Sharjah fans left in the cold

By Martin Gough

While fans in Pakistan last year, and India next month, have happily greeted the return of tours between the arch-rivals, one fanatical group of supporters has been left in the cold.

Sharjah has not seen a one-day international since 2003

Government relations prohibited India to host or visit Pakistan for much of the 1990s and the first part of this century, and in the meantime Sharjah prospered.

Between 1984 and 2003, the stadium in the Arabian desert hosted 198 full one-day internationals - more than Lord's and the Melbourne Cricket Ground combined.

Of those, 156 involved either India or Pakistan, bayed on by crowds of up to 27,000, most from the large expatriate communities in the United Arab Emirates.

Sharjah used to host one-day tournaments twice a year, but the last of those was in 2003, when Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in the final.

When the UAE host England A in three day-night matches this week they can expect around 3,000 to turn out.

"We were planning to host a series in March or April but the issue was the India/Pakistan series," says Zahid Noorani, chief executive of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series, which runs events there.

The organisers need to find a slot of a week or 10 days each year and pay [national boards] a reasonable amount Asif Iqbal

Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal played in the first ever match at the stadium in 1981 and says he is "very disappointed" at the lack of big-time action there now.

"Even with India not coming, other teams were willing to come but with India there's a huge difference," he tells BBC Sport.

"Now they [India and Pakistan] have started playing each other in their own countries there is less time and less attraction."

Sharjah's heyday was brought to an abrupt halt at the end of the 1990s, when match-fixing allegations, none of which were proven, saw India's government to ban the side from playing there for a period.

Since then, the International Cricket Council has revamped its calendar with far more mandatory tours for each Test nation.

One-day tournaments such as the ICC Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup, which used to be a Sharjah event, reduce availability even further.

SHARJAH HIGHLIGHTS 6 April 1984 Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by five wickets in the first full one-day international 18 April 1986 Javed Miandad hits a six off the last ball to beat India in the Austral-Asia Cup final April 1990 Six teams take part in the Austral-Asia Cup, Pakistan beating Australia in the final 19 December 1997 Adam Hollioake's England beat West Indies for their first and only Sharjah title February 2002 Pakistan play West Indies in the only two Test matches ever in Sharjah

Instead, stadium organisers are focussing on A-team tournaments, which could perhaps include Twenty20 cricket in future.

But there was more to the old-style international tournaments than the money-spinning, made-for-television events they became.

Their advent had charitable roots as the benefit system that provides English cricketers with a pension was not available to players from the subcontinent, until CBFS stepped in.

"Present-day cricketers earn sufficient money not to warrant a benefit scheme," explained Asif, who was CBFS co-ordinator until 2001.

"But this started, as far as Pakistan is concerned, only in the last three years.

"This scheme provided for those who played in the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s."

Asif believes the solution is simple.

"The organisers need to find a slot of a week or 10 days each year, approach [the national boards], say 'This is something we really want to continue', and pay them a reasonable amount."

Noorani refuses to rule out the return of major international cricket, and is in the process of planning a tournament for the end of the year.

"The calendar is really tight but we are still hopeful," he says.

"We're in constant touch with national boards including South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

"There is such a multicultural population in the UAE that it makes any country viable."

But it would take a meeting between India and Pakistan to revive former glories.