Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium to open with world's best lighting system

The state-of-the-art system has now been installed into the rim of the roof of the stadium, creating what could be described as a 'ring of fire' which will light up the field of play. The design is such that it will prevent any distracting shadows of the players.

"The ring of fire will allow cricket to be played during the cooler evenings, and will replicate natural daylight. The revolutionary design will create ideal playing conditions and will add to the atmosphere inside the ground,"

said Macky Dudhia, General Manager, Sports Business, Dubai Sports City.

The world-class stadium will be ready early next year, with Dubai Sports City executives already in high-level discussions with international cricketing bodies, English Counties, State and Provincial teams to bring some of the best players to Dubai to compete in quality events at the new venue.

Progress continues at pace with the 'ring of fire' lighting now installed and with the 25,000 seats having arrived and currently being put into place. The grass for the wicket grass is now in and has excellent cover and the outfield is currently being seeded, as Dubai Sports City's first stadium nears completion.

"Dubai Sports City is close to hosting the first ever international cricket tournament to be staged in Dubai. There are many national cricket governing bodies that have expressed a strong interest to bring their teams to play at the Dubai Sports City cricket stadium. The ICC Future Tours Programme allows very few windows of opportunity but having said that, we are hopeful of reaching an agreement soon and making an announcement in the not too distant future about the opening cricket event," added Dudhia.

Dubai Sports City's cricket stadium will be the first of four stadiums, with a 60,000 capacity multi-purpose stadium for football, track and field, and rugby; a field Hockey Stadium capable of holding up to 5,000 spectators, and an indoor arena that will house 10,000 supporters for a wide range of sports including basketball, indoor hockey, volleyball, handball, netball and ice hockey.