(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) If Oman Cricket (OC) continues to develop the sport at a satisfactory pace then the sultanate could soon get to host ICC tournaments according to Iqbal Sikander the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) chief development officer.
Sikander who was on a visit to Muscat over the weekend told Muscat Daily 'The ICC and the ACC are there to support OC. So far we feel OC has done a wonderful job and we hope that it will continue to do so in the future.'
The former Pakistan international added 'The ICC and the ACC are keeping a close eye on OC which is growing fast. If they see that development work is going on here their interest in Oman will grow further. What will happen then is Oman will get to host ICC tournaments. It will bring in good revenue for OC and give Oman a big name in world cricket.'
The ACC functionary pointed out that hosting international events will serve as a welcome test for Oman's existing facilities and will give OC officials and staff an opportunity to work on their organisational skills.
OC aims to spread the game across sultanate
OC in collaboration with the ACC is set to begin a development plan aimed at promoting the game in other regions of the country with the target of eventually establishing a national championship.
Sikander said that plans are underway to rejig Oman's domestic cricket structure by increasing the participation of players from all parts of the country especially Sohar Salalah Sur Nizwa and Barka.
'Cricket has been played in Oman for a long time. But predominantly it has been played only in Muscat. There are other places in Oman where cricket is still been played but they are not quite getting recognition. This time it is going to be a good initiative by OC and the ACC to go out of Muscat and look at other areas where cricket is played.'
Sikander said the main idea is to encourage more players to get involved in competitive cricket across as many regions of Oman as possible so that OC can get a solid foundation for forming better teams for domestic tournaments.
'What we are looking at is to have as many cities as possible where cricket is played to go out there as the governing board and to try and organise cricket over there. So far we have been to Sohar. We will be going to Salalah soon. Sur Nizwa and Barka are in line for our next visits.'
Sikander who was part of the 1992 World Cup-winning Pakistan team said 'I was highly impressed when we visited Sohar. We need to have a good committee there that could come up with suggestions and ways to develop cricket.
'This is how we will be able to expand cricket in Oman. I suggest OC should organise a national championship involving all the cities with the champion team of each city invited to Muscat for more matches.'
The ACC official said 'Through this I am hoping that we will get a lot of talented players from all parts of Oman. I am sure there would be a lot of Omanis playing cricket in the other cities. At the moment they are not getting exposure. In places like Sohar they have the potential to have a fully Omani cricket team.'
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