From The Pavilion

First of all, thank you to every one who voted me in as UAE U20 manager. I'm really looking forward to the role.

This thread will be used for all team updates from myself (or my management team) and all match discussion regarding the U20 side. Feel free to post anything here that relates to the U20 side.

Assistants:

As has been since I began NAT management 40+ seasons ago, my main assistant will be Penky. An intelligent manager who has performed well at both club and NT level. He has been a supporter of our side for a number of years now - including the running of an all UAE affiliate side who have and continue to produce NAT quality players.

My second assistant will be birdmandipper. A relatively newer UAE supporter who has proven his management skills in the U20 format at club level.

Third assistant will be PowerBug. A newer UAE supporter who has proven his management skills in the past. His input will be valuable to the side.

I think all three of these guys will provide good insight into our selections going forward.

The Squad:

I will be spending the next day or two re-shaping our squad and identifying the players I believe will be important for us over the next season. I will personally message all managers who have a player selected.

Our goals for this season will be to promote from Div 3 ODI. It will be tough to make the WC from the current position, however we will do our best to push for it. We sit in Div 2 for T20 so a decent tour this season should be enough for WC qualification.

Looking into the future, I hope to discuss plans with the future U20 players and hopefully we can work towards a stronger UAE U20 side in the future. I can see a lot of players trained poorly in some areas and we can hope to avoid this on our key players going forward.

Friendlies:

I will be using the friendly games to trial our players and their roles. Our first game is this Wednesday against Bermuda U20.

Looking forward to a solid two seasons

Let's get down to business. Looking forward to this one

Awesome!

Looking forward to an exciting new tenure!

Here we go

good lucks guys

pretty stoked for UAE that is a ripper Nat team to lead the boys

DazBurg wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 16, 2020 8:28 pm

good lucks guys

pretty stoked for UAE that is a ripper Nat team to lead the boys

Pity the squad doesn't match up

Penky wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:39 pm

DazBurg wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 16, 2020 8:28 pm

good lucks guys

pretty stoked for UAE that is a ripper Nat team to lead the boys

Pity the squad doesn't match up

Will be even better when you smash it then

Over the past two days I have been adjusting the squad based on discussions I've had with my assistants. There are quite a few weaknesses but enough there that we can work with. I will be in discussions with these player managers over the next week and then move towards creating squads of younger players that will be selected in the future.

Tomorrow we will be playing against Bermuda U20 (08:00 FTP time) in a friendly. The first line up of this tenure is as follows:

1. J. Mahmoud
2. A. Latif
3. J. Hamal
4. S. Kardal
5. A. Hakim (wk)
6. Y. Jabir
7. F. Hussein
8. Q. Lynch (c)
9. H. Ma'mun
10. M. Khaleel
11. N. Saleem

A number of these guys will be making their debut, so will be interesting.

So it's been an interesting few weeks for the U20 side.

Squad:

We've tried a number of different players and tactics with mixed results. I'd like to say I'm confident in our strongest XI, but I think I've raised more questions than answered

We've come up with our strongest 30 and we have a number of options when it comes to batting. The bowlers are fairly limited in choice. I've been in discussion with all the managers have worked out what sort of fielding we will need going forward. I think this has been a very weak area for us in previous seasons and I am working on rectifying that. More than half of our squad are currently training fielding and we aim to be at a decent level by the end of the season. I have also been in contact with future players and will aim to have these guys up to scratch before they turn 20.

One thing I want to work on is squad lists for younger players and publish them. Hopefully I can maintain a dialogue with these managers through their development.

Upcoming Tour:

Being in Div 3, it is important that we get off to a good start and so we bid for touring rights in order to place ourselves as best we could. My assistants and I have been discussing the squad and have come up with the following 18 players.

M. Khaleel (coruthiens)
J. Mohammad (Staindrop Lordies)
S. Hamdi (GoldenBulls)
A. Latif (Motalils Cricket Academy)
A. Mustapha (Legends of Cuba)
J. Shakur (Sons of Pitches)
A. Hakim (Legends of Cuba)
Z. Baha (Rampaging Rhinos)
B. Nazih (Billericay Bluebirds)
Q. Lynch (West Coast Eagles)
S. Kardal (Swings Both Ways)
Y. Jabir (Sons of Pitches)
N. Saleem (Motalils Cricket Academy)
R. Issa (One Man Rock Band)
A. Hadi (SlicenDice)
J. Mahmoud (Crazy Horses)
Y. Shareef (Southern Squirrels)
F. Hussein (Tattie Scone United)

12 of the above players are making their debut this tour, which is quite surprising.

The tour begins next Monday 14th Decemeber @ 08:00 FTP time. Feel free to send me a message if you would like to know what sort of role your player will likely play.

First game of the tour is underway against Zimbabwe U20. We started well with two quick wickets, however a poor performance from some of our bowlers led to a strong consolidation and then 0/80 in the last 10 overs.

J. Shakur (lm) 10-1-65-0, B. O'Leary 47 (40b), N. Sakara 95 (100b)
End of over 50 (10 runs) - Zimbabwe U20(257-5) RR 5.14

Slow/Humid conditions so this game is over.

Really disappointing after a good first 20 overs for us

Well so much for the break....

There I was minding my own business having a bath drinking an ice cold pink lemonade and smashing a caramel cheesecake when I get a call from a private number. Ofc I screened it. But it called again and on the 3rd ring I answered. I can’t tell you many of the details of that conversation but it included underground infrastructure and insects. Anywho I really do ramble on. Two days later I’m on my way to South Africa for an all expenses paid holiday.... I mean to report on the U20 Div 3 Tour. Let’s get to the cricket.

U20 One Day 3

Sighs, here we go again.

Tour Match # 1
VS
Result: (that’s as much as I can display how upset I am with emojis until the great crowverlord grants me more wishes I mean emojis).
win by 39 runs

The Match in a tweet: UAE let the game slip after having Zimbabwe in shatters at 2/9.

Man of the Match: Salman Kardal

Our Best:
Salman Kardal - couldn’t have done much more to try and get the win today. 3/26 off his 10 overs with the ball including 2 maidens. Followed up with 42 runs from the bat including a 69 run partnership with Hussein to give our batting some substance.

Fahd Hussein - unbeaten on 91. A solid batting display and unlucky to not get to the triple figures. Can hold his head up with pride this evening.

Bowlers need to leak less runs. Batsmen need to consolidate their starts. It’s simple stuff but so am I and sometimes simple just works.

Tune in at 0800 again tomorrow as the lads take on the Netherlands.

Trust in the process

Thanks Moose

Bowlers cost us today. Started well but couldn’t go on with it. Into game 2 now - can’t afford to lose any more games.

J. Shakur (lm) 10-0-47-2, J. Weijl 25 (18b), E. Dees 70 (54b)
End of over 50 (6 runs) - Netherlands U20(260-5) RR 5.20

Four missed chances has likely cost us any chance of winning this one. Hopefully we can get a bit more from our openers today.