Sharjah, the Mecca of cricket, will witness some of the finest cricket this year when four nations -Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Pakistan battle it out to take the prestigious 'Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup' home. The tournament begins on 3 April with Zimbabwe taking on Pakistan, the defending champions. This will be followed by Pakistan playing against Sri Lanka on 4 April. The finals will be played on 10 April 2003. The tournament will be telecast live, exclusively on Ten Sports.

The history of development of Sharjah as a cricketing venue for the organisers of the only Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) has been of a fairy tale "too-good-to-be-true" nature. The CBFS was established in 1981 under the aegis of Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, whose main aim was to honour cricketers of the past and present generation from India and Pakistan with benefit purses in recognition of their meritorious services to the game. Subsequently over the years, the geographical boundaries of this concept were enlarged, and since then the benefits have also been extended to players from Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

The Sharjah stadium, which initially started with a few limited seats and very modest facilities, now boasts of a 27,000 capacity including VIP boxes with a television, refrigerator and worldwide telephone facilities. CBFS held its 50th One-day International during 1990 and now leads Melbourne and Sydney amongst the top three principal playing centres of one-day cricket in the world.

Well, you could be the one to find out why cricket pundits believe that the Sharjah Cricket stadium has its own charisma and magic. A last ball six, a last over hat trick and several nail-biting finishes have become a feature of Sharjah Cricket. Cricket fans flock from the world over to witness true sportsmanship and experience the thrill of the game.

'Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup' Fact File