‘Every cricketer’s dream is to get to a World Cup’: New UAE women’s coach Oscar Nauhaus

The winds of change are whistling through UAE cricket. Next month, a Sharjah-born and raised coach will oversee his first assignment as the head coach of the men’s national team.

Ahmed Raza will need a fast start. The national team need to perform well in the tournament in Nepal to retain their one-day international status.

Before that happens, the UAE women’s programme will begin its own new era, under the guidance of their own new coach.

Oscar Nauhaus has been back in the country for a little over a week. On Friday morning, his new charges – the national women’s team – will start their Emerging Nations Trophy campaign with a T20 international against Ireland in Ajman.

Coincidentally, Nauhaus is filling a role vacated by Raza five months ago. The South African, who worked for five years in Abu Dhabi until 2022, contacted the previous incumbent to ask about it when he found out Raza had left.

Both started their new roles within days of each other. And both have similar goals: consolidating their sides’ status in ODI cricket, and pushing for appearances on the world stage.

“Having spoken to some of the senior players, I think every cricketer’s dream is to try and get to a World Cup,” Nauhaus said. “In the women’s pathway, you have to go through regional qualifiers, then global, and that is the route into the World Cup.

“I don’t know if I want to state strict goals. Being so new to the job, I want to install processes and a way of thinking that is more day to day. [But] ultimately, if we want to boil it down and strip it back, we want to go to a World Cup.”

A side of female cricketers will represent the UAE on the global stage in the near future. They are qualified for the Under-19 T20 World Cup next year.

The next goal is for the senior team to do similar. They have come close before, most notably when Sri Lanka narrowly beat them to qualification at a tournament in Abu Dhabi.

Nauhaus is optimistic about the future prospects of a side whose young age profile contrasts with the fact they already have plenty of experience in international cricket.

Show caption: Oscar Nauhaus is optimistic about the prospects of his young…

“In terms of the age of the squad and where they have come from to where they are now, that was the thing that really caught me,” Nauhaus said.

“It is a young group with a very strong pipeline coming through. With all that basic infrastructure, and I know the academy set up in which they operate, it felt like a good fit. My instinct told me it was a great opportunity and I had to pursue it.”

Having coached at Zayed Cricket Academy in the capital for half a decade, Nauhaus had a fair understanding of what he would be returning to in his new role.

“The clearest thing is how the overall structure has developed,” said Nauhaus, who was the high performance manager for Namibia Cricket before returning to the UAE.

“The more people you have playing, the wider your selection becomes and the more it drives competition. There has definitely been an improvement in that regard.

Show caption: New UAE coach Oscar Nauhaus during training at the ICC Acade…

“People tend to look at on-field results as the end outcome, but internally the feeling I get from everyone across women’s and men’s progress is there has been a big improvement.”

He wants to help drive the next phase of development in the country. He has been committed to helping cricketers since he was young.

Nauhaus's own playing career more or less stopped aged 22, when he realised coaching was his calling. He was in the midst of a sports science degree at Stellenbosch University, specialising in coaching and strength and conditioning.

“Working with people and developing relationships is something I really value,” he said. “When I was 11, there was a severe lack of coaching. That is something that spurred me on to say, ‘How can I impact people and make sure they don’t get that kind of advice?’

“It is a unique job. I wouldn’t swap it for anything else. I wouldn’t want to be sat in an office. There is nothing else I would want to do.”