Student aims to spread cheer among workers

Dubai: Listening to the collective cheers, groans and banter among a group of men playing a friendly game of cricket at the ICC Global Academy in Dubai Sport City this weekend, you would easily mistake them for old friends.

But these men — workers and school teachers — were virtual strangers until recently when a high school student decided to arrange cricket matches as a way to give back to less fortunate members of the community.

Over the months, Dubai College student Yuvraj Talwar, 16, has been organising cricket matches with workers in Al Quoz and his father's company.

And after weeks of practice, Talwar arranged for his team of Pakistani and Indian workers, the Terrazzo Strikers, to play their first proper match against a team of school teachers from Dubai, Dubai British School and Jumeirah College this weekend. The cricket-crazy Terrazzo Strikers won. "Our team played well and gave a good fight to the opposition," the beaming workers said after their victory.

Long-term involvement

The idea for the cricket matches came after Talwar organised a charity event during Christmas to distribute gift hampers to workers in the Al Quoz industrial area. "Though I was pleased with the outcome, I realised that the faces of the workers lit up during the event but obviously it would only be short term. I thought to myself; what can I change? How can I give back to the workers in such a way that brings them happiness in the long term?"

Since then, Talwar had arranged matches among the workers at his school's premises every Friday and received equipment from a local company. "After we play for about four or five hours, we go and get food or something and we talk. Everyone sits at one big table and we're good friends. I've grown up in this environment so we've always been friendly."

The student said his main aim is to spread some cheer among the workers "as it seems that the workers rarely have anything to look forward to".

The teachers, mainly expats from the UK, South Africa and Australia, are also eager to make a cross-cultural connection and engage in some friendly rivalry.

Speaking to Gulf News ahead of the match, Dubai British School teacher Jon Pennock said Talwar's project is "a fantastic idea… and I hope we don't get too badly beaten."

"It's a game the Indian and Pakistani guys all love obviously and we are more than happy to try it," the British national said.

Matt Bentley, also a teacher at Dubai British school, said: "Expats don't really get a chance to speak to the Indian guys — this is a good chance for us to understand them more and they understand us better."