'I saw an opportunity to transform children's lives, but also spread the love of cricket'

Amal approached the cone-marked crease at the non-facing end, bat in hand, watching as the bowler from the Beqaa team bounded in to unleash his delivery.

Abdullah, her teammate and facing batsman attempted a sweep shot, but pulled the ball to a fielder at square leg. To 16-year-old Amal’s surprise, he turned and began running towards her, calling for her to make the run.

Panicked, she set off, and raced across the AstroTurf pitch. She dived forward, sliding across the invisible line of the crease. Did she make it?

“Howzat!” A jubilant cry rang out from the fielders as the plastic stumps lay dismantled. The fielders celebrated, as the umpire pointed his finger to the sky to signal out.

Frustrated and disappointed, Amal picked herself up and made her way off the pitch. She was run-out before she got a chance to face a ball. Her eyes were brimming with tears as the wet sting of the graze on her elbow burnt through her shirt. She was welcomed in solidarity by her teammates adorned in donated purple and yellow kits.

Although Amal was unable to add to the score, her team, Alsama Shatila Hub 1, were on the way to mounting a sizeable target against arch rivals Alsama Bekaa Hub 1 in what is both teams’ biggest and most important match of the year.

“When Bekaa and Shatila come together it’s a big moment, with controversy from time to time,” says Richard Verity, who founded the first cricket hub in the Shatila refugee camp in 2018, and who was umpiring the match.

The commotion of the wicket was enough to distract the attention of passers-by, who are used to seeing these facilities in southern Beirut host 5-a-side football matches. The observers looked confused as they stopped to watch through the chain-link fence, while trying to