Cricket with a blind difference hosted in Newcastle

We often read in the headlines of great professional cricket stars such as Shaun Pollock, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Kagiso Radaba and Imran Tahir.

All great sportsmen, honoured for their top-notch skills on the cricket field.

However, one hardly hears of the men taking to the field, and playing a match, having nothing but their hearing and senses to aid them.

Yes, these men are visually impaired, yet are still determined to do what they love most.

Blind Cricket has become the fastest growing sport for visually impaired sportsmen not only in South Africa, but across the world.

It has grown and developed in leaps and bounds through sheer love of the sport, and dedication from both the players as well as volunteer officials.

Therefore, it only deems fit to host such an extravagant event right here on our very own door step.

Three blind cricket teams from various provinces will compete in a three day T20 series match from December 9 to December 12 at the Paradise Sports Grounds, with the matches starting at 9am and admission to the grounds is free.

This tournament serves to promote the sport among Newcastle’s blind community as well as to raise awareness about the visually impaired.

The three provinces who will be competing are:

KwaZulu-Natal Association for Blind Cricket,

Boland Blind Cricket, and

Free State Blind Cricket.

The teams participate annually at the National Blind Cricket Tournaments, with players also being selected to play internationally.

The last match in which they played was in Bangalore, India, in February 2017, in a T20 Tournament format.

Each team has of 11 players, drawn from the following ‘B’ categories:

B1 – Totally blind players (no light perception) = four players.

B2 – 10 per cent vision = three players.

B3 – 15 per cent vision = four players.

What is Blind Cricket?

Blind Cricket is based on the traditional rules and regulations of cricket, but has been altered and adapted for the blind and partially sighted players.

Additional minor rule modifications include:

There are minor and additional modifications to the rules of the game such as under arm bowling, and a batting technique called ‘the sweep shot’.

This means the bat is kept more or less horizontal to the ground as opposed to the conventional vertical style played by sighted cricketers.

The playing equipment is also slightly different with the most major adaptation being the ball. It is larger than the standard cricket ball and is filled with metal or steel ball bearings.

The size of the ball allows the partially sighted players to see the ball and the steel ball bearings inside allow blind players to hear it.

The wicket stumps are also larger than the standard wickets and are brightly painted.

This is to allow partially sighted players to see them, and the blind players to correctly orient themselves when batting or bowling.

How can you assist?

Most of the players came from disadvantaged backgrounds, either employed in low income positions or are still students with no source of income.

On behalf of the players, the Blind Cricket Association is appealing to members of the community to help the players with donations of fruits, lunch packs and water during their stay in Newcastle.

“Please assist us to develop the potential and confidence of these young people through community teamwork. We urgently need your assistance.”

If you wish to make a donation, or require more information about the event, contact Manny Mothilal on 031 208 1942 or 072 353 2184.