The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium () is a

cricket ground Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails (small sticks) balanced on three stumps. Two players from the ...

located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The $23 million stadium, built by Concor, opened in May 2004, with its inaugural first-class match being an Intercontinental Cup fixture between

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in November of that year. The stadium was one of the dedicated venues for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The stadium has a large stand at either end, with the areas square of the

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

offering grass banks for additional seating. It can hold 20,000 people.

International fixtures

Among the stadium's most memorable events were two charity matches between rivals Pakistan and India in April 2006. These matches were played to support the survivors of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. The series was expected to raise $10 million for earthquake relief. Many other international series have been played on the ground. Following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

was unable to host home matches and played a number of home series matches in the UAE, including series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

ICC 2021 T20 World Cup

The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the first ICC tournament to be hosted by the UAE. It began on 17 October and will run to 14 November. Four first round matches were hosted in Abu Dhabi, with 10 Super 12 matches and a semi-final also being held at the stadium.

Domestic fixtures

In 2009, the stadium hosted numerous cricket games, mostly fixtures in the Nissan Gulf Cup, with first-class teams from England and India competing against each other. In March 2009,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

all played pre-season friendlies on the ground. The first 20 games of total 60 games of the

2014 Indian Premier League The 2014 Indian Premier League season (abbreviated as IPL 7 or Pepsi IPL 2014) was the seventh season of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. ...

was held in the UAE, with some matches taking place at the stadium. The 2020 Indian Premier League was played in the UAE from September to November, with 20 matches played at the stadium, including the opening match of the tournament. The second half of the next season's league was also played in the UAE from September to October 2021.

Football fixtures

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

between Thailand and Oman was played at the ground in January 2019.

Nursery grounds

The stadium complex also features a pair of smaller grounds called Nursery 1 (also known as Tolerance Oval) and Nursery 2 (also known as Mohan's Oval). Mohan's Oval was used for a

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

between

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

and

in October 2018. In September 2019, Tolerance Oval was named as one of the venues to host cricket matches for the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finis ...

tournament.

References