London in the year 1960. David is Jewish and lives in a respectable, thoroughly British working class part of town. David’s one passion is cricket; his great love of the sport is, however, quite unreciprocated and every one of the boy’s attempts to join the sporting aces at school fails before he even tries. Dream and reality couldn’t be further apart – for David is simply hopeless at cricket. All of that changes, however, when a family from Jamaica moves into the house next door. Much to the surprise of everyone in the neighbourhood, this family decides to replace the obligatory rose bed in their back garden with a cricket green on which the family can train. Against the wishes of his parents, who eye their new neighbours with some suspicion, David makes friends with Judy, who practises regularly in the garden with her father. All the hours spent training in the neighbour’s garden pay off and David’s sudden knack for the game finally gains him a place in the school cricket team. At last, he feels accepted; what’s more, his new friends even attend his birthday party. Everyone turns up – except Judy, whom David has not invited. The next day, David pays the neighbours a call as usual – only to find the garden door firmly closed. Suddenly, David realises what he has done and his whole world collapses. Mortified with shame and feeling desperate, he is at a loss as to what to do next. Worse still: when he looks out of the window that evening he discovers the neighbour’s house in flames. David sounds the alarm immediately . . .