SA Indian takes cricket into African heartland

Fakir Hassen

A South African Indian cricket player who never himself had the opportunity to play globally due to apartheid is today quietly helping take the sport into the African heartland.

Hoosen Ayob, from the huge Indian township of Lenasia near Johannesburg, gave up a career as a teacher to join efforts by the United Cricket Board of South Africa to support the development of the International Cricket Council.

Ayob, 59, is one of five people across the world assisting in the project. He is the development director for Africa of the ICC and is spearheading a process that will see cricket becoming a major sport in many countries on the continent.

"The project began in October 1997 with a vision by the then cricket boss in South Africa, Ali Bacher, to globalize the game," Ayob said. "Since then I have been to Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland and would soon be in Gambia and Sierra Leone.

"We coach teachers and parents and create awareness of the game of cricket in countries where it is often not a known sport at all, or where it has been restricted to expatriate communities only, with locals not being interested in it," he explained. "Generally people have been very appreciative of our efforts, often queuing to register for the weeklong coaching sessions."

Sporting bodies, sponsors and even governments in these countries have come out in strong support of the project, which is already boosting talent, according to Ayob. Rapidly developing communications technology, especially satellite television, has exposed millions across the continent to cricket.

"We set out to prove to young children that cricket is not a boring game," said Ayob, who has been involved in the development of cricket among South African Indian school children since 1965.

"I had always wanted to do things for underprivileged children in Africa, and finally my dream has been realized," he said. "Seeing the smiles on the faces of young children and the letters which I receive from teachers and parents in all these countries is more gratifying than anything I have done in my life."

Preferring to move into the rest of Africa rather than take on one of the more lucrative offers back home in South Africa, Ayob admitted that the project had made his home life suffer. He spends more than half of every month away from home. But when he does return for a few days at a time, he spends every possible moment with his son Mohammed Ismail, 11, and daughter Rumana, 13.

Going by the latest rankings for the 2003 Cricket World Cup, to be hosted by South Africa, Ayob's work has been paying dividends. For the first time, Namibia will participate in the Cup.

Which African country, besides South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, will be in the next Cricket World Cup? Ayob predicts that by the next World Cup, Uganda will be in there, with one of the West African countries following soon after.

Indo-Asian News Service