UAE left ruing missed opportunities in ICC Intercontinental Cup opener against Scotland

Bad weather in Ayr left United Arab Emirates (UAE) ruing at missed opportunities against Scotland after its opening match in the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 ended in a draw at the Cambusdoon New Ground on Saturday.

UAE was looking to get much needed match practice after traveling to Scotland after playing a few domestic Twenty20 matches. It was also hoping to make amends for its dismal performance in the 2006 event when it remained winless in three matches.

However, rain dashed UAE's hopes as only 46 overs were possible on the first day while play for the last three days was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Only Khurram Khan (74) and Saqib Ali (71 not out) had decent outings as the tourists reached 174-4 after recovering from 18-3.

Arshad Ali, who got a fifth ball duck, said his team was bitterly disappointed by the result. "We were keen to make a good start to the competition and by doing so we could have got valuable match practice under the belt. But Mother Nature had different ideas and there is little one can do about it.

"It was disappointing to sit in the dressing room for most of the match and continue to hope against the hope because we desperately wanted to go out there in the centre for multiple reasons.

"Scotland is a competitive team and the conditions were difficult for batting. I think the way we managed to crawl our way back after a poor start, we could have tightened the screws around them had the match not been affected by weather," Ali said shortly before his team's departure for Toronto from Glasgow.

UAE's next game is against Canada which starts on Friday in Toronto and Ali urged his team to remain positive. "We have to stay positive and have to trust ourselves.

"We are short of match practice but instead of allowing that to play in our minds, why not think positive and believe that we can still do it. We have multi-talented players who have done well in the past and can continue to do so in the future," Ali said.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now the ICC's premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members' cricket schedule.

Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.

Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada earlier this year in the 2006-07event.

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be decided.