TheBlindJournalist: Blind Cricket

The game of cricket is perhaps the ultimate test of hand-eye co-ordination. Not the most obvious activity for the visually impaired, but the game of blind cricket is a much loved and highly competitive activity across the world.

 

TheBlindjOURNALISt, Mohammed Salim Patel gives an overview of how visually impaired cricket is played but also an insight into one of the UK’s leading and ever expanding clubs, the Lancashire Lions.

 

Based in Manchester, North West England, the Lancashire Lions Visually Impaired Cricket Club was established in 2011. The club burst on to the scenes by winning the Northern Development League, in their first season, with a 100% record, beating well-established teams such as Durham and Yorkshire to name a few. More on the club below.

 

The game of V.I cricket only has a handful of adaptations in comparison to the mainstream sport. There are four totally blind players in a team and 7 partially sighted individuals, to make 11, which is the same as normal cricket. Each player is given a classification based on their level of sight, ranging from ‘B1’ to ‘B4’. A B1 player is totally blind and as the numbers go up the players sight increases, so a B4 player would have the strongest sight in a team.

 

The ball that is used is a size 3 football that has bells inside it so that the totally blind players can hear the ball and the partially sighted players can see it because it is bigger. When a B1 is bowling the wicket-keeper claps at either off or middle stump so the player can gage the direction in which they need to throw the ball. If a B1 is batting then the ball would have to bounce twice before it reaches the batsmen otherwise it would be classed as a no ball. A B1 batsmen would also get a runner and their runs are always doubled. Lastly, when it comes to fielding all the B1 players can catch the ball off one bounce which would be classed as out. Besides these adaptations all the same rules apply as to normal cricket.

 

The Lancashire Lions are currently partway through the 2015 season. They have a team for both the Development League and National League. The treasurer is Ben Tanner. Chairman is Amjad Khan and the Club Secretary is Sheraz Chohan. The club also has Dr Amanda Large as its welfare officer and Mohammed Salim Patel as their press officer.

 

Sheraz Chohan, Club Secretary and first team player, from Manchester said:

“My love for cricket is thanks to my father. He cricketed me out from a very young age. My father himself is totally blind so he would ask me to read out the runs to him off the TV screen.”

 

The reason for Lancashire Lions being formed was because there was no competitive cricket in the Lancashire county, enthusiasts would need to travel to places such as Durham or Yorkshire to play competitively. This galvanised Sheraz to set up what is now LLVICC.

 

“With Lancashire being such a successful cricketing county it seemed wrong for the county not to have its own competitive blind cricket team” furthered Chohan.

 

The club is ever expanding and has now started to delve into multi-sports such as blind ten-pin bowling, goalball, yoga for the visually impaired and soon V.I table tennis.

 

Lancashire Lions Visually Impaired Cricket Club is a pioneering and multi-cultural organisation creating sporting and social opportunities for both males and females who have a visual impairment. For further information do not hesitate to call Sheraz Chohan, Club Secretary on 07581351786 or email the club’s press officer Mohammed Salim Patel on theblindjournalist@gmail.com

 

Follow the Lancashire Lions on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lancashire-Lions-Visually-Impaired-Cricket-Club/251655981655840

Twitter Handle: @lancslionsvicc

Website: llvisc.org