The Future Legends Cricket Academy (FLCA) will begin operating across four locations in Dubai from next month with plans of expansion across the UAE.

Dashing Pakistan cricketer turned commentator Rameez Raja is supporting Aravinda’s dream project.

“We both have experienced the thrill of winning a World Cup and the glory, it brings. FLCA is our way of giving back to the game, which has given us so much, and made us who we are today. This academy and its curriculum is a result of extensive research carried out by us during the past year, identifying the gaps in the coaching programmes and the way forward for producing cricketing professionals in UAE,” said former Sri Lanka captain Aravinda de Silva.

“Talent is what the youngsters possess and we hope to build on their natural talent and provide them with the necessary and correct technical skills so that they can achieve greatness in cricket,” said Rameez.

FLCA appears to be an extension of a talent search project Aravinda started in Sri Lanka seven years ago.

“I stepped into this project to create champions and to create champions is not an easy task as it is not the talent or enthusiasm alone that makes champions. A lot of work goes behind the scene in the making of a champion,” said Aravinda at a press conference to launch FLCA in Dubai on Sunday.

Looking back at his career, Aravinda, 50,said,“I started at the age of seven and after schooI I used to stay and watch our seniors practice and every time the ball came beyond the boundary line, I would run, pick the ball and throw it to the field. My dream was to represent my country. I used to listen to 1975 World Cup commentary on a pocket radio as we did not have television at that time.My hero was Viv Richards and every time he played a shot, I would take a golf ball and a ruler and repeat the same stroke.”

Aravinda felt he had an advantage because he came under the wing of former national players from the age of eight.

“As soon as I entered competitive school cricket at under 11, I was only nine years old.Then the advantage I had was the coaches we had at that level were the national coaches who had represented the country. Therefore, at eight years I learnt exactly what it was needed at the highest level,” said Aravinda who emulated his childhood hero Richards by scoring a century in the 1996 World Cup final against Australia.

He believes talent alone is not enough to progress without proper coaching.

“When many said that I was more talented than others, I never believed it and neither will I believe it now. It was the coaching and the hard work, which took me to where I reached in cricket. So I want to give that experience to youngsters,” pledged Aravinda, one of the greatest ever Test batsmen Sri Lanka has produced.

His intention to create something for the younger generation and give something back to the game back in Sri Lanka began seven years ago.

“I started a talent search project called Aravinda de Silva Cricket Foundation in Sri Lanka.Then we called it Aravinda de SilvaCricket Pathway. When we carried on doing that for about three years,Coca Cola came along and renamed itCoca Cola Pathway,” said Aravinda who was buoyed by its success to go global and chose Dubai for it.

“I realised that Dubai was one place where we could start it fromand it was far more easier to do it in a place like Dubai than any other location though cricket is very popular in Sri Lanka,India or Pakistan,” he said roping in 1992 Pakistan World Cup winner Rameez for his dream project.

“Together we have a vision.We have won two World Cups but we have never consistently won World Cups. The reason being there are so many administrative issues.Also planning and having structured programmeslike in Australia. That is what we want to do. Not to be a run of the mill academy. We want to take it to the GCCwhere we feel there is a huge interest,” said Aravinda.

Rameez was circumspect about coaching but was excited to be part of this project.

“I have always believed that coaching kills the natural instinctivenessin your system. I’m not in favour of creating robots. I’m in favour of creating something like Muttiah Muralitharan or Saeed Ajmal or how some of the batsmen are playing these days in T20,” said the former Pakistan opener.

“We are on firm footing here because Aravinda and I feel that while coaching is extremely important it has to be given a new flavour where the natural instinctiveness doesn’t get killed. Because we are dealing with young cricketers here, it is important that we keep it simple which we intend to do,” said Rameez.

“To get the best out of these youngsters I would want a seven-year-old batting right and left hand or bowling right and left hand. That is where we want the academy to goand also to involve some of the legends of the game so that interaction becomes that much more meaningful,” said Raja who hailed the success of the school cricket system in Sri Lanka as a shining example.

“Sri Lankan school system is extremely strong. Aravindaand Arjuna (Ranatunga), most of these guys would come from a very strong school cricket structure and be so technically good and we got amazed at how good they were at a young age. Later on we found it was because of strong coaching structurewhich was delivered at the school level that made them such good players,” he said.

Former Sri Lanka Under 19 coach Naveed Nawazis the head coach of the academy.

“So we are in safe hands.This will have a different flavour to the coaching system. We will make sure it is not boring. We want to attract locals in the UAE but we want to take this concept back to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India so that all these expat young kids when they go back home they have future in this game. It’s not going to be just a one-off situation. We will maintain continuity.

I’m extremely excited to be part of this unit and I think you’ll see a difference. We are here to make a difference,” he declared.

The 41-year-old said the series against England “could be my last”.
“I haven’t taken a final decision,” Misbah told media on the sidelines of a training camp in Lahore, adding that he was considering his options.

Misbah retired from Twenty20 cricket in 2012 and left the one-day international game after Pakistan’s quarter-final finish in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in March.
He said he wanted to leave Test cricket with “good memories”.
“People remember your final performance,” he said.

The unassuming middle-order batsman will be remembered for his admirable leadership of Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2010 spot-fixing scandal which resulted in five-year bans for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
Last month Misbah had announced he will retire after an upcoming series against India, but the December-January contest is in serious doubt due to tensions between the arch-rivals.
Pakistan take on the Ashes-winning England team in a three-Test series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting in Abu Dhabi from October 13.

Misbah warned the conditions in the UAE will be challenging for England.
“This English team has done well in the Ashes,” he said.
“But they do not have experience of UAE conditions and that will be a big challenge for them.”
He refused to be drawn on the prospect of another 3-0 rout of the Lions, such as the one in the UAE under his captaincy three years ago.

“We have to take it match by match, session by session and once you win sessions you go towards the bigger goals.
“We are not thinking of 3-0, England is a top team and we have to play well and think how to tackle them.”
When asked if Pakistan would miss Saeed Ajmal — one of the architects of the 2012 rout with 24 wickets — Misbah said Pakistan have replacements in leg-spinner Yasir Shah and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar.
“Shah and Babar are doing extraordinarily well and that’s a big plus, so they haven’t made us feel anyone’s absence,” said Misbah.
Ajmal was not selected for the series after he struggled with a remodelled bowling action required to overcome suspension.
He was suspended for illegal action by the International Cricket Council last year.

Lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan was recalled Friday to the 16-man Pakistan squad for the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka starting later this month.

The 33-year-old, the tallest international cricketer ever at seven feet one inch (2.16 metres), injured his hip at the World Cup in March, forcing him to miss Pakistan’s crucial quarter-final against eventual champions and co-hosts Australia.

But Irfan’s return still does not guarantee a full-strength Pakistan pace attack, as partner Wahab Riaz missed out with a bowling hand injury sustained during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo last week.

Also ruled out of the series was spinning allrounder Haris Sohail, who injured his knee on the tour of Sri Lanka, missing all three Tests.

After completing treatment Irfan is champing at the bit, chief selector Haroon Rasheed said.

“Irfan has completed a rehab and is raring to go,” said Rasheed. “Unfortunately Riaz, Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood were not available for selection due to injuries.” Riaz will continue to be monitored by a medical panel to see if he could be available for the last two matches, said Rasheed.

Newcomers Mukhtar Ahmed and Bilal Asif were included in the one-day team for the first time.

“Mukhtar has shown tremendous improvement while Asif has also shown that he is a powerful hitter and also a handy off-spinner,’ said Rasheed.

Mukhtar, 22, has played three Twenty20 internationals this year while Asif, 29, scored a hundred in the final of a non-first class domestic tournament in April. Missing from the squad are batsman Umar Akmal and paceman Junaid Khan. Junaid played the first two Tests of the ongoing series in Sri Lanka but made little impact.

Spinning allrounder Mohammad Hafeez was selected despite his action having been reported for a second time last week. He will undergo a test on his action on July 6 but can still bowl until the result of his test is announced.

But Saeed Ajmal, struggling with his remodelled action since April this year, was again left out.

Pakistan need to win the Sri Lanka series to have any chance of qualifying for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. Pakistan are currently ninth in the one-day rankings and need to move up a place in order to play the Champions Trophy.

The five-match series starts in Dambulla on July 11. The remaining matches will be held in Pallekele (July 15), Colombo (July 19 and 22) and Hambantota (July 26)

Pakistan will also play two Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka for which a squad will be announced later.

Squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Mukhtar Ahmed, Ahmed Shezad, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Bilal Asif, Immad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Ehsan Adil, Rahat Ali

AFP 

“Ajmal is an asset and as a professional he knows he needs some time, so he will play for (Worcestershire) county in England to gain his confidence back,” said Rasheed.
Sami, 34, was once regarded as one of the world’s fastest bowlers after he burst on to the scene in the early 2000s. But he last played for Pakistan on the tour of Sri Lanka in June 2012.
The 15-man squad also sees the return of batsman Umar Akmal who was left out of the Bangladesh tour for exhibiting a “poor attitude” during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in February and March.

There are two uncapped players, 19-year-old opening batsman Noman Anwar who has been in prolific form and all-rounder and former Pakistan U19 captain Imad Wasim.
Anwar was declared top batsman in the domestic Twenty20 event after scoring 270 runs at a strike-rate of 162.65 for Sialkot Stallions, including a match-winning 54-ball 97 in the final against Lahore Lions on Sunday.
Zimbabwe arrived early Tuesday to become the first Test playing team to tour Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009, which led to the suspension of all international cricket in the country.
The two Twenty20 matches will be played in Lahore on Friday and Sunday.
Squad: