With the future of the sport in Afghanistan at risk after the Taliban takeover, the MCC Foundation wants to use the love of cricket of Afghan refugees to help their families build better lives in Britain.
- MCC Foundation hopes to use cricket to help Afghan refugees settle in country
- Taliban in control again, threat to the future of Afghanistan cricket
- Thousands of refugees have fled the country including Britain
The MCC Foundation hopes to use cricket to help Afghan refugees settle in this country.
ns Taliban Controlled again after 20 years, threat to the future of entire cricket Afghanistan.
Many thousands have fled the country, including the UK, where the MCC seeks to harness their love of cricket to help families build better lives.
Threat to the future of cricket in Afghanistan, after 20 years under Taliban control
Among their ambassadors is Mumtaz Habib, who arrived on these shores from Afghanistan in 2000 as a juvenile asylum seeker. Habib could not speak English, but has since been playing first-class cricket through a scholarship at Harrow School.
“The best thing I can do is share my story with young kids who may be the same age as me,” he said. sportsmail.
‘There are a lot of opportunities here. All you have to do is push hard, keep your head down. And for the MCC Foundation to provide those facilities, those sessions because some of these kids or their parents won’t have access or funds or don’t know where to start in another country, a lot. Coming to a different culture.
He continued: ‘I think providing that support will be the key to their success as they navigate through the UK system.’
But the MCC Foundation hopes to use cricket to help settle Afghan refugees in the country.
Habib points out that it can be especially difficult for non-English speakers to obtain passports, jobs and benefits.
The MCC Foundation runs 70 hubs across the UK, providing free coaching to around 3,000 players. One, established this year in Croydon, works with the Refugee Cricket Project to provide coaching and mentoring to Afghan children.
“There is a lot of help available and we want to make sure that every Afghan who visits these centers is aware,” Habib said.
We are not here to give them free money. We are here to help them get what they want to achieve.
Habib still speaks his mother tongue and over the past year he has helped many refugees integrate into their community through cricket.
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