The academy will be an international centre of excellence for cricket bringing together the skills and facilities to allow cricket players including juniors, coaches, umpires, curators and administrators to develop their abilities.
When finished in 2007 it will have access to a 30,000 seat cricket stadium, three purpose-built cricket grounds, indoor and outdoor training facilities, a gym, pool, lecture theatres and classrooms, sports science and sports medicine facilities.
ICC president, Ehsan Mani, said that Dubai Sport City project offered cricket a key element in the ICC’s push to develop the game.
“The global academy is a very exciting development not only for the ICC but also for cricket globally. Dubai is an ideal location with its ease of access for the cricket playing world and climate offering a perfect setting for this facility.”
One of the main investors in the Sports City is Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, president of the UAE Cricket Board and business magnate, who owns the Sharjah and Morocco grounds.
The Sports City project will see a multitude of sports brought together in a development of 50 million square feet.
The ICC academy joins Manchester United soccer schools, an Ernie Els signature golf course, a David Lloyd tennis academy and a Butch Harmon school of golf that have already committed to the development.
