Morteza Ali fled Afghanistan aged 14 after the Taliban killed his family. He eventually made his way to England, where he met the man who would become his second father.
Welcoming the teenager to Cumnor Cricket Club, a village club on the outskirts of Oxford, chairman Roger Mitty took Ali to the pavilion where he had laid out some kit for him.
“He looked at me as though I had given him lottery winnings or something. It was just a wonderful feeling,” Mr Mitty said. “He couldn't speak much English, but he was obviously so pleased to be there.”
Ali had arrived in England after a perilous journey lasting more than a year, and went to live with a distant cousin in Oxford. He had been obsessed with cricket in his homeland, playing for hours with a broom handle for a bat, but it was in England that he got the chance to develop as a cricketer.
The image of this “very shy boy”, who was “obviously mad about cricket” is a first impression that has never left Mr Mitty.
As their relationship developed, father-of-three Mr…
