Cricket's most heart-warming story
At one level, , which begins in Guyana on Friday, is just another opportunity for cricket's 10 elite Test nations to squabble over yet another trophy.
Out of dozens of associate and affiliate nations keen for a crack at the big time, there is room for just two additional qualifiers. But one of them, remarkably, is The ultimate underdogs, in sport as in any walk of life, they only became recognised as a cricketing nation in 2001.
The 11 men who will take on millionaire Indian superstars like Mahendra Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh on 1 May in the idyllic tourist haven of St Lucia grew up in the bleak surroundings of the refugee camps in Pakistan, following the
The journey from there to cricket's top table is one of the most heartening stories in sport, and one of the most unlikely.
After the solemn realisation at the age of 12 that I might not be good enough to play cricket for England I decided that the next best thing, writing about cricket, would have to suffice as a career. That's what I've been doing for the 91Èȱ¬ Sport website since 2001, in which time the sport has changed immensely. You can also follow me on .
