The Friday Game

For just a few hours on Friday mornings, Majeed and his friends feel completely at home. Despite the often sweltering conditions in Dubai, the rough, uneven pitch and the stark surroundings, the moment the players walk up to the wicket, they are taken back to their home in Kerala, India - to their childhood, community and families.

This group of twenty-odd Indians gather early every Friday, shedding their weekday personas as engineers, newspaper delivery guys and abaya salesmen, to become the Eleven Star team. Playing gully, or street cricket, these men have formed a brotherhood that exists on and off the field.

Frederica Boswell and Zoi Constantine hear from Majeed, Siddiq, and Nawaz - cricket-mad men from India whose dream of a better life led them to the Gulf. They talk about their migrant experiences, the good and the bad. And, how playing cricket during their few precious hours off every week helps them through life away from loved ones.

In the shadow of Dubai’s skyscrapers, the sight of men playing cricket on sandy lots beside the road every Friday is so common that it almost goes unnoticed. This is their story - a story of migration and opportunity, loneliness and brotherhood.

(Photo: Eleven Star cricket team, mostly from Kerala, India, play under the hot sun. Credit: Stephen O'Connor)