A five minute drive to a different world

Cricket at a school in Etzion © Israel Cricket

Ra'anana, situated approximately twenty minutes drive north of Tel Aviv, is considered one of Israel's more affluent cities. A few kilometers east of Ra'anana, is the city of Kfar Saba, a rather affluent town in it's own right. However on the eastern outskirts of Kfar Saba is a small neighborhood, consisting mainly of Ethiopian immigrants, where socio-economic problems are rife. Most children in the neighborhood learn at Etzion, a religious junior school where they are cared for in small classes. Over the past two years the children in 6th grade have been learning to play cricket, leaving the classroom for an hour a week for some fresh air, fun, and lots of special attention. Today, the Ra'anana junior team drove the five minutes across Highway 4, and played against the Etzion team in a game of cricket.

Nine players - six boys and three girls - were carefully selected from the 6th grade class, as well as Menashe, a tall Ethiopian 5th grader who can hit the ball harder and further than anybody else in the school, to take on their visitors. The selected team was cheered on by the remainder of the school, most of them not quite sure what to make of this funny game. The Ra'anana boys, kitted out in their bright orange shirts and green caps, won the toss and elected to bat. The ball was soon being smashed to all parts of the court, but Etzion held their catches and after about 20 minutes Ra'anana were all out for 57.

Cricket at a school in Etzion © Israel Cricket

As Etzion began their run chase, every run was gleefully cheered by the boisterous crowd. However apart from some innovative reverse pulls off the back of the bat by Liron, wickets tumbled one after the other. Menashe was the big hope to salvage the innings, a bit like Tendulkar is for India or Lara for the West Indies, and although he took a couple of mighty swings, unfortunately he could only watch as the ball trickled back to the keeper, spinning off the edge of the bat each time. The one that he eventually did connect with sailed straight into the hands of a Ra'anana fielder, and the match was over, Etzion all out for 27.

A second match was hastily arranged, this time with Ra'anana in the field, and almost every child in the school lining up to bat. After about twenty wickets had fallen, with another sixty batsmen still waiting to bat, the bell rang signaling the start of break. Efrat, a tiny Ethiopian girl who was already out, got hold of a soccer ball and began bouncing it from her knee to her foot - she had control Beckham would have been proud of and after about sixty got bored and decided it was enough. That triggered the inevitable - a challenge to a game of soccer. So instead of parting their separate ways, a soccer match was arranged between the kids. The home school got revenge for the cricket defeat, winning 3 - 2.

Tomorrow is the final day of school before the summer holidays. Some of the Ra'anana boys will be flying to Gibraltar to play for the Israel U13 team in the European Championships. The 6th graders at Etzion will be on their way to junior high, probably never to play cricket again. However they will leave with fond memories of the sport, and the day the team in the snazzy orange shirts, boys who could speak both Hebrew AND English, took the time to come to their school and play against them.