The ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA) celebrated its first year of operation at its Dubai Sports City (DSC) facility this week by announcing its Arabian Cricket League (ACL) for corporate and club teams to take place in November and December 2011.

The ACL, run under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council, will see 16 teams divided into four groups with each team playing a minimum of six matches ahead of semi-finals and a final.

The Twenty20 tournament will run on Monday to Thursday evenings every week from November 1, under lights at the ICC GCA Ovals, and will culminate with a final on December 29.

Teams wanting to get involved can call +971 4 448 1355 or email iccgca@dxbsport.com. Registrations close on October 30 but the event is likely to be popular so early enquiries are encouraged.

ICC GCA Operations Manager Salman Hanif said: “We wanted to do something special for the ICC GCA’s first anniversary of operation at Dubai Sports City and so we’ve come up with the Arabian Cricket League. Most local tournaments involve teams playing over a 10 to 15-day period but we want to give those passionate people something more and to be involved for a longer period of time.

“The Arabian Cricket League will involve 51 matches over 50 days in November and December and with a guaranteed minimum of six matches for each team, all under floodlights, it is a superb opportunity for cricketers to experience the world’s-best facilities for themselves at the ICC GCA.”

The ACL is will feature prize money of AED15000 for the winning team with AED7500 to the losing finalist. The tournament will become a permanent feature in the ICC GCA calendar of events.

	Afghanistan will be hoping to build on their success at the World Cup qualifiers © Getty Images

Afghanistan and China will be star attractions in the 12-nation Asian Twenty20 Cup which starts in Dubai on November 22.

Afghanistan surprised the world by finishing among the top six in the 2011 World Cup qualifying tournament to gain one-day international status earlier this year, while China will be making their debut in an Asian Twenty20 event.

The tournament serves as a qualifying round for next year's Asian Games and Mazhar Khan, administrator of Emirates Cricket Board, is hoping it will help expand cricket in Asia. "It's great to have China and Afghanistan in the event and a step forward towards promoting the game in Asia."

Sharjah and Abu Dhabi will host the matches from which the top three teams will join Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. Twenty20 cricket became an Asian Games sport after it was approved by the Olympic Council of Asia in May, a decision that could bring Twenty20 closer to full Olympic status.

Alongside China and Afghanistan, teams from Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore, Qatar, Hong Kong, Nepal, Saudi Arab, Malaysia and Bahrain will compete in the event which runs until November 30.

Khan believes the Cup will also help Asian teams tune up for the World Twenty20 qualifiers to be held in the UAE in February next year.

"These teams will have some good preparations for the World Twenty20 qualifiers from where two teams will get a place in the third World Twenty20 Cup to be held in the West Indies next year.”

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Although the ICC draws considerable flak on many fronts, it is quietly committed to promoting the game in as many countries as possible, and it does that by means of a myriad of competitions and initiatives. Most do not warrant much media attention, but they are there and they work.

Until now, the gripe of the smaller countries, and especially those bubbling just underneath the top flight, has been about the inequality of the way in which the game is financed. That was never more apparent than when it came to earnings from last year's World Cup.

Ireland got a flat fee of US$125,000 a year for four years for taking part, and on top of that they received another $50,000 for reaching the Super Eights. However, because of the extra costs involved in their progression, not least because their players are not professional cricketers and their absences from their full-time jobs had to be underwritten, Ireland's success actually left the board out of pocket.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, turned up, tied with Ireland and never threatened to progress after being thumped by Pakistan and West Indies. For those three matches, Zimbabwe Cricket received US$11 million, their share of the pot as a Full Member.

The top six Associates receive no more than US$500,000 a year - some substantially less - to fund their entire operations. Out of that they have to pay all their cricketing and administration costs. Only those with a low cost of living, such as Kenya, can hope to maintain a professional squad on that kind of money.

The gulf between the haves and have-nots is further widened by the limited sums Associates can earn from sponsorship and media contracts. Zimbabwe can exploit home series against, say, India to carve out lucrative TV deals worth millions, and on the back of that, attract shirt- and other corporate sponsorship. As highlighted by Scotland's failure to secure any TV deal for their forthcoming ODI against England, the Associates struggle to get such income streams.

The new deals will provide a substantial increase for Associates, especially for the countries who are pressing for space at the top table. Until now the share has been roughly equal, rewarding Netherlands and Kenya on par with Thailand and Fiji. The new system will see more demarcation between the top Associates and the rest.

The leading ten could earn as much as US$1.5 million a year from 2009. There will then be an onus on them to professionalise their administrations, but several of them are already well down that route. They will also be more accountable - the ICC does not want a repeat of the mess that came following a spike in Kenya's funding earlier in the decade.

The second-string Associates will also get more - around US$160,000 as a base figure - but then again the demands on them are less. Even Affiliates will receive US$15,000, with the opportunity for more should they make a good enough case. There will also be more cash in the pot for participating and hosting competitions.

There have never been more opportunities for development outside the Full Member countries, but there remain some nagging worries.

The main one is how to bridge the gap between semi and full-blown professionalism. Almost all the Associates rely on dedicated amateurs, both on and off the field. As the number of ICC competitions has increased - and they have to be welcomed - the pressure has begun to tell. Scotland and Ireland particularly have already found players cannot meet all their commitments, and even the increased income will not allow them to employ a full-time squad.

"So much of putting players on full-time retainers depends on how many fixtures we can command," Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland's chief executive, said. "At the moment, all we can promise the squad in 2009 is a World Cup qualifying campaign, eight FP Trophy matches, an England game, and probably some Intercontinental Cup matches. Of course, we hope to have more, but can't be sure at the moment.

"Our top players are already plying their trade in county cricket, while others have full-time jobs which they may not wish to give up. The actual number of players that the coach will want to put on a full-time contract, or else the number that even want to have one, may not be that many."

The other quandary is how to get them fixtures. Kenya, widely regarded as the leading Associate, have found it almost impossible to get Full Member countries to visit or host them. As a result they invariably play other Associates. Good for the win-loss ratio, not so clever in providing the kind of experience that no amount of money can buy.

These issues will need to be addressed, but for now the future has never looked so promising beyond the Test world.

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

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It might be one of the hottest, driest countries in the world but the mantra that "nothing is impossible" couldn't be more appropriate for Dubai, whose preparations to build a world class cricket centre continue at apace.

Trade Arabia, a business website, reports that "Dubai Sports City’s strategy is to provide the finest ever sports facilities and cricket is to be a cornerstone sport, guaranteed to appeal to a worldwide audience happy to take advantage of the prime location of the UAE," while adding that they will build a special laboratory to produce different types of turf.

“The operation includes developing a specialist laboratory capable of supporting this activity, to the point where we can use climate control to make the turf an exact match for the practice needs of bowlers and batsmen,” he added.

In order to create the 28 specialist turf wickets, three different national soil types were imported to Dubai. An impressive 380 tons of Australian clay, 380 tons of clay from Pakistan and 180 tons of clay from England are en route to Dubai.

Under the strict control of the UAE government laboratory, the clay types will be screened for harmful nematodes, soil-based diseases and fungi such as fusarium. Once declared free of these threats, the soil will travel through the UAE in conditions designed to keep it entirely free of contamination by sand particles.

Tariq Butt is almost single handedly keeping cricket in Dubai alive, according to an interesting report in Gulfnews.

Tariq Butt, one of the UAE's leading umpires, is a passionate organiser of tournaments. Since 1989 Butt has staged tournaments in different parts of Dubai and is keen to see that cricket continues to thrive in Dubai.

"For the last 18 years I have organised cricket festivals to mark the Indian and Pakistan Independence Day. I made sure that absence of grounds does not put to an end to this tradition," said Butt, who hails from Pakistan.

The Gulf News reports that the Dubai Sports City cricket stadium will open in January 2008 and the first international match could be as soon as March next year.

The 25,000-seater ground, which will be totally covered, features a roof that is able to withstand all weather patterns and even absorb dust storms and moisture and provide a cool atmosphere. The pitch will be suited to one-day cricket and soil and grass from different parts of the world are being experimented with.

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It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

With the exception of Bermuda, cricket is not a mainstream sport in any of the participants. And yet it survives, and in some instances thrives, despite the lack of attention and a relatively small number of enthusiasts.

The ICC, who do sterling work in supporting the game's second and third tiers, will rightly use the event to highlight that cricket is not just about the Indians and Australias of the world.

But there remains a nagging worry. The ICC boasts that the game is spreading across the world. But is that right? Is it taking root or is it surviving because more people from its hotbed - south-east Asia - are emigrating and keeping it alive for the duration of their careers?

In last year's Wisden Almanack, Matthew Engel raised this very issue. "Overwhelmingly, the game in non-traditional countries is played by expatriates, mostly South Asian. Journalists were kidded into believing that cricket was about to burst on China, on the basis of some warm comments by civil servants and a couple of coaching courses. I have seen not one shred of evidence to back this up. Are the kids playing with tapeballs on the streets of Shanghai? Are they heck!"

Take Canada. Of the squad in Nairobi at the moment, only three were born in the country, and two of those are over 35. Of the rest, five come from the Caribbean, four from India and each from Pakistan and Uganda. Whereas other Associates have a smattering of expats, Canada are utterly reliant on them.

Engel's comment attracted fierce criticism from those who either argued that England had more than their share of "imports" or that the game only spread in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Caribbean through expats playing it in the first place.

The worry in some countries is that rather the game is not being continued by the second and third generations but is only being maintained by a steady flow of new immigrants

With regards to England, yes there have been quite a few non English-born players who have been picked for the side, but the game still has a massive stronghold in the country. The selection has been more about improving a solid side. And as for the ex-pats argument? Well, yes, but that's the crucial point. In the regions flagged the game was brought in but it was then embraced by the indigenous population and taken on as their own. This is exemplified no better than in CLR James's seminal work, Beyond A Boundary.

The worry in some countries - and again I come back to Canada - is that rather the game is not being continued by the second and third generations but is only being maintained by a steady flow of new immigrants. Canada's cricket heritage is rich but there is little sign that it has been built on. This is best underlined by the selection of former West Indies international Anderson Cummins. Forty years old and without a major match to his name since 1995-96, he made his debut in Mombasa last week. What message does that send out about the strength in depth of cricket in Canada?

It's not just Canada. Look at the USA, whose 2004 Champions Trophy side was a collection of ageing expats whose performances verged on the disgraceful. And the UAE, which is almost entirely dependant on its ex-pat workforce to keep the game alive.

Cricket's expansion should not be about filling teams with expats and expecting the locals to get excited about it. The only way cricket can gain a foothold in emerging countries is by actually getting the indigenous population to embrace the game, and two excellent examples where this is happening are Nepal and Uganda.

Anderson Cummins of Barbados, West Inbies ... and now Canada © Eddie Norfolk

Does it matter? Yes, because as the ICC looks to develop the game in as many places as possible, that means the financial cake has to be cut in ever thinner slices. The ICC needs to concentrate on a smaller number of countries where the chances of the game taking off. It is invidious that Uganda gets the same basic allowance as Belgium.

Cricket is in trouble in its traditional homes in Africa - Zimbabwe are hell-bent on destruction and South Africa seems to be falling out of love with the game. So efforts should be made in Uganda . And in Asia, which everyone accepts is the game's stronghold, a side like Nepal should really be given the leg up. It's about targeting rather than a scattergun approach.

In fairness to the ICC, they have a tough time and a lot of countries scrambling for a share of the spoils. It's about weeding out the weak and really looking to grow the game in areas where it has the best chance of taking root. It's an almost impossible ask. Look at the repeated failure of American Football to crack Europe ... and if football itself still battles for acceptance outside expats and schools in the USA, then the size of the ICC's task becomes clear.

Of course expats have a key role to play in expansion. But if the game is basically played by them, is it the game spreading or is it more about diehards clinging to the traditions of their homelands? In the UK there are baseball and American football sides, but they are almost all expat Americans and so few would seriously claim the games have taken hold. However, basketball and ice hockey are widely played by locals, boosted by some imported players and expats, and, crucially, the national side can stand on its own two feet. That's the difference.

The Dubai Cricket Council, which hosts the maximum tournaments in the UAE, has been unable to announce their schedule for the new season.

With the seven grounds in the Al Jadaf area being taken over for the construction of the Dubai Health City three months back, the DCC is left with no grounds to stage their events.

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Mike Gatting has described the demise of the Dubai Cricket Council grounds in Al Jadaf as a “crying shame.” Gatting last played at the ground in March, when he captained the Lord’s Taverners in their annual charity fixture against Fly Emirates.

The DCC grounds, which housed seven cricket pitches, staged 500 matches a year until they were bulldozed last month to make way for what will eventually become Dubai Healthcare City. A replacement venue has yet to be found.

“I loved playing at the ground in Dubai, it was a little oasis out there, and it’s a crying shame that the facilities there couldn’t be saved. You just hope that somebody there might relocate them, but with the pace of development in Dubai that won’t be easy."

Gulfnews.com report that cricket in Dubai is slowly grinding to a halt, with the news that the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) has had to vacate its premises in the Al Jadaf area after the Dubai Municipality evicted them.

"Thousands of cricket players and cricket lovers in Dubai are shocked with this cruel reality. The authorities should wake up and act in time to set up new facility before the start of next season in September," wrote one fan, outraged at the decision.