Dubai Sports City, DSC, and the International Cricket Council Academy, ICCA, today announced the appointment of Qasim Ali as the academy’s new Head of Cricket Development.

The former batting star with Lancashire County Cricket Club’s second team, and now award-winning coach, will join the ICC Academy from early January before officially beginning coaching programmes from January 17th.

The 36-year-old is regarded as one of the UK’s most promising young cricket coaches. He is currently Lead Coach and Senior Manager at Lancashire CCC’s Cricket Centre at Emirates Old Trafford where he is responsible for the coaching programmes from grass roots level through to professional players including England bowling star James Anderson.

Once one of the top performers in the renowned Lancashire League, Ali is now an ECB Level 4 Coach. His CV includes such positions as Head Coach of the England Physical Disability team and a specialist fielding coach, most recently with the UAE National Team during their UK and Scotland tour this summer. In 2014, he also won the Coach of the Year award at the ECB’s Asian Cricket Awards.

"It’s with great pleasure that I’m able to announce, following an extensive and rigorous, global recruitment process, that we have appointed Qasim Ali as our new Head of Cricket Development," said Will Kitchen, ICC Academy Manager and UAE Cricket High Performance Manager.

"I feel very fortunate to be able to add someone with Qas’s skills, knowledge and expertise into the academy and I’m certain that all of our players, parents and teams alike will soon feel the impact of the continued improvement of our cricket development programmes."

Ali will start with ICC Academy in early January and will take responsibility for and coach across the breadth of cricket development programmes, including the Warriors Junior and Senior and Cricket Cubs. He will also manage specialist programmes at ICC Academy, tours, and supporting the delivery of our coach education. Once formally starting his new role, the ICC Academy will arrange an evening for players and parents to be able to meet Ali and discuss his plans.

"I’m hugely honoured to take on this role with the ICC Academy and can’t wait to begin this exciting new chapter in my career," said Mr. Ali. "My objective is to build on the incredible coaching foundations established here and continue to develop an exceptional cricketing environment. The facilities and playing environment at the ICCA are second to none and I am looking forward to working with parents and staff to nurture elite players and coaches."

Based at Dubai Sports City, the ICC Academy is a world-class, purpose-built cricket institute designed to support the training, playing and development needs of elite cricketers, support staff and coaches. The academy is a strategic partnership between the International Cricket Council and Dubai Sports City.