In the UAE, including in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, sports are really hard for women to play and participate in. Recognizing and celebrating the advancement of women in society, including sports, isn’t very common. However, there’s a notable exception with cricket in this area.
Although the UAE women’s cricket team wasn’t the top-performing associate team last year and didn’t make it to the T20 World Cup, they had an impressive streak in the continental qualification matches. Their performance indicates that it will lead to a good future for them.
Esha Oza’s migration
Their program now consists mostly of players born in the country who are being introduced to cricket through a well-organized academy system. This concept and system are supported by parents who understand the importance of physical activity for both boys and girls. So they are encouraging their children to participate in sports.
Esha Oza, the captain of the UAE women’s cricket team, was just a baby when her family relocated from Mumbai to the country in 1998. She grew up in this nation, and obviously, it became her home. When she was in school, the first focus was playing football, and it was during her summer visits to India that she found her passion for the game. She used to join her cousins in the street version as a childhood pastime.
UAE first official T20
When the UAE women’s team played their first official T20 international match in 2018, Oza was on the field as part of the team. At that point, she was also involved with an ICC Development Squad that played in England. Just six months later, she achieved her first half-century in a match against China, marking the start of her successful career. By the time she was 20 and nearly finished with her higher education, Raza noted that this is typically the age when many young women stop participating in sports.
“The challenge comes when they cross the school and university age, where they have to step into the real world and get a job or get married. The challenge for me, or the board, is to keep them in the system,” she said. Luckily for Oza, she had a clear plan and good conditions to support her plans. In the summer of 2019, she chose to spend an extended time in Mumbai to pursue a spot on the domestic Under-23 cricket team.
Oza’s plan for the future
The experience itself was more challenging than anything she’d known before. “For the trials, there were more than 5000 girls. Then, it was about getting to the later stages—the top 100 and the last 30 for the camp.” She said. During this time, she was also working towards her bachelor’s degree in commerce and management from the University of Wollongong. Balancing everything could have been overwhelming, but the shift to online learning due to COVID-19 helped her manage it all. Right now, all the full-member women’s cricket teams have ODI status.
In 2022, five associate teams—the Netherlands, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and the USA—were also granted ODI status. There doesn’t seem to be a specific criteria for awarding ODI status to women’s teams other than showing improvement in their results. On that note, the UAE meets the mark. This year, they’ve won eight out of 11 matches, marking their best performance in any year where they’ve played more than five games. They have a chance to build on this record at the Asia Cup, where they are grouped with powerhouse teams India and Pakistan, as well as Nepal, who are ranked five places below them.
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