A Few Hours Of Happiness, For Even The Unfortunate...

Alison Mitchell makes a trip to India to see how the Slum Cricket League is helping the young people in the country grow

- Alison Mitchell

Stepping up onto the curb, away from the autorickshaws weaving in and out of the traffic, the gates of a public park in the Naraina area of Delhi offer the promise of a few moments of leafy green tranquility. It’s only going to be a few fleeting moments of peace, however, because I’m in India with the BBC World Service to record a series of special programmes for the cricket show I present, Stumped. We are heading into the park in order to find a group of children from the local slums, who are playing in a cricket tournament.

On one side of the undulating parkland, an eight-foot-tall black metal fence marks out the boundary of a sports field. There are white football goal posts at either end, and the ground is very worn, a patchwork of rough grass and dry, bare mud. Where there are patches of grass towards the edge of the field, a cluster of brown and white goats are busy nibbling at the wiry blades.

Oblivious to the goats, though, and not caring about the bareness of the outfield, 27 boys are clad in whites vociferously enjoying a game of cricket. A pitch has been marked out in the centre of the driest part of the field, and wooden stumps are sticking out of the ground, perfectly upright as if in a military parade.

A wicket falls! There is whooping! And leaping! And high fives amongst the fielders! Instead of walking straight off, the batsman who is dismissed moves a few paces away from the wicket and stoops to take off his pads and gloves. He leaves them on the ground and hands his bat over to the new batsman walking in, who then eagerly straps on the pads and gets ready to take guard.