ICC academy to allow clubs access to facilities

The International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy will throw open the doors of its indoor playing facilities for local clubs and corporate cricket teams during the summer. Speaking to Gulf News, Salman Hanif, the operations manager of the ICC Global Academy, said: \"As the summer heat is likely to stop most of the outdoor tournaments, we wanted domestic cricketers to continue playing the game through indoor cricket. We have unmatched indoor facility which provides top quality cricketing environment and hence has decided to stage a tournament.\" The tournament which will be called Summer Indoor cricket tournament will see 16 teams in action. \"It will be an eight-a-side tournament which will be played according to the indoor cricket rules and equipments. For each team we will permit up to 12 players to be registered. Teams will be divided into four groups and each team will be guaranteed play atleast three matches of 12 over duration,\" Hanif added.The tournament timing has also been scheduled to help office-goers take part. \"We will start our first match from 7.30pm to 9pm and second from 9.30pm to 11pm under lights. There will be 24 group matches with four quarter-final matches, two semi-finals and final,\" he said. The tournament will start on June 8 with the quarter-finals played on June 25 and 26. The semi-final will be held on June 28 followed by the final on June 29. \"Our participation fee is Dh4,500 which includes even cost of T-shirts and even the supply of specialised indoor cricket ball. The winner can be richer by Dh4,000 and runners-up can pocket Dh2,000,\" Hanif said.