How do you feel the Talent Pathway Programme players acquitted themselves, not just in the field, but around the group? Was it the right decision, do you think, to include them? And are you content with the results?

Yeah, I thought the three players, Punya, Aya and Angar, did remarkably well.

And as we said, and I'd like to reiterate, that it wasn't just because they were on the pathway, they were selected on merit and could have quite easily been selected by any of the other franchises.

And I do believe that that Ireland in particular would possibly have been a pick for more than one of the franchises.

So, you know, they were there on merit, but notwithstanding the fact that equally they were there to experience what that kind of environment entails.

You know, as you've just said, you know, not just the physical side of the heat and the back-to-back games and the intensity and the scrutiny and the live coverage and all that's around that, but actually all three of them to a man of, have messaged me privately today actually to say what a wonderful experience it was and how much they've actually learned from it, which my response to all three of them and what we've been telling them all week is that it's about learning, you know, and this time next year, hopefully you'll be, you know, that one year older, that one year more experienced and ready to sort of play a more pivotal role in these tournaments, you know.

But none of them let themselves down.

And what does the build-up to Season 5 look like for you now? Yeah, so

Well, so near and yet so far for a second year running in the ILT20 Development Tournament.

Evening, Brian.

Pleasure as always.

Yeah, ever the bride's maid, never the bride.

Is that the, uh, is that the phrase? Yeah.

Yeah, very disappointed not to get over the line, uh, this evening.

But you know, we've got to be, uh, really pleased with the way that we, we fought, um, all the way through the tournament actually, uh, and, and particularly even this evening when we knew we were, we were below par, uh, with the bat.

What was your take on proceedings?

Yeah, you're right.

It was a funny in-and-ins, you know.

It looked from the side that it would look quite a slow, sticky pitch, but again, at the 10-over mark, Vici said he thought it was quite a good pitch, but that they just bowled really well on it, which they did.

They mixed up their bowlers, they mixed up their pace, variations, went slower balls into the pitch, and we did find it quite difficult to... to score but in fairness like you say Harshit and Zeeshan put on a 75-1 partnership which was absolutely crucial and you know I must say Harshit's had a really nice tournament without a massive score but in that engine room he's done really well and he's a player that looks in complete control when he's out there and For a small man, he hits big sixes.

So he showed his class.

And then Zeeshan's probably a bit of an unsung hero of the group to a degree.

After the last two matches, the belief must be really incredible within the dressing room.

Jack, what was the key factor in that incredible turnaround with the ball, taking all 10 wickets for just 37 runs?

I think firstly we've got to give huge credit to Angad Nehru who came on under huge amounts of pressure as a slow bowler and just delivered his skills with exceptional quality.

Obviously we know Angad very well, he's one of our pathway students and it was great to see Vitya turn to him when we desperately needed the wicket and he bowled his three overs.

amazingly well and yes so that was the first thing and then not really want to always single people out but I thought Ritya was outstanding and the players in the dressing room have just sort of given a rapturous round of applause because not only do I think he captained well up I actually think that his performance behind the stunts was as good a wicket-keeping performance as I've seen for a long long time you know three catches, two of which were absolutely outstanding.

And the run out, to execute the run out, was just unbelievable.

So I think Anga's little spell turning point, Richard and leading from the front, and then the lads backing that up with some outstanding fielding throughout.

And then, of course, Kuzi wrapped it all up, just as he did in the final earlier this year, you know, just as he did with some quick, hostile fast bowling.

Do you need to keep a lid on things ahead of another winner's take-all match? Yeah, I think

You must have been delighted with your bowlers and fielders in bowling out golf giants so cheaply, though.

Yeah, I mean, I thought they were outstanding last night, actually, in trying to defend the low score.

And it's something that Vritia said in our team huddle late last night that, you know, be proud of how we made it difficult for Sharjah last night to chase what is a low and below par score.

i think it was it was good that we were able to win the toss and then uh that bowlers just carried on where they'd left off uh yesterday and obviously used their conditions uh into their favor you know all of them right from the word go was him at the top was outstanding sanjay backed him up and then of course uh the man of the moment at the moment while he's four overs were outstanding again um and well backed up by young hillar with uh his leg spin which is not easy to bowl at the moment with the conditions and then it was just finished off nicely by the experienced Matt Ulla who we know is a great executioner at the end of his school so yeah really pleased with that and like you say backed up outstandingly well in the field from ball one I must say, led by Vritio, I think he's captained and kept magnificently in the three games.

And I think when you've got your captain and your wicketkeeper setting the example and the likes of Nilanche in and around the covers as well, it's really, really good.

And of course, we're just catching really well at the moment, no more so than Sanjay with those big bucket hands.

Were you ever concerned during the chase, I wonder? I know you have a lot of all-rounders and so you bat deep, but at 69 for 5, the match did appear to be on that knife edge.

I think I'd be lying to say if I wasn't a little bit nervous when we went to 69 for five, but I was always quietly confident that we'd got enough in the shed, so to speak, and that that would be enough to get us over the line.

What pleased you most about the performance?

I think in general the performance was just an all-round team performance.

Every one of the, the 12 players who took part physically in the game, and also the lads on the bench who running water and drinks and gloves, which is just as important.

Um, I think, yeah, all in all, it was just a really pleasing all-round performance.

I think there's room for, room for improvement without, without a shadow of a doubt, but in fact it was our first game together as a group after just two training sessions.

We, you know, we were delighted with some of our plans and, and certainly some of the roles in which we were, we were looking for, uh, the boys to play.

Um, I thought Richie was outstanding a- as captain and then set the tone well, um, at the start of the innings.

What's the priority now for you?

Or is it a broader picture from your perspective?

Great question.

I think we could probably talk about it for hours.

But I think, yeah, for me, I think it's a broader picture, which encapsulates all of those things that you talk about.

Of course we want to win and we'd love to win the tournament.

Ultimately, we're a professional cricket franchise with professional coaches and some professional players within those ranks.

So it would be remiss of me to say that we're not too bothered about winning it.

What can you tell us about the second season of the programme coming up now? I think you've expanded it, haven't you, to a younger age group as well, six to 11, as well as the older group.

What sets it, uh, apart in terms of coaching philosophy and also player development? Uh, uh, and I guess you've touched on that player development already with a couple of, um, representative honors for the Pathway already.

Yeah, I th- I think really it's all about high performance.

We said it, uh, at the start of the process of planning this sort of way back, so April, May time, and then in, in our meetings and our presentations with players and parents as, as the day grew closer to sort of the end of September, beginning of October, is that we really wanted to set ourselves apart from the rest, and that is not diminishing what the rest of the academies do in the UAE.

I mean, I myself have always been a volunteer.

I'm pretty sure yourself as well, Brian, across cricket clubs or sporting clubs across the world.

So, you know, the fact that so much cricket is played across the country is, is unbelievable, and hats off to those, those guys who do give up hours and hours of end, uh, some voluntarily, some paid.

Yeah, for all these academies.

How did the association come about?