Mark Reynolds Talks To England Blind Cricket Captain
Article Date: 25th November 2002
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At the end of this month, November 2002, England's Blind Cricket team fly out to Chennai, in southern India for the 2002 World Cup for the blind.
This will be only the second world cup for Blind Cricket and it represents the increasing participation in the sport over recent years.With their first game on December 5th against Australia, England will be led by their captain, Adam Benjamin, 30.
An all-rounder from Metro Cricket Club in London, Adam faced the first ever ball in a Blind Cricket world cup, in Delhi in 1998.
What does Blind Cricket offer to those who play it?
Blind and partially sighted cricketers have been playing Blind Cricket in the United Kingdom since the 1940s.
The game offers blind and partially sighted players the opportunity to play on equal terms:"Playing cricket when you are partially sighted or blind does give you a sense of confidence that you can play a competitive sport to a decent standard," comments Adam.
"For some people the simple act of playing cricket can have amazing implications on the rest of their life. Having a bit of mobility on the cricket pitch can lead to increased mobility and self-esteem off the pitch. For me, however, I just play because I love the game."
The road to captaincy
It is now a priority of BBS (British Blind Sport) to provide opportunity and encouragement to young partially sighted and blind cricketers. So how did Adam begin his road to England captaincy? "I went to a special school for blind and partially sighted kids, so I heard about the adapted form of cricket through friends and school. I started playing in about 1989, just before I played at school."
However, not all of the players who play Blind Cricket have always been blind or partially sighted." People who play 'red ball' cricket may lose their sight for one reason or another. We have a couple of players in the England team who used to play the normal sighted game. As they were losing their sight, they heard about the game through various sources, such as local authority rehabilitation officers or local cricket clubs."
The game of Blind Cricket
Those who haven't any links to Blind Cricket, may have seen it being played
during intervals at country cricket matches. I particularly remember seeing
it played at a Gloucestershire game at the County Ground, Bristol.
"Blind cricket is a bit different from normal cricket," says Adam. "The ball that we use has beads in it, to enable us to judge its trajectory by sound. Some players, like myself, have some useful sight. I can't see well enough to drive - either a car or a cricket ball, some would say.
Four players in the starting 11 must be totally blind. All players have a tremendous amount of skill, with one of our totally blind players regularly hitting the stumps from the boundary with lethal throws."
The Blind Cricket World Cup
So with the Blind Cricket world cup looming, where the team will be using a ball of traditional size, bowled under-arm, can England turn that skill into silverware?
"We are flying out to Chennai for the second world cup, with the sole aim of winning the tournament. We are probably not the favourites, but we have some world class players who, on their day, could beat anyone. Yes, it will be nice to get a flavour of the culture, the food and the temperature out in India, but those are all secondary to the cricket."
Updates
Here at www.chippingsodburycc.co.uk we will update you with England's world cup news in late December. Finally I would like to thank Adam Benjamin, England's Blind Cricket Team Captain, for taking time out to speak to me.
