Postcard from Dubai

The last day of my stay in Dubai, covering the rugby sevens (a sport at which England have suddenly turned out to be quite good), and time for a few cricket-related reflections, not least because one of the star attractions on the tournament's first day was James Fitzgerald, one of the ICC's press officers, who is a qualified rugby referee and spent yesterday running up and down the touchline waving his flag.

I imagine one of the things going through James's mind as he officiated in the first of three matches involving Zimbabwe, who were beaten by New Zealand, Australia and Wales, was "why does no one give the IRB any rubbish over Zimbabwe's participation in world rugby, like they do to the ICC?" For that matter, why was there no criticism of the IOC for Zimbabwe taking part in the Olympics?

It seems that cricket is the only sport that attracts opprobrium for allowing Zimbabwe to have a role. Surely the administrators for sports other than cricket in Zimbabwe are just as dubious as Peter Chingoka. Surely their finances must also be up the spout. And yet no one demands, as they do for cricket, that Zimbabwe should be cast out of world rugby. Why must cricket be sport's moral martyrs? Is it just because, unlike in most other sports, Zimbabwe are regarded as one of cricket's powers? If they were of the same standard as Holland or the UAE, would anyone care?

The ICC has other connections with rugby. Their new company secretary, Iain Higgins, is a former Scotland and London Broncos rugby league player. I popped in to see our sport's illustrious governing body during my stay and Brian Murgatroyd, the head press honcho, was kind enough to give me coffee and show me round the offices, including the plans for their new purpose-built HQ in Dubai, which they hope to move in to next spring. Hearteningly, given the ICC's previous tenure in St John's Wood, the plans include a traditional clock tower, as there is at Lord's, above the main entrance.

It is also pleasing to learn that next year's ICC annual conference, which was moved from Lord's this year because Britain refused to give Chingoka a visa, is guaranteed to take place in London during the ICC's centenary year.

I briefly met Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, who seems very friendly and, reassuringly, un-lawyerly. Something of a change from Malcolm Speed, his predecessor. He wasn't even wearing a tie. "Is there anything that I can do for you," Lorgat asked, and suddenly your humble blogger was aware of the immense power he had been given. I had the head of world cricket offering his services, what should I ask him? To ensure the primacy of Test cricket in the face of the IPL? To stand up for his umpires a bit more often? To get Bob Willis off the telly?

Instead, I went for a more parochial wish. "Can you fix it for Essex to win next year's county championship?" I asked. There was a stunned silence. Murgers may even have spilt his coffee. He certainly muttered "bad choice of words". Lorgat looked at me kindly. "Mr Kidd, the ICC doesn't believe in match-fixing," he said. Bah.

On my cab ride back I discussed cricket with my taxi driver. It seems that most cabbies here are Pakistani immigrants who fly in (it's only 90 minutes from Islamabad) each day to work a 12-hour shift, earning enough money not only to cover their air fare but to send some home to their families. My driver for that trip said his favourite Pakistani cricketer was Shahid Afridi, so I decided to census every taxi driver I met. One said he preferred Wasim Akram. Imran Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq also got votes, as did Shoaib Malik.

Oddly, when asked for their favourite English cricketers, the drivers almost unanimously picked wicketkeepers, with opinion divided between the merits of Alec Stewart and Jack Russell (with Nasser Hussain also getting a vote). No one was sticking up for Matt Prior, however. I imagine that most Pakistani taxi drivers, like any sensible person, feel that James Foster really should be the England glovesman.

Comments

[Lbug]

"most cabbies here are Pakistani immigrants who fly in (it's only 90 minutes from Islamabad) each day to work a 12-hour shift"

That's insane (like much of Dubai).