Lise Debel writes for the Hamilton Spectator:-
When Dabeer Khalid’s friends learned he was immigrating to Canada with his family, they warned him about what he would be missing by leaving Pakistan.

“They told me that there was no cricket in Canada,” said Khalid, who was in Grade 8 when he moved half way around the world to Hamilton. Cricket is hugely popular in places including Pakistan, India and the West Indies.

Khalid (now 21 and a police foundations student at Mohawk College) proved his childhood friends wrong by discovering cricket clubs in Hamilton and Oakville, where he plays competitively. Even his high school – Barton Secondary – had a cricket team.

Khalid now shares his love of the sport with a new generation of cricket enthusiasts through PLAY (Positive Living for Active Youth), a new YMCA program that aims to eliminate barriers to recreational sports for immigrant kids ages six to 17 who have been in Canada five years or less.
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