Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium        

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

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The Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, in the emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, was built in the early 1980s and very quickly became a regular home for tournaments as the popularity of one-day cricket exploded following India's World Cup win in 1983. Between 1984 and 2003 the ground hosted 198 ODIs and four Tests (in 2002 when Pakistan played games there due to political instability at home) , attracting good crowds, mainly from the area's large Asian expat population. It also hosted Masters (veterans) events and other second-string tournaments. All were played under the auspices of The Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS)" which had been established in 1981 by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, and whose main aim was to honour cricketers of the past and present generations from India and Pakistan, with benefit purses in recognition of their services to the game of cricket. The stadium initially started with a few limited seats and very modest facilities but by 2002 had a 27,000 capacity and floodlights.

But when the match-fixing scandals began to emerge in the late 1990s, Sharjah's star began to wane, and although nothing was ever proved, sides started to move away, and in 2001 the Indian government banned the national side from playing there. It was a blow from which Sharjah never recovered, and the construction of the state-of-the-art Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, which stage its first ODI in April 2006, signaled the end of Sharjah as a home for top-flight cricket.
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Latest Photos

Apr 23, 2001

Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
© AFP

Dec 20, 2000

Asian Cricket Council Trophy Final at Sharjah Stadium
© International Cricket Council

1998

Australia playing India at Sharjah in 1998
© Wisden Cricket Monthly

Dec 14, 1997

Sharjah Stadium as West Indies bat against England.
© AllSport UK Ltd

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