4 – 18 Feb, Arthur Philip Reserve, Northmead, NSW, Australia
As part of their celebrations of the 74th birthday of His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the Sports Committee of the Dawoodi Bohra community in Sydney organised a short overs cricket tournament based on the IPL format.
This tournament had four sponsored teams who donned the hats of the team owners/co-owners. The Sports Committee granted each team owners a total of 1.5 million CricCoins, to be used in 2 rounds of bidding, with a spending cap of 1 million for the first round and the balance 500 thousand for the second round.
The owners then got an opportunity to bid for 2 players per team in round 1 and choose the remaining 12 players in a silent bidding process divided into 2 rounds. The auction day at the Community Centre was received with great enthusiasm by the owners and the players who turned up in large numbers.
For the tournament games, each team was provided with their own coloured team kits which were unveiled during a community event. Games were played over three Sundays, with six 15-over round robin games played on 4th and 11th February and the finals played on the 18th as a full T20 game with 20 overs a side.
The committee extended invitations to all the families of the players to come and support their respective teams. Lunch, tea, and snacks were provided to everyone (players as well as spectators), making this a complete family event.
VIP Guests
On 11th February, for the last round of league games and virtual semi finals, legendary Pakistani Fast bowler Waqar Younis visited for a short while to motivate and encourage the young cricketers. On the 18th, for the final, the Lord Mayor of Cumberland Council (the same council the masjid is part of) Mr.Greg Cummings graced the occasion. He came sporting an Aussie cricket jersey and cheered both the finalists the Blue Panthers and Belle Blasters in a nail biting final which ended in the last over with Blue Panthers the winners of the Sydney Cricket League 2018. The Mayor distributed the trophy and medals to the winning team.
Anjuman-e-Burhani Sydney (the trust which manages the Dawoodi Bohra Community in Australia) felicitated the Mayor on behalf of His Holiness Dr Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. The Mayor has expressed his hope to meet SyednaTUS and invited him to visit the Council.