DISADVANTAGED teenagers will meet cricket hero Moeen Ali this summer

The Worcestershire and England cricketer will welcome a teenage touring party from one of South Africa’s most deprived communities.

He will meet up with the 14-year-olds from Cape Town as they play a match at Moseley Ashfield, where Moeen played as a teenager.

Rob Green, Ashfield’s youth manager, said: “This trip has the potential to change these kids’ lives forever, and Moeen was keen to be part of that.

“As a Worcestershire all-rounder who started his career at Warwickshire he is really looking forward to being there – it should be a great occasion.”

The youngsters belong to Fish Rite Hanover Park Cricket Club from the Cape Flats, a so-called “dumping ground” of the former apartheid regime, where black South Africans were forcibly moved to the margins of Cape Town.

The party flies into the Midlands on August 1, before taking in the third day of the England vs Australia Ashes Test at Edgbaston followed by youth matches against Harborne and Ombersley.

They will also watch a Worcestershire vs Australia one-day game, courtesy of the county, and do some sightseeing, attend a football match, enjoy further fixtures in Devon and the London area, before flying home on August 18.

Fish Rite Hanover Park Cricket Club chair Ashraf Allie said: “This is a group of young cricketers who face immense social and economic challenges, peer pressure and being poor.

“But, thanks to their determination, coupled with the tenacity and hard work of the club’s leadership, we have managed to pull off something great with the help of some of our partners, patrons and benefactors.

“It was not easy and was really challenging to come this far.”