Desert Cubs take on GM Academy in women's cricket final

Desert Cubs ladies will take on GM Academy ladies in the Emirates Cricket's National Women's Tournament final at the Sharjah English School on Saturday.

Desert Cubs ladies will take on GM Academy ladies in the Emirates Cricket's National Women's Tournament final at the Sharjah English School on Saturday.
And apart from the trophy, an added incentive for the ladies would be to make it to a summer training squad with the focus on UAE's T20 World Cup qualifier later this year.
"On conclusion of this tournament Emirates Cricket selectors will identify a summer training squad where their focus will be UAE's T20 World Cup qualifier campaign later this year. We wish both sides good luck in Saturday's final, and most important we wish them an enjoyable, competitive experience," said Zayed Abbas, Emirates Cricket Board Member and Official Spokesperson.
From March through to May, Desert Cubs ladies, GM Academy ladies and Gforce Cricket Academy ladies played nine matches over nine weeks in a round-robin 30-over format, where Desert Cubs and GM Academy booked their place in Saturday's final.
"This tournament was created to provide our rapidly-developing women cricketers with a platform to further develop their skill set and experience. We are delighted, and encouraged with the performances we seen during each match," Abbas added.
Desert Cubs captain Esha Oza was keen to finish the tournament unbeaten and on a high.
"We have worked very hard to improve both our team performance and individual skills. I am proud that efforts from everyone involved, from players to coaches, has helped us improve our performance in current season," said Esha.
"We remain unbeaten in this year's tournament and it is a proud moment for our young women's team to qualify for the finals for first time, and we thank Emirates Cricket for arranging this tournament," she added.
Meanwhile, GM Academy skipper Humaira Tasneem said that the tournament has helped them grow as players.
"This tournament has been a good competition. There were three strong teams competing and every team played at least six matches, which gave us good exposure and match practice. It was exciting for our team to qualify as we have a wide cross section of ages, and through each game our confidence grew and we have seen definite improvement. We were exposed to three different pitches (during the tournament) so we learned how to adapt and make the best of whether it was a bowling pitch or a batting pitch," said Humaira.
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