Cricket: Champions' Cup Final - Empty seats as expats miss out on calypso and the Mexican clap
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Your support makes all the difference.Sharjah is one of those places that sounds much more exotic than it actually is, and that goes for the cricket stadium too. Stuck in the middle of a dilapidated but supposedly developing industrial quarter of town, the facilities at the ground pale in comparison with those on offer in the thousand or so hotels of nearby Dubai. But this is rapidly becoming a Mecca for one-day cricket.
Above the stands are adverts for the forthcoming tournaments: the Sharjah Cup in April and then the ICC Knockout, or mini World Cup, next autumn; all part of the Emirates' attempt to change the image of the desert through the advent of top-class international sport.
The expat community here, from many of the Test-playing nations, is largely responsible for promoting this old fishing port as a cricket venue, but surprisingly few of them turned out yesterday. England versus the West Indies was not the dream final as far as the organisers were concerned and the empty seats in the East and West Stands confirmed it. Last Sunday a capacity 25,000 crowd came to see India play Pakistan, with half as many again locked outside.
With no alcohol to be had, presumably only the die-hard members of the Barmy Army had bothered to make the trip, but they were nevertheless in evidence.
As far as the locals were concerned it was very much a family day-out, with the cricket providing little more than a pleasant distraction.
It was all good humoured, perhaps inspired by a programme that listed Carl Hooper as Carl Hopper and told us that Graeme Hick was pronounced Graeme Hick and that he was known, believe it or not, as Graeme Hick. Franklyn Rose is apparently known as Frankly Albert Rose.
Even Brian Lara's premature dismissal barely raised a murmur, despite the legion of his admirers. One banner read "My favourite hero Brian Lara, wish your success," while another said simply "Bolo Lara", summing up everyone's feelings succinctly.
The drinks interval was marked by the appearance of a ginormous Coca- Cola bottle and brought a welcome dash of calypso music by a band from Trinidad, while the Sharjah ra-ra girls did their best to whip the crowd up into a frenzy.
When the England innings began under lights the chattering grew perceptibly louder, although the random applause - a sort of Mexican clap - that accompanied the West Indian batsmen died away. Instead, as Alec Stewart started to get among the West Indian bowling, more authentic roars of approval greeted every hook and pull.
Stewart's 50 was warmly applauded, while the Mashrea Bank conveyed their congratulations to S Stewart by way of a message flashed up on the colourful electronic scoreboard. But when Hick and then Stewart were dismissed in quick succession, the nature of the contest changed and a crowd that had steadily grown in numbers began to tuck into the business end of the day.
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