Dusty fields, scorching heat - how cricket has blossomed in the Negev desert

The development of cricket in Israel has been a remarkable success story. Exactly 3 years ago youth cricket in Israel did not exist - today we are the very proud owners of European silver (U15, Berlin, 2001) and gold (U13, Grosetto, 2002) medals. The Israel Cricket Association (ICA) has serious and ambitious plans for the continued development of the game in this country, and have our sights set on further success in the future.

For all the success on the plush playing fields in Germany and Italy, the real success of the program has been in the dusty streets and empty spaces of the Negev towns. The Negev is the desert in Southern Israel, beginning a 90-minute drive south of Tel Aviv. The three main towns of the area are Be'er Sheva, Dimona and Yeruham. All three have serious socio-economic problems, such as high unemployment. The citizens of these towns, despite government support, remain in the lowest income brackets in the country. Crime, violence and drug abuse rates are the highest in the country. Whereas children in other cities enjoy the best soccer, basketball and tennis facilities, the kids of the Negev have to be satisfied with sandy desert spaces.

It is exactly in these areas where cricket is developing the fastest.

Playing numbers have reached over 100. Practices are held on a daily basis. The Be'er Sheva U15 team won the national league for the first time in 2002. New talents are being discovered all the time, as more and more kids come to experience this most foreign of sports. A Negev Cricket Academy has recently been formed, which will group the best young players from each area into a team, to play in the senior Israel league.

There can be few places in the world where cricket is played in harsher conditions. The "fields" of both Dimona and Be'er Sheva are nothing more than sand and rocks. Temperatures in the summer months can reach over 40 degrees, such that drinks breaks are taken every 5 overs. Play has been known to be stopped whilst camels cross the pitch!

As part of the ICA's extensive infrastructure upgrade, astro turf pitches were laid in Be'er Sheva and Dimona. The pitch pictured here, in Be'er Sheva, has subsequently been torn up and stolen, suspectedly by Beduin tribesman in the area. Games now take place on the concrete that was left behind. Plans are afoot to build a net facility, at the moment practices take place in a makeshift net on an uneven matting wicket.

Cricket has changed the lives of the kids of the Negev. Soccer costs hundreds of shekels each year; they do not pay 1 cent for any cricket activities, for most of them simply cannot afford to. Instead of walking the streets aimlessly, they participate in national tournaments and leagues, meeting and becoming friends with kids from more affluent parts of Israel. Those good enough to have been selected have been on overseas tours with the junior national teams. Their classmates could only dream of such holidays. Despite the obstacles, kids from all backgrounds - Indian, Ethiopian, Morroccan, Russian - not to mention the native Israeli's, have all grown to love the game of cricket together.