Dubai Drink

Yorkshire 313-6
v Lancashire
close on Day 1

2 Day Friendly
Played at ICC Cricket Academy, Dubai

Monday 14 March 2016

Twitter @ball_sup

What a great place that is to watch cricket. My first time at the ICC Academy. Although I've passed it loads of times to watch games up the road at the Dubai International Stadium. As an aside, I reckon that is the 35th different ground I've seen Yorkshire play on.

I even had a nice Beer at the end of it all. Right. The downsides. This is Dubai Calling. The downside will be Construction and/or Construction Traffic. There she blows. Constant flow of what we'd call Cement Mixers behind the hedge on one side of the ground.

But, you get used to it. The hedge hides the worst. And, to cap it all, it's a nice hedge. Small trees provide the backdrop and shade for the rest of the ground. The nets behind the trees at one end. Grass & all weather football pitches behind the trees at the other.

Back-to-Back Ovals. The 3rd/4th Place play off for the ICC World Cup for the deaf was on the other. I saw the winning run. Which was actually off a dropped catch. India beat South Africa.

So, the two storey players rooms/pavilion is also a neat, modern back-to-back affair.

Yorkshire played on a very large Oval. Ropes and then a low, in need of a lick of paint, once White “picket fence”. No stands. One low mound. Some benches at the far end. The Ball_Sups took camping chairs.

Lovely green outfield.

I've no idea who owns what. I saw facilities for Cricket, Rugby, Football  (including enormous indoor area, big enough for two pitches), Athletics, Netball, Swimming, Martial Arts, Steroid addled Gym Bunnies. All coming off a central spine of buildings.

Said spine also housing Cafes & Kickers Sports Bar. Enormous indoor & outdoor area. TV screens showing live sport. Very modern. One side overlooks the outdoor football academy. One side the indoor football pitches. Damn. No view of the cricket square nor oval. Can't have everything.

I decided to have a go at a bottle of Franziskaner Weissbier. And lovely it was.

Late arrival last night. Confusion over start times. Body clock. We missed the start. And Lyth’s wicket. So, I've seen 2 pukka dismissals. One of those off the last ball of the day. And, three Retired Outs.

288/600