Sunday cricket an escape for migrant workers in Lebanon

Beirut: In a Beirut car park, migrant workers cheer as their teams face off in a cricket tournament, a moment of respite in crisis hit Lebanon, where...

Beirut: In a Beirut car park, migrant workers cheer as their teams face off in a cricket tournament, a moment of respite in crisis-hit Lebanon, where working conditions are often tough.

"Sunday we are so happy... We eat together, we laugh together," said cricketer Pradeepa Silva, a 42-year-old Sri Lankan, as she and her teammates prepared coconut rice and other traditional food nearby to share.

"Work is very tiring" and workers are stressed and worried, said Silva, who is employed as a housemaid six days a week and pays for her daughter's university studies back home.

Every Sunday, players mainly from Sri Lanka but also from the Philippines, India and Pakistan gather in Beirut's Ashrafieh neighbourhood to play cricket -- a little-known sport in Lebanon.