Cricket providing hope to all

New Hope Foundation and coordinator of the All Nations Cricket Program’s Douglas Burgos said that the program goes beyond teaching participants the game.

“The New Hope Foundation is a community-based organisation, which provides settlement, welfare, advocacy support and referral services for migrants and refugees,” Burgos said.

“We began in October last year with the aim to teach cricket but also help empower our participants.

“We met with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Brimbank City Council and formed the idea of having a cricket hub, which gave people from a refugee or asylum seeker background the opportunity to play cricket.

“Cricket has quite a steep barrier of entry, with costs associated to the game so the idea was to make the game more accessible.

“The Grand United Cricket Club also came onboard and helped by providing gear and allowing us to use their ground as well as their nets.

“It’s about giving people the chance to play cricket but also there’s other benefits such as giving participants community links.

“Many of the participants have told me they’ve become more independent and sure of themselves after attending the program.

“We run two sessions, one in Werribee at Galvin Park on Tuesday evenings and the other held at J.R Parsons Reserve in Sunshine on Thursday evenings.

“Across the two sessions we have over 40 attendees which is made up primarily of asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal.

“Our sessions consist of skill training and keenly contested matches amongst the group, as well as the various community cricket tournaments on offer.

“The boys look forward to these competitions and in the recent past we’ve attended the Asylum Seeker and Refugee Carnival held in Broadmeadows, the Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley Community Cricket World Cup and most recently the Sunshine World Cup Cricket event held earlier this month.

“The passion the boys have is amazing and they all have the drive and are always on time.

“Our Werribee sessions began in late October and went right through to mid March.

“We even had sessions on Christmas and New Years Day.

“Currently, we are looking at finding a suitable indoor option for the guys to play in during the winter.

Burgos noted that some of the highlights of the program had included attending KFC T20 Big Bash League matches with the help of Cricket Victoria as well as meeting Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.

“We have a lot of Bangladeshi supporters among the group and undoubtedly their favourite player is Shakib Al Hasan who played for the Melbourne Renegades.

“We attended a Melbourne Renegades training session at the Junction Oval where we met Shakib and then again when the Bangladeshi team arrived in Melbourne for the Bangladesh national team dinner on February 24.

“The participants thoroughly enjoyed these experiences and were elated to meet their heroes.”

For one participant in particular, the All Nations Cricket Program has provided him with many opportunities.

Arriving in Australia from Afghanistan as an asylum seeker in 2013, Mohammad Nadir played cricket in detention centres to pass the time.

He had seen the game before on television back home but knew little on the intricacies and finer points of the game.

An eagerness to learn and a longstanding passion for the game saw Nadir joining the All Nations Cricket Program in Werribee.

With a strong passion for the game evident, a caseworker from the New Hope Foundation organised for Nadir to attend Cricket Victoria’s Community Coaching Accreditation course in Geelong last year.

Nadir felt that attending the course was beneficial not only to him but those around him.

“It’s good for me as well as the players, I want to learn cricket and then be able to teach others how to bat and how to bowl too,” Nadir said.

“I want to be a professional coach one day, I love cricket.”

When attending the course, Nadir met former VicSpirit coach, Ken Davis who suggested Nadir join Werribee Centrals’ Cricket Club where Davis was assisting in coaching.

“I had been playing at the Grant United Cricket Club who had helped me enormously, so it was a difficult decision to leave,” Nadir said.

“I have now been at Werribee Centrals for four and half months and have really enjoyed my time at the club.

“The club has welcomed and encouraged me the whole way and helped me, whether it be by driving me to games or helping me with uniform.

“I cannot express how grateful I am for everyone’s help.”

Nadir still attends the All Nations Cricket Program where he joins in on games as well as assisting in running sessions.

“I want to do so something for cricket in Afghanistan one day too, whether it is by playing cricket or by coaching,” Nadir said.

Burgos and Nadir would like to thank the Brimbank, Werribee and Wyndham Councils, Grand United C.C, Werribee Centrals and Cricket Victoria for their help.