Former England allrounder Andrew Flintoff yesterday officially introduced cricket into the curriculum of public schools as part of the initiative of Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The initiative aims to promote physical education and an active lifestyle amongst school children. After the launch, Flintoff said: "The population of Dubai is made up of expatriates from India and Pakistan who are cricket lovers. It was great to see national kids too enjoying the game though they may have probably been seeing cricket for the first time today. So [the] broader [audience] cricket can reach, the better it will be for the game."
Ahmad Abdul Rahman, the project manager of the initiative said: "We wanted a great cricketer like Flintoff to inspire them. It is part of our programme to induce children into sports which they haven't played and get them interested."
from gulfnews.com
