RIYADH: As cricket has grown across Saudi Arabia in recent years, the game is now entering a more structured phase with a focus on improving standards, strengthening competition and creating a more professional cricket environment.

This was the message from Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation General Manager Iqbal Sikander, speaking to Arab News in an exclusive interview.

Sikander, who featured in more than 189 first class matches during his playing career, brings extensive experience in sports administration and cricket development to the role. Having joined SACF in January 2025, he believes the national team has developed significantly and has plenty of potential to compete against established international teams.

“Technically speaking, it has got a great future,” said the former Pakistan international. “It has got a wonderful opportunity to grow now with the SACF working on developing cricket in the Kingdom and at the same time participate in all the international championships that we play in. We have some very sound cricketers, and we are planning to develop cricket in such a way that these players get an opportunity to play, grow and perform for Saudi Arabia as the domestic cricket structure continues to expand.”

On the federation’s plans to create a clear route from grassroots and regional competitions to the Saudi national team, Sikander said a significant number of leagues and competitions were being organized across the Kingdom, with more franchise cricket to be established.

“There’s a fantastic pathway. School cricket, U-16 and U-19 competitions for boys and girls are central to that pathway. They allow us to identify talent earlier and give young players a clear route towards higher-level cricket and, ultimately, the national teams,” he said.

SACF has recently strengthened the technical structure around the men’s and women’s programs, he added, with former Pakistan international Saleem Jaffar Ali taking over as national teams head coach in July this year.

“The aim is to bring greater technical expertise and consistency across our programs. Our new national coach brings strong international experience, while we are also investing in the future of women’s coaching through initiatives such as the ICC Women’s Global Leaders Programme,” said Sikander.

“For cricket to grow, you have to have professional people coming in so that they can bring in new ideas. The new head coach is a former international cricketer with a lot of experience behind him, both in coaching administration, and has been also part of the selection process for the national team of a full member,” he added.

“At the same time, for the women’s team we have lady coaches coming in and we have been training them, we have sent them (on) the Women’s Global Leadership Program. So, they are now qualified to become lady instructors, lady coaches,” he explained.

SACF recently established a training center in Taif, aimed at player development and high-performance preparation, which Sikander described as “very important.”

“This is not just a ground, it is a high-performance center for Saudi cricket where we will play, train, develop young coaches and at the same time provide opportunities for our national team players to come and play on turf pitches. This is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia but not the last. We plan to have a similar kind of facility in Jeddah,” he said.

SACF and the Pakistan Cricket Board signed in a strategic Memorandum of Understanding in July to develop a cricket stadium in Jeddah. This aims to develop cricket infrastructure in Saudi Arabia by constructing a modern cricket stadium that meets international standards.

It also provides for cooperation in exchanging technical expertise, facility planning, and adopting best operational practices to enhance the Kingdom’s readiness to host international tournaments and competitions, while supporting the growth of the sport in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

“Taif gives us an operational base for high-performance training, national team camps and hosting domestic and international cricket. The Jeddah MoU represents the next step in expanding that infrastructure and increasing our future hosting capacity,” said Sikander.

“So, there is a lot of opportunity coming our way in terms of developing cricket, developing cricketers and at the same time providing opportunities for youngsters to play on turf pitches and better conditions.”

The Saudi men’s national team is currently competing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Sub-Regional Qualifier B. Sikander said: “The immediate goal is to progress to the next stage. At the same time, these qualifiers are an important benchmark for us and show how close we are to competing consistently at a higher international level.”

He added: “Our national team is competing in an international event in Malaysia organized by the ICC. We have participated in a number of international competitions and we plan to do more in future. Our under-19 team will be participating in ICC World Cup qualifier(s) again in December. So, there’s a lot of opportunities for our national team, for the under 19s and also for women’s teams. These events would be the pathway for our international future. The idea is now not just to compete, but to play and win.”

On key technical priorities over the next two to three years, he said: “The focus is on depth, performance and exposure. We want more competitive matches, stronger preparation, better conditioning and more opportunities for our leading players to experience high-level and franchise cricket.

“We need to give our players an opportunity to play more cricket. The more they play, the better they get. The only way to improve is by playing against stronger opposition. So that’s a technical area that we need to play more cricket, not just for the men’s team, but also for the under-16s, under-19s and for the women and grow from there.

“To compete in T20 internationals, we need to play more international matches, not just the ICC, ACC competitions, at the same time playing bilateral, triangular, quadrangular series so that we play more cricket, as the more you play, the better you get. And we are focused on developing cricket in such a way that it has never seen before.

“We are confident. Our team is very talented, with all the players playing a good level of cricket. We just need to provide them with the opportunity to play more cricket. In the near future, you will see that the teams will start performing in big tournaments.”

Talking about long-term ambitions for the men’s and women’s national teams, Sikander said: “For the men, the ambition is to reach an ICC T20 World Cup and continue progressing internationally. For the women, the priority is to build a strong domestic base and become more competitive in ACC and ICC competitions.”

Success for Saudi cricket, he believes, would be a system that consistently produces players ready for international cricket, with strong senior teams, an emerging U-19 and U-23 structure, and real depth across the national program. Establishing more high-class facilities is also on the agenda.

“We need to develop our infrastructure not just in Taif, and Jeddah, but also in Dammam and Riyadh,” said Sikander.

“The other thing that we need to work on, which is lacking so far, is women’s cricket. We would like to see the women’s cricket team play more cricket, organized cricket, playing against stronger opposition and winning then compete in the ACC and ICC leagues.”

One of the key challenges for SACF is attracting young Saudi children to the sport. Sikander said: “This is a long-term program, because to get Saudis into cricket, we need to go to the schools. We need to start playing school cricket. We need to send our coaches to the Saudi schools. We need to organize proper domestic cricket for locals. You start today, a few years down the line, you may have a good cricketer who can potentially represent Saudi Arabia.”

The ambition is that future Saudi national teams will be represented by more local players. Sikander said: “As the Asian Games head to Doha, Qatar in 2030, and Riyadh in 2034 we aim to prepare [for them]. That is something we are working on to develop Saudi boys and girls to come and play and be ready for these two major international tournaments.”