Tuesday 30 / April / 2024
Muscat: Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) manager Ed McKenna did not mince words when he praised Oman national cricket team after their final tour match at the spectacular Ministry of Sports Affairs ground at Al Amerat.
The MCC cricket team's visit came at the right time for Oman and playing against them was a stern test for the national cricketers, who are embarking on an ambitious trip tomorrow to Dharamsala for a training camp before they take part in the Asia Cup qualifiers in Bangladesh and the World T20 preliminary rounds in India.
The win over MCC on Monday gave Oman the much needed boost ahead of their mission and the positive remarks from the MCC manager have indeed come as a shot in the arm for the team.
"I found good things in the team and as a unit they are capable of notching stunners during the mission," said Ed McKenna in a brief chat with Times Sport.
"The spinners are really good and so are the pacers, some of them having unorthodox styles," said McKenna, though not mentioning much on the batsmen.
On his thoughts on Oman's chances in the World T20, McKenna mentioned 'bright'.
"What is crucial is a win in the opening match and not worry about Bangladesh, which comes last. An opening win always sets the rhythm as we saw during ICC qualifiers," opined McKenna, who also praised the development of the game in Oman.
"This ground is wonderful from a passionate cricketers' point of view, when the remaining part of infrastructure is complete (I believe by next year) it will be great," the MCC official said.
He hailed the plan of developing the academy by Oman Cricket on the basis of expertise from MCC.
"The association of Oman Cricket and MCC is perfect and we can expect more exchanges between us in the future," said McKenna.
"I have hinted at MCC hosting Oman's budding cricketers and provide them with more exposure with matches against junior County teams," he said.
"We can also work on future tours of national teams to United Kingdom and I will be suggesting all this in my tour report," he explained.
On the tour to Oman, McKenna sounded pleased with his team winning two games (against Assarain and National Youth Development Team) of the four they played.
MCC lost the other two games to Muscat CT and also the national team.
During the visit, McKenna also mentioned that it was good to conduct coaching sessions for budding cricketers.
After the match McKenna was presented a souvenir by Oman team manager Jameel Zaidi, while Oman captain Sultan Ahmed also presented a souvenir to MCC skipper Clint Perren.
MCC team, who have left for Bahrain where they will play on brown grounds with cemented wickets as it was once in Oman, also boasted of current professional cricketers Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who plays for Warwickshire, and Shiv Thakor of Leicestershire.
