While people might usually think football and little else when it comes to team sport in Germany - the popularity of the sport of cricket has surged in recent years. Driven by the arrival of millions of asylum seekers, cricket is now starting to be taken seriously in an unlikely place.
Ira Spitzer reports from Berlin.
IN: It's hard to believe…
OUT: SOC
DUR: 2:51
{TAKE PACKAGE}
VO # 1 It's hard to believe THIS is happening in Germany. An impromptu cricket match would have been a highly unusual sight just a few years ago. But this British sport is suddenly booming here in the land of football and bratwurst. The reason? Asylum seekers, especially from Afghanistan and Pakistan, have brought cricket madness with them.
SOT, Zeehan Baig, Pakistani asylum seeker
"It gives me great happiness because I'm far away from my parents… cricket fills the vacant space of my family and playing cricket helps me miss them less."
VO# 2 The number of cricket players joining local leagues has more than tripled in the last five years. Last year alone about 40,000 people from Afghanistan and Pakistan, nations whose former ties to the British empire planted the seeds of the game's popularity, arrived in Germany seeking asylum.
SOT, Harmanjot Singh, German U18 national team
"When we first started cricket in Germany when I came, there were very less teams. Now there's a bunch of people coming every week, which used to be every year."
VO# 3 And even here at this Berlin playground with a makeshift balls and wickets - these players who hail from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Germany are having something close to a proper game.
PTC, Ira Spitzer, Berlin
"While a playground may work in a pinch, refugees who want to take their cricket to the next level often find themselves here. at this pitch in the shadow of Berlin's Olympic stadium, the epicenter of the local cricket scene."
VO# 4 Cricketers here have access to coaches, real equipment and a shot at becoming part of the higher level teams that travel around Germany and abroad for their matches.
SOT - Hans-Heinrich Mai, Coach, Berlin Cricket Club
We've definitely had an influx of younger players. Guys from Afghanistan, Pakistan who are about from 16 to let's say 22, so it actually does the sport really good, r
VO# 5 They've set up two extra sessions a week just to accommodate the demand. And with competition fierce for resources and field space, the local cricket community suddenly has some clout.
SOT - Hans-Heinrich Mai, Coach, Berlin Cricket Club
"They increase numbers, which can only be good for a minority sport in Germany and we are really happy to welcome them here."
VO#6 The refugee influx my have Germany bowling over the competition on the international stage too. Well, maybe not any time too soon. Over half the players on the country's under nineteen national team originally hail from Afghanistan. Ira Spitzer, Berlin.
//ENDS