Hollywood Golden Oldies vs Sharjah Veterans match revives golden memories at Sharjah Cricket Stadium

By K.R. Nayar 

The historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium became the stage for yet another special match on Saturday (January 30, 2021). Hollywood Golden Oldies, made up of veteran cricketers and passionate lovers of the game from Los Angeles, who are on a tour of the UAE and Pakistan, took on the Sharjah Veterans team in a 20 over match.

Hollywood Golden Oldies and Sharjah Veterans before the start of the match

It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for all those who played in this match. For the Hollywood Golden Oldies, while playing at this venue, it was a recalling of the thrilling matches from the Sharjah Cricket Stadium that they have only seen on television. All of them seemed super excited to play at this historic venue. As soon as they reached the venue, most of them wanted to know where Javed Miandad’s last-ball six had landed way back in the 80's. Sachin Tendulkar's shower of sixes during his breathtaking Desert Storm knock was the other topic of discussion. Mazhar Khan, General Manager of Sharjah Cricket Stadium, was only too happy to answer all their queries.


The Sharjah Veterans team included players who have played a big part in creating glorious moments for UAE cricket nearly three decades ago and had produced spectacular performances during their playing days. This team also had players who have defied their age and never stopped playing cricket, thus inspiring many others to continue playing the game. As a journalist who has had the opportunity to witness and report all their matches, it was special to see them again in cricketing gear and back at the Sharjah Stadium where they were heroes and match winners during their playing days.

Sharjah Veterans captain Mohammad Lokhandwala and Hollywood Golden Oldies skipper Sohail Khan flanked by UAE's golden oldies Freddy Sidhwa and Mazhar Khan at the toss 

The Hollywood Golden Oldies is a team that emerged out of like-minded cricket lovers despite living in Los Angeles, where cricket as a sport is not the most popular sport. Kamal Azeez founded this team way back in 1989 with the idea of travelling around the world and playing friendly cricket. Their first tour was to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1990. In 1992, they toured New Zealand and played at Christchurch. Today they have a membership of over one hundred members worldwide, and that enables them to field a team anywhere in the world. This team has also toured England, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore, and they regularly play in many of the islands in the Caribbean.

Accurate Freddy Sidhwa  in action 

From the UAE, the Hollywood Golden Oldies will be traveling to Pakistan and playing in Karachi till February 7. The Hollywood Golden Oldies' mission is to keep the American flag flying internationally while encouraging the development of youth cricket in Los Angeles and make friends through cricket around the world. And so this friendly match at Sharjah ended with a Trinidadian cricketer Emile Borde enthralling everyone with his cricket songs that hailed legendary cricketers like Viv Richards and Suni Gavaskar and pulsating music on the steel drum.

The Sharjah team included some heroes who were part of the UAE team that created history when they qualified for the 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup. Riaz Poonawala was once a strong contender to open for India by scoring heavily for Maharashtra as a hard-hitting top-order batsman in the 80s. After migrating to UAE in the 90s, his superb knocks ensured UAE's place in the ICC World Cup. Shehzad Altaf, whose spell of 10 overs, three maidens, 15 runs, and one wicket against the Netherlands in the 1996 World Cup remained unbroken as the best bowling analysis in the World Cup for many years. Vijay Mehra had played zonal cricket in India alongside Indian cricketers Surinder Khanna, Sunil Valson, Kirti Azad, Maninder Singh, and Ajay Jadeja, and had hit a sparkling 43 for the UAE in his One Day International debut against India in 1994. Akbar Rana, a former UAE player turned coach, was also part of this Sharjah Veterans team. The team was led by Mohammad Lokhandwala, who used to play for Khar Gymkhana alongside many international players from Mumbai. He was also the former captain of the Air India team, and the former secretary of the Dubai Cricket Council.  

Cricket never stops for them

But what made this match special was the presence of Freddy Sidhwa, who despite turning 80, played some fluent drives and bowled tightly, and Mazhar Khan, who despite his age kept wickets for the Hollywood Golden Oldies and displayed his agility by pulling off a lightning stumping.

Hollywood Golden Oldies team manger Kamal Azeez presents a memento to Mazhar Khan 

The Hollywood Golden Oldies was led by Sohail Khan who was born in Pakistan but lives in Los Angeles. He captains a local LA team named Britamer CC in the Southern California Cricket Association League.  The team was managed by Guyana-born Kamal Azeez. He played some lovely shots during his innings. The interesting thing about him is that he plays with his pads that are nearly 40 years old but still in top condition! 

Hollywood Golden Oldies skipper Sohail Khan speaks after the match 

Taskeen Mozaffar is a light rail engineer who has often put their team on track through his performances. Haseeb Khan had played for the US in the 1982 ICC Associate World Cup, was also part of this team. The Hollywood Oldies also had a special person – a British historian cricketer, David Sentence. David is also a commentator and has co-founded LA Krickets (comprised of homeless players).

Hollywood Golden Oldies' David Sentence in action as Mazhar Khan keeps the wicket

After the Sharjah Veterans won the toss, they elected to bat. Vijay Mehra opened the innings and retired after hitting 22 runs. The other scorers were Akbar Rana who got out for 20, caught by wicketkeeper Mazhar Khan off Waseem, and Riaz Poonawala who was a victim of Mazhar Khan's immaculate stumping when on 19. Sharjah Veterans posted 138 runs in their allotted 20 overs.

Players return to the pavilion after the special match 

It was an honour for me to open the bowling for Sharjah along with Shehzad Altaf and even pick a wicket. Hollywood Golden Oldies batted fluently with Kamal Azeez, Sohail Khan, Mazhar Khan, Burhan, Taskeen Mozaffar, Haseeb Khan, Amjad, Emile, and David Spencer getting runs, However, they could muster only 98 runs in the 20 overs.


Emile Borde plays entertaining music on the steel drum 

After a mouth-watering lunch, exchange of mementos, and speeches, the fun-filled day ended with cricket being the winner and Emile Borde's songs and music reverberating in our ears. 
Photos by Ajita Nayar 

 

 


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