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UAE name team to play on home soil in first International Women’s T20 Tournament

Denzil Pinto

19:53 05/12/2016

The UAE will get a chance to test themselves for the very first time on home soil after the Emirates Cricket Board [ECB] announced the International Women’s T20 Tournament, to be played next week.

It will be the first time the country will host their inaugural competition for females with Kenya, Qatar, Malaysia, Kuwait, Oman, Uganda joining the hosts in the seven-team event from 14-19 December.

Having won the previous two Gulf Cups, the ECB spoke of their intention as early as February to bring a tournament to the UAE.

With those plans now finalised, it will present an opportunity for the women to play on home soil at Sharjah and Al Ain – something that is a “massive boost,” according to ECB administrator Mazhar Khan.

“Planning for this tournament has been going on for the last six months and now it’s confirmed it’s a massive boost for the girls as they will be playing against better sides,” he said. “We’ve been improving over the last couple of months and I think we will give them a good game. It will be a learning process for us and hoping that will lead us into better tournaments and develop better in the region.”

UAE have been drawn alongside Kenya, Qatar and Malaysia, and the hosts’ skipper Humaira Tasneem, insists it will be a learning curve.

“We are grateful to Emirates Cricket Board to provide such a wonderful opportunity to play against better sides, and through such tournaments our aim is to be competitive enough to qualify for the next Women’s T20 Cup. We look forward to welcoming the countries participating in this inaugural event to the UAE,” she said.

With a ball not even bowled, Khan hopes this isn’t the first and only time the tournament will be hosted. “There are a lot of associate teams willing to come and play in these tournaments. I think this is just the beginning and we will be looking forward to host more tournaments like these.”

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