Dawlat Ahmadzai

Like most members of the Afghanistan cricket team, Dawlat Ahmadzai grew up in a refugee camp in Pakistan. He remembers watching Imran Khan lifting the World Cup for Pakistan on television in 1992, and the excitement that the win caused in the camp. After Pakistan's triumph, his brother made a cricket bat and cricket replaced volleyball as the sport of choice in the Swabi refugee camp.

A fast bowler from the start of his career, by 1996 he was playing cricket for a club in Peshawar and in 2001 was part of the first squad of Afghan cricketers selected to form the basis for a national side. After Afghanistan gained one-day international status by a securing a spot in the top six at the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, Dawlat distinguished himself by taking Afghanistan's first ever ODI wicket when he had Scotland's Gavin Hamilton caught by Noor Ali. He was also instrumental in Afghanistan's win over defending champions Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup, taking 5 for 52 in Ireland's second innings to help set up a seven-wicket win.

Dawlat is also a trained fitness coach with a strong interest in the development of cricket in Afghanistan. He has been part of the Afghan Youth Cricket Support Organization - which was set up by another player, Raees Ahmadzai - since its inception and is hoping to build a school in the village of Abchakan in Logar province.
Liam Brickhill June 2010