 winners in that span.

Whenever an answer was required, Djokovic found one.

“It always feels like he finds a way ... to make you (in) trouble,” Khachanov said. “He’s always there. He’s always pushing, and you know this.”

After Khachanov wildly celebrated his best shot of the match — a back-to-the-net ‘tweener that drew a netted volley from Djokovic, who bowed his head — by wind-milling his arms and shouting and yelling, the perfect response came next. Djokovic hit a 128 mph (206 kph) serve followed by a forehand winner, and a 130 mph (209 kph) serve followed by a drop shot winner to take that game, then pointed his left index finger toward the azure sky.

When Djokovic played a shaky game that ended with a double-fault to suddenly make it 4-all in the fourth — “A little bit of a scare,” he said — he turned back into that vibrant version of himself.

Djokovic collected the remaining eight points — breaking at love, then holding at love — and was on his way to a 12th semifinal at the French Open (among men, only Rafael Nadal, with 15, has more; the 14-time champion is currently sidelined by a hip injury) and 45th at all Grand Slam events (only the retired Roger Federer, with 46, has more).

“It’s exactly,” Djokovic said, “where I want to be.”

Alcaraz progressed to his second major semifinal — the other came when he won the 2022 US Open — by outclassing two-time Slam runner-up Tsitsipas in every possible manner until stumbling slightly near the finish line.

It was so lopsided for much of the evening that fans roared, and Tsitsipas raised his arms to acknowledge their reaction, when Alcaraz’s third-set edge was trimmed from 3-0 to 3-1. Soon after, at 5-2, Alcaraz held two match points that he frittered away; he got broken for the first time to make it 5-3; and another match point came and went at 5-4.

Not until his sixth match point of the contest did Alcaraz finally convert, with a backhand volley winner.

Like Djokovic hours earlier, Alcaraz was superior when he needed to be.

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Topics: Novak Djokovic

‘Our aim is to make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination’: SACF chairman

‘Our aim is to make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination’: SACF chairman

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Tyler Herro’s return to the court remains a waiting game as the Heat keep winning

Tyler Herro’s return to the court remains a waiting game as the Heat keep winning

NBA Finals: Miami Heat ready for another shot at Denver Nuggets

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West Ham, Fiorentina aim to end long European trophy droughts in Europa Conference League final

West Ham, Fiorentina aim to end long European trophy droughts in Europa Conference League final

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Novak Djokovic perfect in key tiebreaker at French Open and faces No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz next

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‘Our aim is to make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination’: SACF chairman

‘Our aim is to make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination’: SACF chairman

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