Pakistan-born cricketer Ali Mumtaz grew up dreaming of playing for his country, but it's a regional town in Australia that he represents these days.

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He's not alone.

Ali Mumtaz (left) and Awesh Khadal (right) are two stars at Dubbo's Newtown Cricket Club. Picture by Dane Wilson

There are now more than 200,000 overseas-born residents just in regional NSW, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But there are added challenges for overseas-born arrivals, particularly for young people moving alone: cultural misunderstandings, loneliness, difficulty mingling with the community, and more.

"Successfully settling migrants in regional areas requires the buy-in from host communities," Migration Institute of Australia CEO Peter van Vliet said.

"Migration can be challenging ... rural areas often desperately need migrants to fill jobs and skills shortages, but it's important they also make migrants feel welcome and part of the community when they get there - so that they stay."

In 2021, Mr Mumtaz made the jump from Melbourne to Dubbo, in NSW's Central West, to capitalise on visa incentives to live regionally, finding himself employed in the Special Emergency Service and waste management operations.

Ali Mumtaz says he "feels like a Dubboite". Picture by Dane Wilson.

Facing challenges like being one of only 500 Islamic residents in Dubbo, he wasn't always sure how he would acclimate to his new surroundings.

It was a time-honoured country Australian tradition, something Mr van Vliet "encourages" migrants to be involved in, that helped Mumtaz find his place: sport.

'I love it'

"When I came here, I had no idea what Dubbo looked like," Mr Mumtaz said.

No 1 Oval, Victoria Park is the home of cricket in Dubbo. Picture by Dane Wilson.

"I had no friends here, I was here by myself, and it was during COVID, so I had no contact with the local mosque and its community."

Strolling one day, he saw members of Dubbo's Newtown Tigers Cricket Club training and thought to himself that some players looked Pakistani.

Indeed, the club, established in 1966, looks very different in 2026 - it is made up of roughly 50 per cent South Asian players.

A trial game and three years of representative cricket later, Mr Mumtaz "feels like a Dubboite".

"I love it," Mr Mumtaz said. "The grounds are beautiful, and many of the Australian players have become my good friends."

"They respect my religion. I tell them I can't push my body because I'm fasting, and they say 'no, don't run too much on the field'. It makes you feel like you're in the right place."

Mr Mumtaz took one wicket and scored the final run for a Dubbo representative side that featured six South Asian players when they won the Macquarie Valley Brewery Shield over Gilgandra in December 2025.

"I had a dream of representing my country when I was a kid, but I never had the opportunity. In Melbourne, unless you are on the big sides, you don't get to play on the top grounds.

"In Dubbo, I get to represent my community.

This is how you become an Australian national.

- Ali Mumtaz

'Positive respect'

Nepal-born 29-year-old Awesh Khadal is one of Mr Mumtaz's teammates.

After moving from Sydney to Dubbo with his wife, a Charles Sturt University student, in 2022, the restaurant manager began playing at the club.

How country sport helped Ali and Awesh feel at home in Australia

"Sport is the kind of thing that, wherever you are from, it brings all people together," Mr Khadal said.

"Playing against each other with the different cultures - local Australians or other South Asians - it builds positive respect and beliefs. You feel more confident, like you belong."

"Back in Sydney, we didn't have time to meet the local people due to travelling time. But in Dubbo, I feel like it's more compact and diverse ... you can know people more than sitting in the house. Sport has been a great way to meet people."

A matter of respect

Newtown Tigers Cricket Club President Don Skinner has been involved with the club since he moved to Dubbo in 1987.

He said the process of getting more South Asians involved was merely a function of respect.

"I can't even remember who our first bloke from the subcontinent joined and when," Mr Skinner said, "But they said that they liked us because we treated them equally.

"They're just passionate about their cricket, it went from there."

Mr Skinner has always held that the club was a good chance for new arrivals to find their place.

"I just tell them that if you come from, say, an Indian background and you just stay with other Indians, you don't learn a lot. Whereas, if you can mix in with the town and everyone's communities, you settle better, you learn.

Newtown Tigers CC president Don Skinner (second from the left) with his sons Tom Skinner, Mat Skinner, and Steve Skinner. Picture by Belinda Soole.

"I'm getting more of the senior players involved with the juniors, especially the ones with kids, and it's good. The kids are brought up as innocents, they don't see any differences."