Out of the Ashes

Just over a year ago I burbled about a new cricket film that might actually be good, Out of the Ashes. Then I said that the film was due out at the end of 2009, but the makers sensibly waited to film whether the team reached their goal of qualifying for the 2011 World Cup on the advice of the cricket-loving film director, Sam Mendes.

To re-cap, the Afghan national cricket was formed in 2001, rose from Division Five of the ICC's World Cricket League (current Div. 5 teams include Fiji and Jersey) in 2008 to having ODI status today. They played in this year's Twenty20 world cup and although they were knocked out in the group stages, they impressed with their performances and enthusiasm. In particular, Hamid Hassan who can bowl at 90 mph+ and played for Skegness, stood out. He will play for the MCC against Pakistan this summer.

Luckily for us, the team was followed along this incredible journey by a documentary team and Out of the Ashes is the result. The clips look great (see below) and those in the UK can watch the film in full when it is shown on BBC 4 in the summer.