View from the Abu Dhabi stands

Boost Defenders 205-5
beat Auckland Aces 170-5
by 35 runs

Yorkshire Vikings 184-5
lost to Lahore Qalandars 189-4
by 6 wickets
Thursday 4 October 2018

Lahore Qalandars 181-6
beat Hobart Hurricanes 146-8
by 35 runs
Friday 5 October 2018

Hobart Hurricanes 140-7
lost to Yorkshire Vikings 145-1
by 9 wickets
Saturday 6 October 2018

Abu Dhabi T20

A version of this Blog was published on the Cricket Yorkshire Website at

www.cricketyorkshire.com/yorkshire-vikings-abu-dhabi-t20/

In case you missed it, Yorkshire's quest for World domination ended in the heat of Abu Dhabi on the morning of Saturday 6 October. Of course, there is no reason why you should have missed it. The games were broadcast on live Free To Air TV in the UK. Indeed, I am sure the future of this tournament will stand or fall on those TV viewing figures. Or more accurately, on the TV viewing figures in other countries.

Six T20 teams. Playing two games each. Over three days. With a final. To be crowned World Champions (ish). It's a big ish. No Indian Premier League team here. Nor Caribbean Premier League. One of the competing teams is a very modern franchise. In that you can't tell where they're from by their name. Who comes up with this nonsense? The Multiply Titans are a South African franchise based in Benoni & Centurion (Pretoria). Teams from Auckland, Hobart, Lahore & the Boost Region of Afghanistan made up the six (along with “The Vikings”)

Yorkshire made 184 for 5 in their first game. That was chased down with two balls to spare by Lahore Qalandars with just four wickets down. Despite that, Yorkshire went out with a bang in the wooden spoon decider. Restricting the Hobart Hurricanes to 140 for 7. Busting through that with only Adam Lyth gone & with over 7 overs to spare. But, forgive me, this is not a detailed cricket report. On to the good stuff. Oh yes. There was Beer. I'm a Beer Blogger after all. OK, the choice was limited. Heineken or nowt. A few Yorkshire Tourists and Australian ex pats tucking in. I noticed that on Day 3, the transparent plastic glasses had been replaced by blue plastic. Those are more local culture sensitive, as you can't tell by looking whether you're shifting lager or orange pop.

Yes Phil, but was it a success? Well, here's the Metrics.

Critical Success Metric 1
When I walked into the South Panoramic Stand as the Toss went up for the Auckland v Boost game, I was the 13th person in. A minimum of ten others were Yorkshire supporters. For a game we weren't even playing in. Salute.

Critical Success Metric 2
As the first ball was slung down, I counted 15 bona fide supporters in the stand, 3 security & 6 TV cameramen & technicians. Three fellas were picking litter on the East Bank. Not good.

Critical Success Metric 3
After just 15 Overs of the second game, the one Yorkshire were in, the Ice Cream Van switched the jingle off, put the hundreds n thousands away, turned tail & left the ground. With 25 overs still to go. Says it all really.

Despite the lack of 99s, the atmosphere did pick up for the Yorkshire game v the Lahore Qalandars. I've been privileged to see a number of games involving Pakistan in the UAE over the years. The Pakistani fans are a joy to be with. They're Cricket Celebrity conscious. Waving at Ex Yorkie Inzamam Ul Haq & Shoaib Akhtar as they glad handed. Shouting at Brian Charles Lara & Mahela Jayawardena as they tried to conduct interviews. They love the old DJ & the music. Dancing away like I did at my Wedding. And, they are very very knowledgeable. Friendly an’ all. I love every single one of 'em.

In the modern cricket world, the finances of this tournament will, no doubt, be complex. UAE Government money, sponsorship money, TV rights money. But, let's have it right, they ain't made a bundle at the gate. And the Ice Cream Man wants a refund on the concession fee he's stumped up. The number of people working at the ground easily outnumbered the paying punters at times. Security, ticket scanners, stop you blagging into the wrong stand officials, water & crisp hawkers, TV techies, litter pickers, toilet attendants. The lot. The desk the DJ had looked like it had been hired from NASA. They'd rigged up coloured spotlights for a sort of lightshow on the roof.

Naturally, they'd chucked all the budget at such peripheral capers. Ignored the basics. Naturally. That came home to roost in Yorkshire's game. Adam Lyth attempted one of those catch it, throw it up as you step over the rope, catch it back in play fandangos. The middle Umps asked for the Third Ump to have a gander. Then. Perfect storm system failure. Seemed to be no way of putting the Red/Green Out/Not Out info on the screen. Seemed to be no way of firing the Walkie Talkie up. The Fourth Ump seemed to be in the loop. He was signalling Six, in the accepted way. While the middle Umps were using new, impromptu & innovative what the hell is happening signals.

In the end, Not Out. No worries. It's over the far side. I can't see. But, organisers of tournaments like this must learn. The shouts I could hear included;
“you can't change your mind”
“you're an absolute disgrace”
“rubbish” “FIX”

All because they didn't look after the Cricket Basics. Never mind eh. At least matey can blast The Proclaimers over the PA. Let me recover. I'm quite benign. It's a great concept. Gather teams together. At a time which least impacts on domestic seasons. Make sure you've got a Pakistan Super League franchise. Sell the TV rights. Have some discreet Beer. I've seen Yorkshire v Lahore. I've seen Yorkshire v Hobart. Amongst some knowledgeable and appreciative fans. Not many of them mind. Yorkshire adapted well. Lyth, Poysden & Carver spinning to restrict Hobart. Coad bowling well. And Kohler-Cadmore and Brook putting the chase on. Next year. Same time. Same place.

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