A press box in the stadium is usually a quiet place.
Journalists who cover a cricket match work at the press box and it’s a busy place for newsmen.
During International Cricket Council events, a press box is usually full of accredited journalists from different nations.
This is the place where all the fine writers and sharp cricketing minds work and put up their thoughts and lines into writeups that are published in news media.
There is an unwritten norm in the press box and that is you have to "act" like a journalist during a match, not like a spectator.
There is no chance to clap or show ecstasy even in the exciting moments of the game, unlike the crowd in the stadium.
A journalist has to observe the game from a neutral point of view.
People here usually talk in soft tones and loud voice may disturb a person sitting next to you who might be working.
While covering a T20 World Cup match at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi I have seen posters at the press box walls saying “quiet please”, and that’s usual.
So far, I have covered various cricket series and two World Cup events involving the Bangladesh team as a journalist in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ireland, Wales, United Kingdom, India, Oman and now in the United Arab Emirates with official assignments for Dhaka Tribune and in every venue, the atmosphere in designated press box area was similar.
But the press box at Sharjah Cricket Stadium was a completely different experience for me.
The press box here is not in a closed air-conditioned room or hall with transparent glass at the front.
It is a completely open place and actually placed within the gallery in front of VIP boxes where you can feel the temperature of Sharjah.
And the atmosphere, the surrounding environment is totally different.
The unwritten law is also applicable here as you have to maintain that journalistic “attitude” here as well.
But the “quiet please” norm in Sharjah press box is not possible by any means.
From the moment you sit in your seat you will feel the environment of the whole stadium.
You will hear the spectators cheer, their claps, loud comments, screams when a wicket falls or boundary is hit, loud chants for their team or favorite player, the oohs and aahs, Mexican waves, whistles.
You will have a profound feeling of the complete stadium and atmosphere.
For instance, when Mushfiqur Rahim took the catch of Evin Lewis during Bangladesh's game against the West Indies or when Chris Gayle got bowled by Mahedi Hasan in the first innings, the whole stadium exploded as all the Bangladeshi supporters were jumping and screaming with joy.
Sharjah became a reincarnation of Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium that day as more than 90% of the crowd were Bangladeshi supporters.
It was a different yet superb experience to observe and analyze the game as a journalist in that atmosphere, taking notes for the match report or thinking about story angles while sitting at the press box at the Sharjah stadium.
It feels like I was working within the crowd, and became their part as well.
A view from Sharjah Press Box (photo: Ali Shahriyar Amin/Dhaka Tribune)I felt similar kind of experience twice in my career during the 2019 World Cup. Once at Oval, London during the opening game between England and South Africa and the other at Old Trafford, Manchester during the India-New Zealand semi-final.
My seats were allocated outside of the press box, in the overflow area in the gallery.
As per rules, on a particular match-day, ICC allocates competing countries' journalists seats in the press box on first priority from the applied match-day applications, and then the journalists from other countries.
But at Sharjah the whole press box was within the gallery and there was no separate place like overflow.
And you have to watch the game with extra caution as well because the ball might come towards you crossing that short boundary and you might have to catch it to save yourself.
Because from one end (when bowlers bowl from the press box end), it is just a few meters away from the long-off boundary and from the other end, it’s on the deep fine leg region.
The Windies had plenty of big hitters in their playing XI and when they were batting against Bangladesh, I was literally ready to try to take a catch from the press box if it came my way.
As a venue, Sharjah holds a lot of memories for me thanks to those classic ODIs between Asian teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Covering a cricket match as a journalist in that Sharjah press box offered something memorable as well as it provided a different yet superb experience to observe and work on cricket in that kind of unique environment.