Adnan Miakhel has already made a journey of thousands of miles, under his own steam, just to be here.

So you’d better believe him when he says he wants to go even further.

The 18-year-old from Afghanistan is one of a growing number of refugee cricketers in England – since his appearances on Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams in 2022, probably the best-known.

But as his foster mum, Elaine, told the BBC show, he wants to be known as Adnan the cricketer, not Adnan the refugee. 

At his club, Wigan, he’s already there, contributing to the team’s perfect start to the Liverpool Competition season. Lancashire have taken notice too, selecting Miakhel for the U18 squad.

He’s still not satisfied, though.

“Every Tuesday over the winter, I would wake up at 4am to go and have a practice in the sports centre,” he says.

“I’ve put all the hard work in and tried my best, so I think I deserve to be called Adnan the cricketer.

“I never saw proper cricket in my life until just over three years ago, and now I’m playing a kind of semi-professional cricket. 

“There are so many people behind me – foster carers, social workers, coaches, personal advisers, psychologists – it wouldn’t be fair on them if I just said I’m going to enjoy my life and just play cricket for fun.

“I said to myself I should do something better. 

“My dream is one day to have an England Test cap. Whether it’s 10 years away or five years away, I’m going to work hard for that.”

With apologies to anyone who believes everything they see on reality TV, Miakhel was already an established player at Euxton in the Palace Shield when he appeared, apparently out of nowhere, on Field of Dreams. 

He had arrived in the country after a traumatic journey the year before, aged just 15 and not speaking a word of English. 

He recalls: “Cricket changed my life completely. When I came, I couldn’t speak English and I didn’t know what to do here in England. 

“The first thing I thought of was cricket. 

“I got a new bat as a gift and broke it on the second day – I didn’t know to knock the bat in and play gently, I was whacking every single ball.

“My first club was White Coppice, then I went from there to Euxton and from Euxton to Wigan.”

Miakhel started his journey alone, but he is far from the only one using cricket as a way to settle into a new life in a new country.

Haroon Naseri is 17 and is making a name for himself in Norley Hall’s 1st XI, as they enjoy a winning start to the league season in Division Two. 

He arrived just under three years ago as an unaccompanied refugee from Afghanistan – like Miakhel, having endured a journey most of us simply cannot imagine.

Aged just 15, Naseri made it to the North West and was placed with experienced solo foster carer Paul Williams in the Wigan area.

Paul says: “People have a misconception of what it’s like to look after unaccompanied children. 

“Some people think it’s a walk in the park because when they turn up, they give the impression of being self-sufficient, capable and independent, but that’s not the case – they’ve had to appear like that to survive their journey. 

“When they arrive, they all sleep in their clothes. When they’ve had problems in the past, it’s been at night-time, so at least if they’re dressed, they can make a quick escape. 

“It can take a couple of weeks, or a month. But when they start getting changed for bed, that’s how you know they’re feeling safe and starting to relax. 

“You see two sides of them – when they’re relaxed in the home, you see the young person that they are. 

“But when you go anywhere, that mature person, that ‘don’t mess with me’ person, shows his head again. And it takes a while before it evens out and they show the lovely young lads they are.”

Here, according to 60-year-old Paul, is where sport comes in.

“I have three unaccompanied children living with me and I support another three outside,” he adds.

“Sport is such a big thing for them. When they come, they have so much going on, they’ve left home under bad circumstances, they’ve left their family, there’s all these things going on in their heads. 

“So when they get their teeth into a sport, it’s an escape for them and it gives them something to get into and be a part of, and it helps them settle in. It’s what they need.

“Haroon made it quite clear that he enjoyed cricket, though he’d never really played in Afghanistan – he just played in the streets with a tennis ball and a couple of friends.

“He’d never played with a hard ball or known all the rules. 

“I contacted Hindley St Peters, and they asked me to bring him down and get involved – as soon as he went, you could see that was his passion. 

“Other young people his age, they’re playing games on their phones all the time – the only game he’s got on his phone is a cricket game.”

The appetite for cricket among these new communities is one which plenty of clubs are keen to tap.

Peter Roots, Liverpool CC’s junior co-ordinator and 4th XI skipper, runs sessions for Afghan refugees at the club’s Aigburth home.

He says: “It started the season before last, we had some Afghan kids come to the club for a one-off day. 

“We said to them does anyone want to come along and do some net sessions – five came along, and were really keen. 

“Then last year, in April, a support worker got in touch because they had a load of kids who said all they wanted to do was play cricket. 

“About five came, then another five, then word got around and we had about 20 Afghan kids coming along. 

“I think we had about 11 or 12 who ended up playing league matches. 

“Most of them have been dispersed out to other places, there’s only two who are still in Liverpool and have come back. But so far this year, there’s about eight or nine new players who’ve been coming along.”

The benefits to clubs, individuals and the community as a whole are immense. 

Too many people on this bad-tempered island view newcomers with suspicion and hostility. Anything which helps them settle in, and puts them in touch with the quiet, friendly majority can only be a good thing.

Peter, 50, has seen enough from his young charges to know they have plenty to offer on the field, too.

“They love it, they’re really keen,” he adds. “There’s a difference in standard between the players but I’ve been really impressed, particularly with the bowling and fielding, how quick and how confident they are.

“It feels to us that they don’t have many other contexts in which they’re doing anything like this in the community. 

“They’re doing something they’re clearly looking forward to and enjoying, and meeting other people, and they really feel part of a team, doing something together. 

“And it’s good for the club to have a pool of people who are ready to play. 

“It means you can do internal matches easily, and it makes training better. 

“It’s altogether a good thing for the club – it also helped when we were applying for funding for Sport England for our nets, because it’s a kind of community involvement.” 

Paul agrees that the benefits of so-called “unproductive” leisure time stretch far beyond the cricket field.

He adds: “Whether it’s training, playing a game or just talking about cricket, it’s a memory of what they had in Afghanistan when it was safe to play – it’s an escape for them. 

“I was reading an article about Fatima Whitbread, who had a very rough childhood and was lost, shall we say – she tried volleyball and this, that, and the other before she took up javelin. 

“What she said was really poignant and true – she said sport was a real solace for her, it was what saved her. It’s very much the case for these young chaps as well. 

“Haroon’s into his cricket, there’s another young boy who’s not been here long who loves cricket too, he’s an amazing bowler. Another boy likes his boxing and MMA. 

“They all like their sport and it’s for that reason, what it does to help them settle and focus and not just think about everything that’s going on in the background.”

In part because of cricket, Naseri has settled into his new home. His asylum application has been approved, he’s studying for his GCSEs and he has a job at a local supermarket.

“They love him there,” says Paul. “The manager said to me, I wish we had another four or five like him.”

And cricket is working its magic on Paul, too.

“The last time I played cricket was in school,” he adds. “I’ve had to teach myself to use a sidearm so I can help Haroon with his training. But I enjoy it now. 

“The first couple of times I was watching him, I felt guilty because I thought I had so much to do, but now I really look forward to Saturdays, just to see Haroon enjoying himself.”

Wigan captain Jordan Hampson is in no doubt that all-rounder Miakhel is the real deal, trusting him with the new ball and making him stand-in skipper.

He says: “Adnan has been really strong – we weren’t sure what he was going to come back like but he’s been doing a lot of work in the winter, and he has been strong. 

“Last year, he used to change it up a lot, he’d bowl one side of the wicket then the other and wouldn’t bowl the same ball twice. Now he just runs in and bowls on a line and length. 

“He builds a lot more pressure that way instead of letting the batters score runs. 

“We’ve been drilling into him that if you bowl your line and length and build pressure, you will be rewarded for it. And it looks like he is starting to learn that.”

Miakhel’s stand-out performance so far came in the win over Northern this month, when he smashed a match-winning 74, having already claimed the key wicket of Tyler McGladdery.

He says: “Northern are one of the best club teams in the country, and doing well against them gives you the confidence to go on and do more.

“I just needed the opportunity to bowl with the new ball, and they’ve trusted me this year. I said I couldn’t promise to bowl well 100% of the time, but if you give me the new ball I will learn. 

“The Liverpool Competition is not easy to play in and it’s a massive challenge for me, so I’ve worked really hard and proved myself.”

No-one knows what the future holds for Miakhel. But if determination and willpower are any guide, he’d already proved himself before he even picked up a bat.

It’s clear how grateful he is to his teammates, and how much he wants to help blaze a trail for other refugee cricketers.

He adds: “We are not a team, we are family. We look after each other. We expect the best from everyone and we enjoy being together.

“In England, there are loads of opportunities if you want to do something in your life. 

“Not just in cricket, you have the opportunity and it’s all up to you at the end of the day. 

“If you take every single opportunity, even if it’s a small one, and put all the hard work in, you can definitely go somewhere. 

“Cricket is the best sport. I’m so lucky to have cricket as a part of my life.”