DUBAI, July 19: Although they last participated in a World Cricket Cup back in 1996, United Arab Emirates cricket coach Syed Abid Ali has targeted 2007 World Cup in the West Indies as one of the goals for his team.

A former Indian Test all-rounder, Abid told the BBC that it was a difficult task, but one that he felt could be achieved.

“I see a lot of potential in UAE cricket and hope that our targets of winning a berth in 2007 World Cup in the West Indies and getting one-day status from International Cricket Council (ICC) are achieved,” said the coach, who is currently with the junior squad at the Youth Asia Cup in Karachi.

However, the team needs to first achieve One-day International status.

The coach feels that this objective is also more than attainable given the support shown to them by the International Cricket Council.

Since we are in ICC’s high performance teams, both the ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) are helping us and now it’s up to the boys to prove themselves,” he indicated.

Despite strong criticism from some countries over allowing of so-called minnow nations to be awarded Test status, Abid felt it not a question of the ICC getting soft, but rather trying to expand the game as far as possible.—PPI