Faisal Khalis Memorial trophy marks a return of competition to Turkey
Tony Munro - 8 May 1999

Structured competition cricket will hopefully make a comeback in Turkey next month when the "Faisal Khalid Memorial" tournament is poised to begin in Ankara.

Teams from the Ankara's Middle East Technical University (METU) (which provides the heartbeat of the game in Turkey), Pakistan, United Kingdom and Australian Embassy teams, as well as a side from Bilkent University are believed to be going to form the nucleus of the competition. Sides from the Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Indian embassies may also be thrown together for the odd match.

The competition will comprise limited-over one-day matches with the venue being a ground at the METU. The ground was allocated by university authorities to cricket officials in 1994 at the instigation of Faisal Khalid, who played a leading role promoting cricket in Turkey.

This competition is not the first in Turkey, with a formal competition played in June, 1997, between teams from the METU, EMU Cypres, and a combined XI formed from staff at the Australian, Pakistani and United Kingdom embassies.

EMU Cypres defeated METU in the final.