Liverpool cricketer fights deportation

Sep 21 2007

The Home Office has been urged to lift the threat of deportation hanging over a former West Indies international cricketer who lives in Liverpool.

Fast bowler Hartley Alleyne, 50, played first-class cricket for his native Barbados, Worcestershire, Kent and Natal from 1978 to 1990 before coaching youngsters.

He was employed as a resident boarding assistant and sports coach at St Edmund’s School in Canterbury, Kent, in 2005 and applied for a work permit.

But Mr Alleyne, who has lived in Britain since 1978, said his application was turned down because he did not hold an NVQ level three certificate.

He later obtained the qualification in sports coaching to satisfy the Home Office but says he has now learned that his appeal for a work permit has been rejected.

The rejection has left him facing deportation to Barbados within 28 days, away from his English wife and two young children who live in Liverpool and his grown-up daughter in London.

Mr Alleyne said: “I have lived here in this country for a long time, having left Barbados at the age of 21, yet I’m still facing deportation.

“To me, England is my home and Barbados is a place that I return to every now and again for a holiday.

“It’s an awful situation to be in. I have given so much of myself to this country and have helped to teach kids cricket and help them make a good start in life.”