ICC crown for Abu Dhabi Tolerance Oval

Article posted by Coliseum, September 2^nd, 2022

Image: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Rizwan Ullah Wazir, CC BY 3.0

The Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi has become the fourth venue in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to receive clearance to host international cricket matches from the world governing body – the International Cricket Council (ICC).

‘The National’ stated that the Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub’s facility has been granted full International Cricket Council (ICC) accreditation as a day-night venue, which means it can host T20 and One-Day International matches just two years after its opening.

The 12,000-capacity Tolerance Oval is a cricket ground in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was one of the venues used for the 2019 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier. In July 2021, the ground was awaiting accreditation by the International Cricket Council to be used as one of the venues for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

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The Dubai (UAE)-based International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1987.

‘The National’ further stated that the Tolerance Oval becomes the fourth of its kind in the country to gain ICC accreditation, alongside the 25,000-capacity Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, the 16,000-capacity Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah, UAE, and the 20,000-capacity Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Following the announcement, Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub Chief Executive Matt Boucher remarked, “Our vision for Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub is two-pronged – we want our incredible venue to host the highest caliber of international events while simultaneously catering to the 760,000 community sport athletes that use our facility annually. The Tolerance Oval is a prime example of this vision, having already hosted the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup warm-up matches, teams from the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL), 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL), 2021 Abu Dhabi T10, as well as the inaugural T20 Abu Dhabi Community Cup final in the last 12 months.”

Added Boucher, “We also wanted the Emirates Cricket Board to have a fourth international ground at their disposal to make Abu Dhabi even more capable of hosting major, multivenue global competitions and tournaments.”

Added Mubashir Usmani, Emirates Cricket Board General Secretary, “We applaud Abu Dhabi Cricket in adding yet another ICC accredited stadium to their venues and to the UAE’s world-class cricket offerings. It immediately bolsters the country’s cricketing product and further establishes the UAE as one of the best sporting destinations in the world, while increasing Emirates Cricket’s ability to host and deliver multivenue ICC tournaments and the world’s best franchise competitions.”

The Tolerance Oval has a total of nine turf pitches and five broadcast-rigged grass wickets, with full LED floodlights and an array of training facilities that include 20 natural grass wickets in the nearby international nets area.

The Tolerance Oval was given the highest rating in 17 out of the 29 categories by the Emirate Cricket Board’s Inspectors, which was then ratified by the ICC.

The England men’s Test side will be one of the first major international teams to use the facility after its accreditation. They will be in Abu Dhabi on November 18^th for a training camp before this Winter’s tour of Pakistan and will face their Lions counterparts (England Lions cricket team) in a three-day warm-up match at the Tolerance Oval from November 23^rd.

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