• Home
• /
• Cricket

Rameez’s knock goes in vain as YTCA lose

Durham, the reigning English County champions who are in the UAE to play their season opening match against MCC, proved far superior as they hit up 263 for nine wickets at the end of the allotted 40 overs match.
WRS Gidman stroked his way to a fluent knock of 121 runs off 97 balls, which also included 15 boundaries.

WR Smith contributed with 83 runs off 75 balls to the Durham total. YTCA’s medium pacer Fahad Tariq impressed with five wickets for 39 runs While Wasim Bari too three for 46 runs.

In reply, YTCA were bowled out for 131 runs in 34 overs. Rameez, who is currently playing in Durham County in the United Kingdom, was the lone batsman to show some resistance.

Rameez coming in at number four, batted with mixed aggression as he hit a six and four boundaries before he was caught by Gidman off his own bowling.
For Durham, N Killeen ( 3/25), C Rushworth (2/27) and M Davies (2/21) were among the leading wicket-takers.

AGRFU announces squad for HSBC Asian Nations Series

DUBAI - The Arabian Gulf have announced their 22-man squad who will be considered to compete in the upcoming HSBC Asian 5 Nations 2010 which kicks off on April 24, a press release said.

The final preparations before selection took place in Al Ain on Friday as the Arabian Gulf took on the Gulf Barbarians which saw a final score of 41-28 in favour of AGRFU.

Head Coach of the Arabian Gulf, Bruce Birtwistle, commented: “Very useful exercise all round, good competitive match leading up to the international programme.” The newly appointed captain Mike Cox-Hill added: “It was a great game to play in, no quarter asked and none given, very grateful to Al Ain Amblers RFC for hosting the game in their great facility.”

The chosen squad will include 11 new caps who stand shoulder to shoulder with stalwarts of the Arabian Gulf team such as Dave Clark and Mark Gathercole with a combined 60 caps between them. In preparation for the tournament, the Arabian Gulf will meet Tunisia in an International Test match on April 9. Tunisia, who are in qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, play the Gulf ahead of their repechage match against Romania and will use the opportunity to prepare for their qualifying match in June.

Head Coach, Bruce Birtwistle, commented: “With only a handful of players having HSBC Asian 5 Nations experience, our side requires a steep learning curve and Tunisia will certainly give us that.”

“The Arabian Gulf faces a tough task,” adds AGRFU Chairman, Andy Cole. Commenting on the forthcoming HSBC Asian 5 Nations campaign, he said: “Japan will be on a high with recent results on the IRB World Sevens Series, beating France ranked 4^th and Argentina ranked 6^th in the World.”

“The A5N will be a real David and Goliath campaign for the brave men of the Arabian Gulf. The Arabian Gulf will be going out on a high in their last ever Rugby World Cup campaign, having won promotion to the Top 5 of Asian 5 Nations last season, they now compete against the cream of Asian Rugby.”

Sentiments echoed by HSBC Ambassador and England’s leading try scorer Rory Underwood at the recent launch of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations in Hong Kong. “The competitiveness of the Top 5 in the HSBC A5N has gone from strength to strength over the past few years but this year, with the added incentive of qualification for the Rugby World Cup, we are expecting some absolutely cracking matches,” he said.