ONE of the most unusual cricket teams to tour England arrives this week to the beat of a rap rhythm and with an anti-gang gospel to preach to British youth.

The Hispanic teenagers from a notorious gang-ridden neighbourhood of South Central Los Angeles had never heard of cricket a year ago. Now, through the support and sponsorship of an expatriate British aristocrat, a Hollywood film producer and the owner of a rap record company, they find themselves cast in the roles of willing but somewhat puzzled cricket-playing ambassadors from the ghetto.

Their two-week visit begins with breakfast with Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace and continues with practice in the nets at Lords, sailing off Cowes, a meeting with the England cricket team and a visit to the Commons. They will also play nine games against opponents such as Hambledon, Bournemouth University and a Commons XI.

It is all far removed from their lives in the crime-infested area of Compton, where gangs fight with guns. ``I know it's going to be great,'' said 13-year-old Reuben Campos, whose father was a member of the Segundo street gang. ``While we are in England we will tell kids not to get into gangs.''

``We have got these kids before they become hard-core gang members,'' said Katy Haber, a north London-born member of the board of BAFTA in Los Angeles, who produced the film Blade Runner and is the prime mover behind the tour. ``We hope this trip will show them there is more to life than gangs and crime, and that is what they are going to tell the kids they meet in England. A lot of kids look up to the gang culture of Compton and we want the team to present a positive image and make the point that the way to succeed is not on the streets or with a gang.''

With the help of Lord Alexander Rufus Isaacs, the founder and captain of the Beverly Hills cricket club, and Ted Hayes, a cricket-playing social activist, Ms Haber began teaching the Compton children the rudiments of the game in an effort to keep them off the streets.

``It's amazing how quickly they've taken to the game,'' said Lord Rufus Isaacs, whose Beverly Hills team of British expatriate cricketers donated equipment and has twice braved the hazards of Compton streets to play against the teenagers. ``They'd played baseball so they've got a good eye for a ball.''

Playing cricket in Compton can be a life-threatening experience. ``Once we were playing and we heard automatic weapons fire,'' recalled Mr Hayes. ``I yelled to everyone to get down, but some of the kids just stood there because they were used to it.''

The £20,000 to pay for the trip has come from the New York-based rap record company Tommy Boy Records, whose owner Tommy Silverman liked the idea of taking children off the street by teaching them cricket. Other companies, including the Prudential, have offered sponsorship. To prepare them for their trip, the team was invited to the home of Merrick Baker-Bates, the British Consul-General in Los Angeles, where they were fed strawberries and given a pep talk by the Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief, Mark Krueker.''Cricket,'' said the policeman, who played the game as a child in the then Rhodesia, ``involves being a gentleman. You must be gentlemen.''