After his insightful coverage of Pakistan's progress at the ICC World T20 2012, Brian Murgatroyd, in his latest entry of "Inside Track", now turns his attention to the shortcomings of the venues at the Champions League (CLT20) and presents his views on why the UAE could be an ideal home for such a prestigious tournament.

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By Brian Murgatroyd (22nd October, 2012)

Given I live in Dubai you may say I’m biased, but watching the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa, I can’t help thinking it’s a tournament that should be happening on an annual basis in the United Arab Emirates.

To start with there’s the weather. At this time of the year in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah it’s warm, unlike the chilly evenings of Johannesburg or Cape Town, and also predictable, unlike the rain in Durban that confirmed the Kolkata Knight Riders’ early exit.

The issues the 2012 tournament has experienced with the weather are a legacy of the fact that it, like most ICC events, is shoehorned into a place in the calendar where it doesn’t interfere with the international commitments of countries with competing teams.

To illustrate that point, the tournament would be a fantastic event in South Africa in January when the weather is warmer and much more predictable, the pitches have lost their early-season sting and the school holidays are taking place. But to do that would mean interrupting not only South Africa’s usual international commitments at that time, and also those of the other countries, all of whom would be under pressure to include top players to ensure the tournament’s integrity. And that is something that, even in a climate where Twenty20 cricket is assuming greater and greater importance, is not going to happen, at least not now.

The pitches in the UAE are also much more like those in the sub-continent than is the case in Australia or South Africa, and that, in turn, would mean a much more likely passage to the latter stages for IPL sides, something guaranteed to give the all-important television ratings an upwards bump.

Then there are the crowds. Far too many of the matches in the Champions League outside of the weekends have taken place in front of near-empty banks of seating, not a great look for a tournament that brings together the best domestic Twenty20 sides in the world.

As we saw during the Pakistan – Australia One-Day International and Twenty20 International series in August and September, cricket fans will turn out to watch quality cricket in the UAE even at 2am – and with the right ticket-pricing and marketing there’s no reason why that wouldn’t also happen for the Champions League, especially if top Indian players were on show, of which more later.

Logistically the UAE also presses all the right buttons. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are hubs for international travel and are stopping-off points for sides heading all over the world. That’s one reason the ICC decided to base itself in the country in preference to other alternatives like Switzerland, Singapore or Ireland.

There are more than enough quality cricket grounds to go around with Dubai Sports City, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah all up to the task at hand and with numerous additional practice facilities, including the ICC’s own Global Cricket Academy, also available.

And nowhere is more than a drive away so there would be no need to worry about the hassle of having to fly anywhere with all the attendant baggage issues that go with that, as is the case with the current tournament, with matches in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Centurion.

The additional attraction of the tournament in the UAE is that it could be marketed by both the organisers and the host as a destination event. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi governments are keen to put themselves forward as venues for tourism and the players themselves would welcome the chance to spend time in the country, especially as it would offer the chance for families to be there and have a good time too, something vitally important in the current packed international schedule. And that would be without the need to fly between centres too, another important family consideration.

So, all the ducks seem to be in a row on this idea. Except for one thing: the Board of Control for Cricket in India, one of the major stakeholders in the Champions League, along with Australia and South Africa, remains reluctant to have its teams play in the UAE, something confirmed by Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf in September when he was asked by reporters about the possibility of a bilateral series in the country.

India has been a regular visitor to the UAE in the past for many years, of course, with Sharjah providing the backdrop to some memorable matches. Sachin Tendulkar’s back-to-back One-Day International hundreds against Australia in April 1998 will go down as one of his and the venue’s finest hours.

But India haven’t been to the UAE since playing Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2006 in matches to mark the opening of the stadium there with their reluctance to return apparently based on uneasiness concerning the country’s past alleged links to corruption.

But while that reluctance in the face of such fears is understandable, the ideal remains for them to be persuaded that such a threat, while never completely removed, is at least under control thanks to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, which operates at tournaments like the Champions League as well as international matches, if requested.

The new Emirates Cricket Board Chief Executive Officer is David East, the former Essex wicketkeeper who has resigned from an identical role with that county after holding it for more than a decade in order to succeed the retired Dilawar Mani.

East’s brief is to take cricket in the UAE “to the next level”, and one way to do that would be to get marquee events like the Champions League, as well as marquee sides like India to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, something that may be especially necessary if Pakistan are able to build on their desire to return to playing international cricket at home after more than three years of off-shore matches.

East starts his new role in the UAE in January 2013, and already his in-tray looks not only full, but also full of interesting possibilities.

Discuss!