Meet Afghan Morteza Ali, who overcame death threats to become a first-class player in England

He can easily be called Afghanistan’s Malala Yousafzai, a male version though. Or rather, cricket’s Malala. Morteza Ali had fled his motherland at the age of 14 after the Taliban had murdered his family. He found a refuge in England, just like Malala, and there he met a person who would become his second father. At 32 today, Morteza doesn’t only feel that he has a precious life to lead but also is content to have played cricket and made some name out of it.

Roger Mitty, chairman of Cumnor Cricket Club, a village club on the outskirts of Oxford, welcomed the hapless Morteza and even gave him some kit. Morteza’s reaction had left him overwhelmed.

“He looked at me as though I had given him lottery winnings or something. It was just a wonderful feeling. He couldn’t speak much English, but he was obviously so pleased to be there,” BBC quoted Mitty as saying.

Back in his country, Morteza always harboured the dream of becoming a cricketer and had played with a broom handle for hours, likening it to a bat. However, it was only after he reached England following a difficult journey lasting for more than a year that he got his chance to become a cricketer. He lived with a distant cousin in Oxford in England before meeting Mitty.

Mitty too was kind enough to treat the Afghan as his fourth child. He even threw him birthday parties, helped him to get an education and included him in celebrations.

Morteza survived the worst to become a cricketer

Morteza had his life at stake while trying to reach safety from the dangers that were prevalent in Afghanistan. According to the report, he fell ill and vomited uncontrollably as he crawled up a mountain with some fellow migrants in Ukraine.

The situation was so grave that the man, in a shirt and pair of jeans out in the snow, had even wanted that he died. But he survived and then reached the heaven he has now in the UK. “His journey from Afghanistan was extraordinary and I just felt I wanted to try and show him some love and concern and support and encouragement,” Mitty said.

Since his arrival in England, Morteza grew into an all-round cricketer with a flamboyant batting and penetrative bowling styles and became one of the Cumnor clubs’ greatest players.

Morteza got to play his only first-class game in April 2009 when he represented Oxford Marylebone Cricket Club University against Worcestershire though he did not get to bat or bowl in that drawn three-day game.